AMHERST - U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds Tuesday denied knowing what his top aide might have done on behalf of a disgraced lawmaker in the days before he resigned following revelations of sexually explicit messages sent to underage male pages.
Reynolds' chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, a past aide to former GOP Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, described his role in advising Foley as the scandal unfolded, but insisted he had “no inkling” of any sexual come-ons Foley made to teenage boys - and said Foley quickly admitted to him the messages were “probably” his.
Fordham spoke after his own part in the case came under attack from Democrats, and his boss Reynolds fielded questions in Buffalo about Fordham.
Asked whether Fordham had counseled Foley without Reynolds' permission, Reynolds replied, “He could have.”
“I didn't give him permission to have any conversations that he's had at any time with Mark Foley, either as his friend or as his former employer,” said Reynolds.
That Reynolds, as Fordham's boss, knew nothing about his top aide's actions before the resignation, stood in stark contrast to the policy Reynolds said he followed when he found out about Foley's e-mails to a page. At a news conference Monday, Reynolds said: “I did what most people would do in a workplace. I heard something. I took it to my supervisor.”
The chairman of the House Republicans campaign effort, Reynolds spent a second day Tuesday in his Buffalo-area district defending his actions upon learning of e-mails and instant messages Foley sent to male pages.
Reynolds said he was told by fellow Congressman Rodney Alexander in the spring about some “overly friendly” e-mails and, though he never saw the exchanges, then alerted his boss, House Speaker Dennis Hastert about the issue.
Fordham, however, did not go to his boss - Reynolds - before counseling Foley, the congressman said.
“I think it would be highly unusual for anybody here that they would ask permission if they talked to someone of any nature on their own time,” Reynolds said.
After learning the sexually explicit nature of some of the exchanges, Reynolds said he called for Foley's resignation, an effort in which his chief of staff was involved.
The messages “were despicable, they were deplorable,” Reynolds said, “and we moved and worked to get Foley's resignation and that was certainly obtained within hours and Mr. Fordham was helpful in getting that resignation.”
Reynolds was asked if his chief of staff should have been advising Foley earlier.
“I just think that question is pretty subjective,” Reynolds said. “I mean, I don't know what he counseled him on. You'll have to ask him.”
In an extended interview in Washington Tuesday, Fordham described in detail helping Foley and his sister after they were confronted last Friday by ABC News with lurid instant messages Foley had apparently sent to teenage boys who were past congressional pages.
The longtime Capitol Hill staffer, his eyes red and speaking softly, said he tried to help Foley deal with questions about e-mails and private messages that exploded in the headlines late last week.
Fordham was Foley's former chief of staff but has not worked him since 2004. Last Friday, he said he went to Foley's house to help the lawmaker deal with the page scandal first reported by ABC News.
Fordham said when he learned the graphic sexual content of some of the instant messages, he confronted Foley.
“I said: ‘Are these authentic?' and he said ‘probably,' and he confirmed that they were likely his instant messages,” Fordham said.
Fordham said the immediate reaction of his current boss, Reynolds, was to get Foley to leave Congress.
“He told me (Foley) needed to resign,” said Fordham, adding that the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote the first draft of Foley's resignation letter before it was rewritten on Foley's official letterhead.
“I was still pretty shell shocked myself,” Fordham said of the day he learned about the messages. “This was someone I had worked for 10 years. I had no inkling that this kind of blatantly reckless - just obscene - behavior was going on behind our backs.”
Fordham said he will cooperate with a federal investigation into Foley's conduct, and has hired a lawyer, but said he had no direct knowledge of criminal misdeeds by his former boss.
Asked if he had any information that could help investigators build a criminal case against Foley, Fordham said he wasn't prepared to say yet. But he denied trying to suppress any information or evidence when he spoke by phone with ABC News before the instant message became public. He also said he had not discussed leaving Reynolds' office since his own role in the Foley case has come to light.
Fordham claimed that when he spoke to ABC, he was not trying to keep all of the instant messages out of the public eye, only the most graphic language for the sake of Foley's family. ABC News reporter Brian Ross disputed Fordham's account, saying the aide sought to keep all of the instant messages private in exchange for an exclusive story that Foley was resigning, and ABC said no.
State Democrats have hammered Reynolds for the role Fordham's part in talking to Foley last week.
Fordham said that he never spoke to Reynolds about possible personal problems before the details of an e-mail exchange became public last Thursday, and Reynolds did not ask him about his ex-boss in the spring.
Reynolds, a four-term congressman, is involved in a heated re-election race against Democrat Jack Davis. Davis spokesman Curtis Ellis said Monday he did not know if the Democrat would run campaign ads highlighting Reynolds' role in the page matter.
