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Republicans Held Damage Control Calls Before Foley Scandal Broke
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ShareNovember 03, 2006 11:22 AM
The National Republican Campaign Committee along with the Foley campaign team held conference calls to control the potential damage regarding an ABC News' inquiry into correspondence between then-Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and a former congressional page.
The calls were first reported today on the daily political blog of the New York Daily News.
NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti and Kirk Fordham, then the chief of staff to NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds, participated in the calls, the first of which took place on Wednesday, Sept. 27, according to the reporter Ben Smith.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
ABC News had called Rep. Foley's office earlier that week regarding an e-mail exchange between the congressman and a former page in which Foley had asked the page for a picture of himself. The page had become uncomfortable by the exchange and reported it to a congressional staffer.
A second conference call took place on Thursday, Sept. 28, the day The Blotter ran a report on the e-mails.
NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti confirmed to ABC News that the calls took place and that he participated in them but would not comment on who else took part in the calls.
"This is part of what the NRCC does, helping members and campaigns deal with potential problems," said Forti.
Forti said he was invited to join the call by Foley's campaign team.
The day after the second call, ABC News' The Blotter broke the story regarding the sexually charged exchanges, which were obtained earlier that day.
November 3, 2006 in Mark Foley Internet Scandal | Permalink | User Comments (6)
Typical of any republican coverup
Posted by: Mike | Nov 3, 2006 11:45:09 AM
What does this do for a litany of Republican claims; for instance, Hastert claims he found out about the explicit emails only when the ABC story broke? "No one could have anticipated..." HaHa. And how about Ted Haggard? Great support from the base.
Posted by: marty | Nov 3, 2006 11:58:28 AM
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Time for the "Kingdom" the Republicans have created in their own minds to be dismantled.
Posted by: Gary Link | Nov 3, 2006 1:03:58 PM
I'm sure the calls were just to review the plans they came up with years ago when they first learned of Foley's affections for young male pages.
Posted by: Sean | Nov 3, 2006 5:26:42 PM
"I don't think anyone could've anticipated the breach of the skivvies?"
Posted by: scalpod | Nov 3, 2006 10:08:04 PM
The Republican propaganda machine is running 24/7, lest a single voice be "off message" and risk disrupting the carefully crafted song of the Fox News/talk radio echo chamber. What's surprising is the machine failed to control the damage on this occasion, and legitimate media armed with credible journalism faithfully executed it's responsibility in our Democracy.
Posted by: Steve | Nov 4, 2006 11:08:39 PM
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