House members asked to contact current, former pages to see if they had 'inappropriate' communications with any House member

RAW STORY
Published: Saturday October 7, 2006

In a letter sent out Friday by the Investigative Subcommittee for the House Ethics Committee, part of a probe of the House GOP leadership's handling of a scandal involving sexually explicit communications that former Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) sent to teenage pages, House members are being asked to contact all current and former pages to see if they had "inappropriate communications or interactions" with anyone in the House, RAW STORY has found.

"In order to assist the Investigative Subcommittee with its inquiry, we also request that you contact current and former House Pages sponsored by your office for the purpose of learning whether any of those individuals had any inappropriate communications or interactions with former Representative Foley or any other Member of the House," the letter reads.

"You should advise all Pages contacted that any information gained pursuant to your inquiry will be shared with the Investigative Subcommittee, and will be maintained by the Investigative Subcommittee in a confidential manner consistent with House and Committee rules," the letter continues.

So far, the subcommittee has prepared forty-four subpoenas for records and testimony.

Full text of letter:

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October 6, 2006

TO ALL MEMBERS' IMMEDIATE AND PERSONAL ATTENTION

Re: Investigation of Allegations Related to Improper Conduct Involving Members and Current or Former House Pages

Dear Colleague:

As you may know, an Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (the "Committee") has been empanelled to conduct an inquiry regarding any conduct of House Members, officers and staff related to information concerning improper conduct involving Members and current and former House Pages. We are contacting you now in our capacities as Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of that Investigative Subcommittee.

The purpose of this letter is to notify all Members that it is the expectation of the Investigative Subcommittee that any Members with information related to the matter under investigation will bring such information to the attention of the Investigative Subcommittee. Such information should include, but not be limited to, any information related in any way to communications or interactions between former Representative Mark Foley and any current or former participants in the House Page Program.

In this regard, you should inquire of staff under your supervision as to relevant information in their possession.

In order to assist the Investigative Subcommittee with its inquiry, we also request that you contact current and former House Pages sponsored by your office for the purpose of learning whether any of those individuals had any inappropriate communications or interactions with former Representative Foley or any other Member of the House. You should advise all Pages contacted that any information gained pursuant to your inquiry will be shared with the Investigative Subcommittee, and will be maintained by the Investigative Subcommittee in a confidential manner consistent with House and Committee rules.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions, or if you have information to provide to the Investigative Subcommittee, please contact Committee Chief Counsel William V. O'Reilly at (202) XXX-7103.

Sincerely,

Doc Hastings Howard L. Berman

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