Reynolds' campaign was anticipating a boost from an appearance by First Lady Laura Bush at a fundraiser for the congressman in Buffalo on Wednesday. She also was scheduled to visit the Albany area for a fundraiser for Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, who has called for an investigation of Foley but not the House leadership.
Fordham spoke after his own part in the case came under attack from Democrats, and his boss Reynolds fielded questions in Buffalo about Fordham.
Asked whether Fordham had counseled Foley without Reynolds' permission, Reynolds replied, “He could have.”
“I didn't give him permission to have any conversations that he's had at any time with Mark Foley, either as his friend or as his former employer,” said Reynolds.
That Reynolds, as Fordham's boss, knew nothing about his top aide's actions before the resignation, stood in stark contrast to the policy Reynolds said he followed when he found out about Foley's e-mails to a page. At a news conference Monday, Reynolds said: “I did what most people would do in a workplace. I heard something. I took it to my supervisor.”
The chairman of the House Republicans campaign effort, Reynolds spent a second day Tuesday in his Buffalo-area district defending his actions upon learning of e-mails and instant messages Foley sent to male pages.
Reynolds said he was told by fellow Congressman Rodney Alexander in the spring about some “overly friendly” e-mails and, though he never saw the exchanges, then alerted his boss, House Speaker Dennis Hastert about the issue.
Fordham, however, did not go to his boss - Reynolds - before counseling Foley, the congressman said.
“I think it would be highly unusual for anybody here that they would ask permission if they talked to someone of any nature on their own time,” Reynolds said.
After learning the sexually explicit nature of some of the exchanges, Reynolds said he called for Foley's resignation, an effort in which his chief of staff was involved.
The messages “were despicable, they were deplorable,” Reynolds said, “and we moved and worked to get Foley's resignation and that was certainly obtained within hours and Mr. Fordham was helpful in getting that resignation.”
Reynolds was asked if his chief of staff should have been advising Foley earlier.
“I just think that question is pretty subjective,” Reynolds said. “I mean, I don't know what he counseled him on. You'll have to ask him.”
In an extended interview in Washington Tuesday, Fordham described in detail helping Foley and his sister after they were confronted last Friday by ABC News with lurid instant messages Foley had apparently sent to teenage boys who were past congressional pages.
The longtime Capitol Hill staffer, his eyes red and speaking softly, said he tried to help Foley deal with questions about e-mails and private messages that exploded in the headlines late last week.
Fordham was Foley's former chief of staff but has not worked him since 2004. Last Friday, he said he went to Foley's house to help the lawmaker deal with the page scandal first reported by ABC News.
Fordham said when he learned the graphic sexual content of some of the instant messages, he confronted Foley.
“I said: ‘Are these authentic?' and he said ‘probably,' and he confirmed that they were likely his instant messages,” Fordham said.
Fordham said the immediate reaction of his current boss, Reynolds, was to get Foley to leave Congress.
“He told me (Foley) needed to resign,” said Fordham, adding that the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote the first draft of Foley's resignation letter before it was rewritten on Foley's official letterhead.
“I was still pretty shell shocked myself,” Fordham said of the day he learned about the messages. “This was someone I had worked for 10 years. I had no inkling that this kind of blatantly reckless - just obscene - behavior was going on behind our backs.”
Fordham said he will cooperate with a federal investigation into Foley's conduct, and has hired a lawyer, but said he had no direct knowledge of criminal misdeeds by his former boss.
Asked if he had any information that could help investigators build a criminal case against Foley, Fordham said he wasn't prepared to say yet. But he denied trying to suppress any information or evidence when he spoke by phone with ABC News before the instant message became public. He also said he had not discussed leaving Reynolds' office since his own role in the Foley case has come to light.
Fordham claimed that when he spoke to ABC, he was not trying to keep all of the instant messages out of the public eye, only the most graphic language for the sake of Foley's family. ABC News reporter Brian Ross disputed Fordham's account, saying the aide sought to keep all of the instant messages private in exchange for an exclusive story that Foley was resigning, and ABC said no.
State Democrats have hammered Reynolds for the role Fordham's part in talking to Foley last week.
Fordham said that he never spoke to Reynolds about possible personal problems before the details of an e-mail exchange became public last Thursday, and Reynolds did not ask him about his ex-boss in the spring.
Reynolds, a four-term congressman, is involved in a heated re-election race against Democrat Jack Davis. Davis spokesman Curtis Ellis said Monday he did not know if the Democrat would run campaign ads highlighting Reynolds' role in the page matter.
Reynolds' campaign was anticipating a boost from an appearance by First Lady Laura Bush at a fundraiser for the congressman in Buffalo on Wednesday. She also was scheduled to visit the Albany area for a fundraiser for Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, who has called for an investigation of Foley but not the House leadership.