Kirk Fordham - Fordham's Orchestration of Mark Foley's Resignation

Fordham's Orchestration of Mark Foley's Resignation

Fordham, with a decade-plus working relationship with Foley, and close personal friends of Foley and his sister, emerged as a central player in the events leading up to the Congressman's resignation.

When ABC news was about to break the story on Foley's instant messages, Fordham offered ABC News a deal, asking that they delay publishing explicit messages from Foley to pages, in exchange for an exclusive story on Foley's resignation. After it became public, Fordham was then instrumental in working with his boss, Rep. Tom Reynolds, in arranging Foley's resignation. Fordham noted that he had raised the issue with the staff of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert more than three years prior—before Fordham left his post as Foley's aide in January 2004—but that little had been done. Hastert's Chief of Staff Scott Palmer denied this assertion.

In December 2006, The House Ethics Committee released their report on the Foley scandal and found Fordham's testimony to be credible . The report suggested Fordham had been truthful when he testified he had informed Palmer of Foley's inappropriate behavior toward young male staffers and pages. At the same time, the ethics report indicates that Hastert and Palmer may not have been truthful about their handling of the Foley matter, although the committee did not formally reprimand them.