Dems Object To Freeh Leading Probe

(AP)  House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Thursday he is looking for a high-caliber figure to step in and fix flaws in the congressional page program that left the teenagers vulnerable to sexual advances.

Hastert was on the verge of naming former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who boasts a long, high-profile career in law enforcement, for the post. But the speaker held off because of objections from Democrats.

Hastert had called House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday to notify her that he intended to hire Freeh to overhaul the program, their aides said. But Pelosi suggested it was too soon to make decisions about changing the program, and that Freeh might be the wrong man for the job.

"That's about public relations for the Republican leaders, it's not about protecting the children," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It smacks of 'blame the victim.'"

The possibility that Republican leaders covered up evidence that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., was making inappropriate overtures to pages needs to be investigated first, before any changes in the program are considered, said Pelosi spokeswoman Jen Crider.

But Crider noted that Hastert, R-Ill., could name Freeh without Pelosi's support if he chose.

At his news conference Thursday about the House ethics committee's investigation of the page scandal, Hastert didn't cite any candidates for the job of overhauling the page program.

"We're looking for a person of high caliber to advise us on the page program," he said at a news conference in Illinois. "I reached out to the Democrat leader and shared with her some of the ideas and we hope to resolve this soon."

Freeh had been an FBI agent in New York City and bureau headquarters in Washington. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to a federal judgeship. Two years later, President Clinton nominated Freeh to be FBI director, calling him "a law enforcement legend."

But Freeh's relationship with Democrats was rocky.

Freeh urged Justice Department superiors to seek an independent counsel to investigate the 1996 presidential fundraising scandal, which focused largely on Democrats and the White House. The Justice Department turned him down.

After leaving office, Freeh was harshly critical of Clinton in his book, "My FBI." He wrote that, during Clinton's presidency, "whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong direction."

"His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out," said Freeh, who said he was preoccupied for eight years at the FBI with Clinton investigations, including Whitewater, 1996 presidential fundraising and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

[drgoodwin12]

To SharnCedar I was in Washington,D.C. twice both times as a sightseer,however my Aunt and Uncle both work in Washington up until their retitment in 98.My Uncle worked at the pentagon and often had to testify before congress,my Aunt worked in Washington at the White house for almost 35 years.Neither of them ,both independents ever mentioned anything you have suggested in regards to congressmen and pages.Your rhetoric sounds like a rovette,deny,deny and lie.

[sharncedar]

"about this heinous crime "

C'mon, where have you been living, in a cave in Afganistan? There isn't hardly a Senator or Congressman who hasn't done a page. Who do you think these people are, the people they portray on TV? Ever been down to Washington, it'll open your eyes. It's like a Fellini movie, like some rock star orgies going on, these guys are rock stars and they know it, and they take what gets flung their way, which is your dewy-eyed children.

[sharncedar]

Democrats are shaking in their boots, if they lose the pages they'll have to go to Arlington to get jailbait *ss. They would rather lose the election than that, I think.

[drgoodwin12]

Here is a link that relates to this story http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/three_more_form.html Read it before you start accusing democrats.Any person regardless of political affilation with prior knowledge of Foleys conduct and affairs(this has been corroborated by ABC NEWS and the F.B.I.)needs to resign and face the full weight of the judicial system.Only an independent investigation similar to the 9/11 commission needs to formed swiftly and reach conclusions prior to election day. I do not want any individual regardless of party and a democrat has supposed to have known about this heinous crime elected.Complicity is a crime,covering up someone else crime is a crime.Let us get the facts hard and fast.By facts I mean the truth.

[roach9703]

It is very premature to discuss changes in the page program. We have not yet determined if there are any victims here. We have cybersex. Since Hastert has asked the justic department to investigate, adding more layers of investigators will hamper the fact finding process.
Freeh seems to be a fine man.
Any type of examination must be bi-partisan.
The examination must include the testimony of the pages themselves, and their proctors.
This is a leadership failure. No F.B.I. agent can correct that.

[clestes-2009]

So I guess Freeh was so busy looking to see who Bill Clinton was sleeping with that he just didn't have time to listen to any of the many warnings being told him about Osma Bin Laden.

A pity he didn't listen to John Powell the way he listened to Monica L. I mean after all, John was only telling him about terror training camps and possible attacks, while Monica was telling him about her *** with Bill.

*** with Bill was far more important.

[bellal-2009]

Well what's new. Muslim world outraged...Democrats objecting. Same type of thing.