Lawrence O'Donnell has been one of my favorite Washington insiders since he dropped the Libby bombshell on McGlaughlin Group oh so long ago, before most of us knew who Fitzgerald was.
Today he gives us a fascinating insight into the relationship between Hastert and his chief of staff, Scott Palmer. You remember Scott Palmer, right? Palmer's the guy Kirk Fordham swears he told about Foley over a year ago. Palmer categorically denies Fordham ever warned him about Foley.
*Updated:* MSNBC reports an anonymous House source confirms Palmer knew about (and spoke to Foley about) the pages long before last November. Drip, drip, drip!
Jump with me..
Seems that no two colleagues on the Hill work more closeley together than Hastert and his chief of staff:
There are plenty of odd couple Congressmen who have roomed together on Capitol Hill, but I have never heard of a chief of staff who rooms with his boss. It is beyond unusual. But it must have its advantages. Anything they forget to tell each other at the office, they have until bedtime to catch up on. And then there's breakfast for anything they forgot to tell each other before falling asleep. And then there's all day at the office. Hastert and Palmer are together more than any other co-workers in the Congress.
Interesting, huh? Makes it hard to believe that there's anything Palmer knows that Hastert doesn't. In fact, O'Donnell says:
If Fordhm did warn Palmer about Foley a long time ago, what are the odds that Palmer did not tell Hastert? As close to zero as you can get.
And this last fascinating jab...if Hastert does resign his speakership, who could possibly replace him?
For now, Hastert is holding on to the Speaker's office because the Republicans don't have anyone in the leadership who is squeaky clean enough to take the job. Every one of them is tainted by the Foley scandal or the Abramoff scandal or the DeLay scandal or, like Henry Hyde, has some ancient sexual indiscretion in his background. But if the press cracks Scott Palmer's denial of Kirk Fordham's bombshell, then Denny Hastert is going to have to pass the gavel to some freshman we've never heard of.
Sorry for the lack of real analysis. I hope you enjoy O'Donnell as much as I did this morning.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...