There are three members of the Page Board, a congressional body that oversees the page program in the House of Representatives. John Shimkus (R-IL19) is the chair; the other members are Shelley Moore Capito(R-WV02) and Dale Kildee (D-MI05). It's well established that Mr. Kildee was not informed about potential sexual predation by Mark Foley(R-FL16). Now Capito says she was not informed by Shimkus or anyone else. More after the jump.
The
Charleston (WV) Gazette quotes Capito as follows:
Capito said she would have been very concerned if she had read those e-mails.
"I don't think it would pass the sniff test," she said. "Even asking those questions -- that is not normal between a 52-year-old adult and a 16-year-old. It's not like they're family friends or anything. I think it would raise some serious questions. But I wasn't given that opportunity."
Moore is a loyal Republican, which leaves one to wonder why a loyal Republican whose direct responsibility includes supervision of the page program would be intentionally cut out of the loop. The explosive potential of this story was apparent, which would have prompted Shimkus to keep it as close to the vest as possible. But was there more behind Shimkus' decision?
The least damaging interpretation is that Shimkus realized how damaging this story would be, and kept it tightly wrapped for that reason, even though it was (supposedly) just at the "creepy e-mail stage".
Another possible (and more damaging interpretation) is that Shimkus knew how deep and wide the problem really went. A third interpretation (if I was the suspicious type) is that Shimkus, himself, had something to hide.
Bottom line: Hastert's call for an investigation of the IM's overlooks Shimkus' suspicious course of action (confirmed by Killdee and Capito) when he (supposedly) first learned of the e-mail problem.
The investigation must go further back in time, and Shimkus must be held accountable for what is clearly a very tightly-controlled cover-up of information concerning the sexual predation of children under his supervision.
(Edited to correct name of newspaper)