The more news that comes out from the Ethics Committee hearings the more we see the true pattern (as opposed to the liberal mediia’s preconceptions). It does seem the cover up of Foley’s problems was between two gay GOP staffers, who probably wanted to avoid enhancing the stereotype of gays as child predators. Fordham and Trandahl are apparently testifying that they fielded many, many instances with Foley, but cannot once point to a formal, written complaing against the Congressman to House leadership.

Two sources close to Trandahl told CNN that he had been monitoring Foley’s interaction with pages after being told of troubling behavior by the congressman in the House cloakroom and elsewhere. Trandahl took his concerns to Kirk Fordham, Foley’s former chief of staff, many times, the sources said.

Fordham testified last week that he warned House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s chief of staff, Scott Palmer, at least three years ago about Foley’s conduct, according to a source familiar with Fordham’s version of events.

Palmer has denied Fordham’s account.

Fordham and Trandahl handled the concern of Rep Kolbe with Foley’s activities with the Pages in 2000. Fordham and Trandahl handled the Page emails last fall. Fordham and Trandahl handled the drunk Foley at the Page dorm incident. And now Trandahl is expanding the list of events to cover incidents in the cloak room, which he discussed with Fordham. In fact, contrary to CNN’s reporting, Fordham apparently testified that he covered for Foley for a decade. Now the problem here is Jeff Trandahl is part of the House Leadership. So he can say the House Leadership knew because he knew. But if he and Fordgham were putting out Foley’s fires for years, because as gay staffers they had some warped interest in Foley not being discovered and branding all gays on the Hill, then we have a situation where the leadership did not know. Notice that the Page email issues has a paper trail. Does anyone think making a complaint that a sitting member of Congress was a sexual predator of children would NOT create a paper trail? Trandahl and Fordham need to bring out some physical evidence of their claims, or else we can all reasonably conclude they are hiding their own cover up.