October 04, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- Dutch Uncle Edition
The latest Mark Foley revelation dominated TV last night.
CNN's Johns: "It sounds more like it's a lawyer doing his job trying to essentially humanize his client in advance of any possible legal action" ("AC 360," 10/3).
ABC's Ross, on his reaction to the IMs: "My reaction was if these are, in fact, written by the Congressman, he should probably go to jail. They are so explicit. They're just as bad as you can imagine, just horrific" ("LKL," CNN, 10/3).
"America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh: "I've been tracking guys like this for 20 years. I thought I knew about them. I thought that my gut feeling was probably a good one with people. He had a track record. He had worked with us on these issues before and I feel really betrayed and completely confused" ("LKL," CNN, 10/3).
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL): "I know Mark Foley. I served in the Florida legislature with him, or thought I knew Mark Foley, and served with him in Congress. To know this person, you would have had no idea that this would have been going on." More: "I actually never heard any of those rumors. I mean, the first that I heard about any of this kind of conduct was Thursday and Friday, when all of this broke" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/3).
Ex-WH Counsel Lanny Davis: "It's all about a private behavior situation, and I think Democrats have to be real careful not to try to turn this into a political partisan issue" ("LKL," CNN, 10/3).
HASTERT WORKS TO SAVE HIS JOB
FNC's Garrett: "President Bush defended House Speaker Dennis Hastert hours after a prominent conservative editorial page called on Hastert to resign" ("Special Report," 10/3).
WashingtonPost.com's Cillizza: "What you're going to see is what we've seen, a rare thing in Republican politics of late, a circular firing squad. You're really seeing everyone pushing the blame off on someone else" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 10/3).
CNN's Crowley: "What Hastert has been arguing which is, hey, you know, I stepped down and you have just got a story that blows up and really helps the Democrats. You can see those ads already. They even got rid of their Republican leader because his leadership was so bad. So they're stuck to a certain extent but to let Hastert go now they think would only add to their problems" ("AC 360," 10/3).
CNN's Bash: "The speaker spent all day working the phones trying to shore up support, essentially trying to keep his job, making the case to Republicans, lawmakers and owners around the country that he, A, did not do anything wrong in the Mark Foley case and, B, Democrats should be where the fire should be aimed, not at him" ("PZ Now," 10/3).
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL): "I think the speaker has done the very best that he could, and I think his staff probably let him down by not disclosing to him the information when they had it. I think if it had been disclosed to him, he would have brought Foley in, had a Dutch uncle talk with him about it, and really monitored much more closely" ("LKL," CNN, 10/3).
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): "Anyone who knew about this situation and did not take appropriate action, whether it was a staff member, or a member, or an individual of the press, or somebody else's staff member, or some reporter or anyone who knew about this, they should resign their position. They should face the full legal process of whatever would be due for whatever they committed" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/3).
Family Research Council's Tony Perkins: "I think it's premature to call for the speaker or the leadership to resign. I think that may brush all this under the rug" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/3).
Pat Buchanan: "I think Hastert is gone as of January" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/3).
WHAT THE PAGES KNEW
ex-Page Tyson Vivyan, on what he told the FBI: "I began to describe basically the beginning of what turned out to be an almost surrealistic relationship with Congressman Foley through the instant messaging system online. It began shortly after I left the page program. ... I was I.M.'ed by a screen name which I did not recognize, and almost immediately the conversation turned sexual."
Asked how Foley got his IM: "That's the question at hand. The pages, they're on the Hill, walking around with name tags on that say U.S. House of Representatives page, with our first and last names spelled out completely. And so I can only assume that perhaps, if anyone caught the congressman's eye, he could very easily make note of that individual's name and then through a simple search online, if an individual such as myself decided to use my full name in our chat profile."
More: "There was a moniker by which we described Foley. It was F.F.F. ... that stands for Foley the f-- from Florida. And it was kind of a running joke" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 10/3).
ON THE WRONG END OF THE NEWS CYCLE
Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist was in the "Situation Room" from Baghdad but got asked about the situation in Washington.
Frist: "I have, as you know, been in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and I don't mean to avoid your question, but really have not been briefed on the events of the last 48 hours. When I left, obviously Congressman Foley, the allegations had come out. That is to be condemned if those are true. The events of the last 48 hours I just haven't been briefed on. Obviously I have tremendous respect for Denny Hastert but have not been briefed on any of the details."
More: "I can't comment on what happened in the House because I don't know. We have a strong page program in the United States Senate, though we have not had allegations like that. And again, it's inexcusable. It is to be condemned in terms of what the allegations say that Mark Foley did" (CNN, 10/3). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 07:25 AM
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