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We sent this letter to the Ethics Committee last week. No response yet, but Ginny Brown-Waste has threatened to sue us for defamation of character. For quoting her own words in Newsweek. According to Newsweek, and Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) on ABC this week, 2 weeks ago, she knew about Foley's trips to the page dorm 3 years ago. She describes Foley as her best friend, andclosest confidante in Congress. Who is she covering for now? Foley or Hastert?
Dear Heidi,
I hope you are doing well. I would be most appreciative if you could
see that the Minority Leader is apprised of the letter that I've faxed
to Chairman Doc Hastings of the House Ethics Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct. The letter appears both below and is attached as
a Word doc as well.
Thank you very much.
John Russell, Democratic Candidate, U.S. House, Dist. 5, Fl.
Honorable Doc Hastings, Chairman
October 25, 2006
House Ethics Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
1323 Longworth
HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Hastings:
In reference to your current activities I urge the Ethics Committee to
issue a subpoena to
bring Congresswoman Brown-Waite before you to testify immediately as
to what she
knew with regard to the conduct of Rep. Mark Foley, when she knew it
and related knowledge and actions taken.
Over the past three years Representative Brown-Waite who may well have
had information regarding inappropriate/predatory activities of Mr.
Foley based on her published statements, took no action to protect the
Congressional pages from a sexual predator.
The October 16, 2006 edition of NEWSWEEK Magazine, page 36, reports "One
GOP member, Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, said in a statement provided to
NEWSWEEK, that she had "learned" of the incident at the pages'
dorm after she initiated her own investigation. Further, the article
goes on to say "One
of her staff aides said that Brown-Waite had talked to a House official with
direct knowledge of what had happened."
This information has appeared in the national media as well.
Representative Brown-Waite is quoted in the St. Petersburg Times and
other publications ruminating about her close relationship with Mr.
Foley, including discussions regarding his personal life. Ms.
Brown-Waite is also well acquainted with Mr. Fordham and Mr. Trandahl.
I believe that it would be a gross error of omission should the
commission fail to call Rep. Brown-Waite to testify.
Published information indicates a potential serious dereliction of her
duty first as a
citizen, notwithstanding her position as a U.S. Representative.
Rep. Brown-Waite should be required to testify in order to assure a
full and complete investigation of this extremely serious matter.
Representatives have a responsibility to insure a safe and secure
environment for the
Congressional pages serving in their supportive capacity to the Congress.
Published information leads a reasonable person to consider that not
only was Congresswoman Brown-Waite aware of the incident in 2002-2003,
she took no action to address the situation as soon as she became
aware; allowed it to go
unchecked, and by doing so, has become part of the probable cover-up that your
committee is presently investigating.
Rep. Brown-Waite was quoted in the St. Petersburg Times stating that
Rep. Mark Foley
was her "closest confidante and mentor" in Congress. Could that have been the
motivation for her to participate in a possible cover-up of Mark
Foley's nocturnal visit to
the page dormitory? Only with her testimony can this question be answered.
In addition, when Rep. Brown-Waite launched her first campaign for
Congress in 2002, her good friend Mark Foley lent her his former aide,
Kirk Fordham, to
serve as Brown-Waite's campaign manager. Could Brown-Waite's
misguided loyalty
to her friend and/or her party have clouded her ethical judgment, and
have led to her
failure to report to higher authorities her awareness of this incident?
We have no way of knowing definitively if this was in fact the case,
unless Rep. Brown-Waite is called to testify before this committee.
If this was in fact the case, most people would regard as a criminal
matter, this abrogation of responsibility for the welfare of
Congressional pages; left at risk of Rep. Foley's ongoing
inappropriate and predatory advances for 3 more years.
Kirk Fordham has testified that he told Speaker Hastert's chief of staff
about "concerns" he had regarding Congressman Foley's excessive "friendliness"
toward the pages. This meeting said to have occurred during the
2002-2003 legislative- session, has now been denied by the Speaker's
office to have ever taken place.
Rep. Brown-Waite has admitted that she knew about the page dorm
incident, and did nothing… until… potentially damaging emails became
public. As a concerned citizen, and as a candidate for the U.S. House
of Representatives I am requesting that in the
interest of adhering to your promise of a "Full Scale" investigation,
that this committee immediately subpoena Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite to
testify before this committee. This, in order to ascertain what she
knew, when she knew it, from whom she learned what she knew, and what
action was or was not taken once she became aware of it.
Yours Respectfully,
John T. Russell
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