DNC: McCain's Double Talk Express Hits Stump for Foley's Cover Man

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DNC: McCain's Double Talk Express Hits Stump for Congressman Who Covered for Foley

10/6/2006 2:03:00 PM

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73911

Contact: Stacie Paxton or Mark Paustenbach, 202-863-8148, both of Democratic National Committee

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee (DNC):

On Friday, Oct. 20, Sen. John McCain is scheduled to campaign with NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds, who is currently embroiled in the GOP cover-up of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit messages that he sent to under-age House pages. Even after Reynolds was informed about Foley's transgressions, he encouraged Foley to run for a seventh term, gave $5,000 to Foley's campaign, and took $100,000 of Foley's campaign cash for the NRCC rather than investigating the matter further. As the scandal came to light, Reynolds' chief-of-staff worked to keep the media from exposing Foley. Yesterday, McCain called for an independent investigation of the scandal by "credible" people. Instead of campaigning with Reynolds later this month, McCain should cancel his fundraiser for Reynolds and call on Reynolds to tell the truth about his actions in this scandal.

"Senator McCain should put his money where his mouth is and cancel his fundraiser with Congressman Reynolds," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "It's hypocritical for Sen. McCain to say one thing about the Foley scandal but then campaign for someone involved in the cover up of the scandal. The Republican leadership continues to be more concerned about doing the right thing to protect their party than they are about doing the right thing to protect our children."

-- McCain Calls for Independent Investigation of Foley Scandal by "Credible" People

McCain called for "Congressional leaders to appoint a panel of 'credible' people to investigate a scandal about inappropriate e- mails and electronic messages sent by former Rep. Mark Foley to teenage pages. (McCain said) 'The institution is under assault right now. We need to move forward quickly and we need to reach conclusions and recommendations about who is responsible.'" (Associated Press, 10/4/06)

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McCain Should Start by Calling for an Investigation of Reynolds, Instead of Campaigning With Him

-- Reynolds Was Told About Foley's Inappropriate Contact With Pages

"After a second round of press inquiries in the spring, he (Rep. Alexander) again notified the family and discussed the e- mails with the new majority leader, John Boehner of Ohio, on the House floor during a vote. Alexander said Boehner turned first to Reynolds, the architect of the Republican midterm election strategy. 'I went to Boehner before Reynolds,' Alexander told AP. 'He sent Reynolds to me to talk about it. Within a minute Reynolds and I were talking.'" (Chicago Tribune, 10/3/06)

-- He Still Tried to Talk Foley Out of Resigning

Bob Novak wrote, "A member of the House leadership told me that Foley, under continuous political pressure because of his sexual orientation, was considering not seeking a seventh term this year but that Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), talked him into running." (New York Post, 10/4/06)

-- Then, the NRCC Took $100,000 From Foley in August of 2006.

The NRCC accepted a $100K contribution from Foley's campaign committee. (fec.gov)


http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73911
http://dnc.org/a/press/latest.php


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