Republicans Held Damage Control Calls Before Foley Scandal Broke

Oh dear. I'm sure Mr. Hastert would have taken immediate action had he known.
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Republicans Held Damage Control Calls Before Foley Scandal Broke

November 03, 2006 11:22 AM

Maddy Sauer Reports:

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.

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.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/11/republicans_hel.html