Word: hastert
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...Other House Republicans are shifting blame upwards, and Hastert is as far up as they can go. Asked by reporters in his home district in New York whether the Speaker should have done more, Tom Reynolds, the Republican leader who runs the National Republican Congressional Committee, replied: "That's a question you'll have to ask the Speaker." House Majority Leader John Boehner said in a radio interview: "I believe I talked to the Speaker, and he told me it had been taken care of. And my position is, it's in his corner, it's his responsibility. The Clerk...
...member of Congress has yet called for Hastert's resignation, though Republican Chris Shays of Connecticut came close, saying "if they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership." Hastert's office has said he won't resign, and he's made a series of moves to reassure Republicans he's in control of the scandals - such setting up a toll-free number for people to call with any similar problems in the page program, and holding a press conference Monday to stress that he had not seen the more salacious instant...
...Hastert has one advantage in the fight to keep his job: most of his House colleagues like the former wrestling coach. His affable personality got him the job in the first place. After Newt Gingrich stepped down in 1998 and Louisiana Congressman Bob Livington withdrew after revelations about his marital infidelities, Hastert was plucked out of obscurity to take the reins of the House...
...Hastert has become a tight ally of President Bush. But he hasn't had a good two years. Many Republicans think he stuck by former House Majority Leader Tom Delay for too long , leaving the party mired in a distracting fundraising scandal. And many Republicans thought his coming to the side of Democrat William Jefferson, whose office was raided by federal investigators pursuing a bribery case, was a colossal blunder. The Foley affair will be a test of how much faith Republicans have in their leader - and whether he can get the story off the front pages...
...tactic Hastert and other GOP leaders are taking is to try to spread the blame around. Boehner, in a letter to the editor in the Washington Times, said: "We also need to know why these messages surfaced only last week, on the final day of legislative business before the November elections. If this evidence was withheld for political purposes, one can only speculate as to how many additional children may have been endangered before this information was finally revealed." So far, there's no evidence Democrats had the instant messages or withheld them until now, but Republicans are eagerly offering...