Hourly Update

Ex Foley aide to testify; Kolbe complained of e-mails years ago (Updated 2:28 p.m.)

WASHINGTON - Mark Foley's former chief of staff, who says he warned the House speaker's staff three years ago of inappropriate Foley conduct toward male pages, is to testify Thursday before the House ethics committee. Kirk Fordham will insist that he warned Speaker Dennis Hastert's chief of staff about the conduct in 2003 or possibly the previous year, Fordham lawyer Timothy Heaphy said. Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona said a former page he had sponsored contacted his office in 2000 or 2001 to complain of e-mails from Foley, the Florida Republican who has resigned. Kolbe said he "passed along" the complaint to Foley and to then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl. Trandahl's lawyer, Cono Namorato, said Trandahl "will cooperate fully with the FBI and the House ethics committee investigations." Trandahl has refused to discuss actions he took when he learned about Foley's approaches and, until now, had declined even to disclose the name of his attorney. Fordham is a key figure, not only because he's a former top aide to Foley, but because his public statements have been at odds with those of Hastert chief of staff Scott Palmer. Palmer denied Fordham's assertions that he warned Palmer about Foley at least three years ago. "He'll reaffirm things he said. He sticks by that," Heaphy said. Meanwhile, Hastert said Tuesday he'll dismiss anyone on his staff found to have covered up concerns about Foley's approaches to former pages. Hastert said he met with his staff members last week and he believes they acted appropriately in handling information on Foley's conduct. But he also issued a stern warning: "If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs." The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation, and the House ethics committee is investigating any potential violations of standards of conduct. Kolbe said in a statement, "Some time after leaving the page program, an individual I had appointed as a page contacted my office to say he had received e-mails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable," Kolbe said in a statement. "I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the clerk who supervised the page program. This was done promptly." Asked about Kolbe's statement, Hastert told reporters in Aurora, Ill.: "I don't know anything more about it. If there's something that was of a nature that should have been reported or brought forward, then he should have done that." Hastert said he thought his staff handled the situation fairly well, but "in 20/20 hindsight, probably you could do everything a little bit better." "But if there is a problem, if there was a cover-up, then we should find that out through the investigation process. They'll be under oath and we'll find out. If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs. But I didn't think anybody at any time in my office did anything wrong." Hastert confirmed reports from last week that he initially had suggested having former FBI Director Louis Freeh head a Capitol Hill inquiry on the page program but that House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi objected. In Oklahoma City on Tuesday, a former congressional page who may have received suggestive electronic messages from Foley was interviewed by the FBI. Ex-congressional page Jordan Edmund and his attorney, Stephen Jones, emerged from the 2 1/2-hour meeting at the U.S. Attorney's office about 12:30 p.m. local time. "Jordan answered all of their questions," Jones said. "I'm not able to discuss the interview except to say that it occurred." Jones said his client was not issued a subpoena and was not asked to return. Jones also plans to talk to House officials investigating the case. Edmund's connection to Foley became public after ABC News inadvertently published the computer screen name of an ex-congressional page who allegedly received online instant messages from the ex-congressman. The FBI interview was among a host of developments in the unfolding scandal surrounding the 52-year-old Foley's relationship with teenagers, called pages, appointed to run errands for lawmakers while Congress is in session. Meanwhile, lawmakers are responding to the ethics committee's request that they survey aides and former House pages to find out if any of them had knowledge of inappropriate Foley conduct toward pages. The developments cloud Republican prospects for retaining the congressional majority. A CBS News-New York Times poll released Monday found that four in five said GOP leaders were more concerned with politics than with the well-being of the congressional pages. Nearly half of those polled, 46 percent, said Hastert should step down over his handling of the Foley matter, while 26 percent said Hastert should remain in his post. Foley has acknowledged through his attorney that he is gay but has denied having any sexual contact with minors. Edmund, a Californian, has been living in Oklahoma City and working as a deputy campaign manager for the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., who is challenging incumbent Democrat Brad Henry. Edmund was a U.S. House page in 2001 and 2002. Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.