8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF CRAILY KANSAS
THURSDAY,OCTOBER 26,2006
CONGRESS
Hastert aide testifies about Foley case
House ethics panel is investigating lawmakers, aides who knew of Foley's behavior
BY ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — An aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Wednesday went before ethics investigators in private to explain how the office handled complaints about former Rep. Mark Foley's behavior toward former pages.
Ted Van Der Meid, who oversaw the page program for Hastert, R-III., appears to be one of the last witnesses. The House ethics panel is investigating whether lawmakers and staff aides acted properly when learning of Foley's too-friendly messages to ex-pages and other possible inappropriate behavior.
The panel is in its third week of hearing testimony and seems unlikely to complete its probe before
the Nov. 7 elections.
Van Der Meid was a central figure in the handling of a complaint last fall from a former page from Louisiana. Hastert's office was alerted to the "over friendly" e-mails and dispatched then-Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., to confront Foley, R-Fla.
Former top Foley aide Kirk Fordham has told the committee that Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, knew of earlier incidents involving Foley.
Foley abruptly resigned Sept. 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit e-mails sent in 2003 to a former page from Oklahoma.
No lawmaker has acknowledged knowing of sexually graphic e-mails. They surfaced only after news
broke that Foley last fall had sent a too-friendly message to the former Louisiana page. But a small group of lawmakers and top GOP staff aides
M. Spencer Green/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A key question for investigators
over the page program a prominent responsibility — and was in frequent contact with Hastert's office.
Rather than investigating Foley, the fourmember investigative panel
A small group of lawmakers and top GOP staff aides have known for years of inappropriate messages and rumors of bad behavior by Foley toward pages.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert walks away from the media after answering questions Oct. 10 in Aurora, Ill. Sid联名 by scandal, Hastert has been largely absent from the campaign trail in October as Democrats mount their strongest challenge in a decade to the Republicans' grip on the House.
is trying to determine who knew about his behavior toward pages and whether more should have been done to stop it.
Trandahl was appointed to the clerk's post — with responsibility
for investigators who iselseknew about Foley. Fordham's account has been disputed by Palmer, but Trandahl reportedly has backed up Fordham's story.
The panel
may want to know what Van Der Meid knew about earlier incidents regarding Foley.
For example, the panel has been asked to look into rumors that several years ago Foley tried to
enter the page dorm while drunk,
an incident that Fordham has testified about.
Trandahl and Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., learned in 2001 or 2002 of an episode in which Foley sent an ex-page inappropriate e-mails.
In those instances, Foley's inappropriate behavior with former pages have been handled by
a few staff aides and lawmakers, rather than being investigated more fully. Foley's misbehavior did not cease.
The panel heard Tuesday from Hastert, who urged it to wrap up its investigation quickly. He said he answered questions to the best of his ability, but his recollection differs from other GOP leaders.
9/11
Preserved bones found at World Trade Center
Experts predict bones will yield identifiable DNA
BY SARA KUGLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW YORK — Human bones unearthed at the World Trade Center site in recent days are so well preserved that they will yield usable DNA, experts predicted Wednesday.
The remains — found last week after utility crews doing routine work opened up a manhole that had been paved over — are believed to belong to Sept. 11 trade center victims, 40 percent of whom have not had any remains identified.
The collection has grown to more than 130 pieces, including whole bones, shards and one-inch splinters.
"However they got there, it was certainly right at the time of the event, so they've been protected for five years and haven't been subjected to weather," said Bradley Adams, the
Bones buried with no exposure to extreme temperatures tend to be better preserved, said Ed Huffine, the head scientist on the project at Bode Technology Group, the Virginia company handling Sept. 11 bone fragments.
"I would be very optimistic about being able to obtain DNA profiles from these cases," he said.
city medical examiner's lead forensic anthropologist on site.
Families of victims with no identified remains said they felt conflicted about the recent discoveries.
"Obviously I want to know if they find something, but on the other hand it just opens it all back up again," said Lynn Castrianno, whose brother, Leonard, was killed.
The city has identified 12 underground areas that need to be explored. All are along the western edge of the site.
CONGRESSMAN DENNIS MOORE
"I'm proud to have represented KU in Congress for nearly eight years. We have made real progress,and I never forget why I'm in Washington: to serve the
people of Kansas, and to continue making our state and our country an even better and safer place to live. I would be honored to have your vote."
VOTE NOVEMBER 7
www.mooreforcongress.com
PO Box 14631 Paid for by Moore for Congress Tel)913.888.4838
Lenexa, KS 66285 Fax)913.894.0903
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