Foley Scandal: Why Didn’t the Dems Act?“A 16-year-old kid was entrusted by his parents to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Congress has a responsibility,” Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Chicago Tribune in October.
“The most important questions are, ‘What did the Republican leadership know, when did they know it and, if they knew something, why didn’t they do anything to protect the child?’”
Now, Emanuel’s questions are boomeranging back on him and his Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A House report revealed last week that he and the DCCC knew of Foley’s emails during the 2005 period but did not bring them up with the House Page Board or other groups.
Over the weekend, an anonymous aide to Emanuel confirmed to CNN that the chairman himself had heard about the emails as early as July 2005.
In Emanuel’s defense, the aide told CNN that he only knew “cursory” details about Foley’s communiques with the former page — barely more than “rumor” — and that’s why he took no action.
To date, the DCCC has given no formal explanation why they failed to alert the House Page Board or other authority of the emails in their possession. My call to the committee was not returned.
Another Democratic group, the House Democratic Caucus, also had copies of the Foley e-mails in 2005, the House ethics committee report also revealed. The caucus — the organizing and administrative body for all House Democratic lawmakers — did not return my call.