The Foley Affair: Where does Melissa Hart Fit In?

Now that the Other Political Junkie has covered this yet-another outstanding example of Republican morality, I want to follow up with a more local angle.

CNN is reporting that:

The House voted unanimously to launch an investigation into messages allegedly sent by former Rep. Mark Foley to a male teenage page.

And

The House vote came after the congressman who oversees the page program revealed he had learned about the exchange late last year and subsequently warned Foley to be "mindful" of his behavior.

Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, learned about the matter during the spring, but "there wasn't a level of alarm because there was no specificity about the contact," an aide to Boehner told CNN.

But

Boehner blocked a vote on a resolution offered by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that asked the House Ethics Committee to begin a preliminary investigation into Foley's conduct and the GOP leadership's "response" to it.

The California Democrat's resolution would have called for an investigation of "when the Republican leadership was notified and what corrective action was taken."

Instead, Boehner made a motion that the Foley matter be sent to the House Ethics Committee, which passed 409-0.

I guess it's a good thing for Boehner that Pelosi's resolution wasn't voted on.  In it we find this:

Whereas these charges demand immediate investigation, including a determination of when the emails were sent, who knew of the emails, whether there was a pattern of inappropriate activity by Mr. Foley involving email or other contacts with pages or former pages, when the Republican leadership was notified, and what corrective action was taken once officials learned of any improper activity;

We all know that Rep Boehner knew about the allegations last spring though now he says he can not remember whether he told the House Speaker.

The resignation rocked the Capitol, and especially Foley's GOP colleagues, as lawmakers were rushing to adjourn for at least six weeks. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.

An interesting side note is that our own Missy Hart was both a supporter of John Boehner in his race for a House leadership position AND is now a member of the "House Ethics Committee (a.k.a Committee of Standards of Official Conduct).

I'm curious to see how this all plays out.  I mean, what questions (if any) will Hart face about this as she continues to campaign?

I'll try to keep you posted.