Today we have more on Jordon Edmund, the page that fmr rep. Foley had contact with.

“A former U.S. House page working on the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Rep. Ernest Istook may be a part of the scandal involving former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, The Oklahoman has learned.

The former page, a Californian named Jordan Edmund, 21, on Wednesday hired Enid attorney Stephen Jones to represent him, the attorney confirmed.

Jones would not say exactly why he was hired, but did say, ‚ÄúI understand the FBI and the House Ethics committee have an interest in the matter … the allegations concerning Congressman Foley which have surfaced.‚Äù

Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned abruptly Friday after it was learned he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with former pages. The FBI is investigating.

Istook’s campaign manager, Chip Englander, who also is from California, declined comment Wednesday to an Oklahoman reporter.

However, Englander gave The Oklahoman a statement that was attributed to Istook.

The statement says: “The sad and sick behavior of Mark Foley was a total surprise to me when it was revealed. Law enforcement is doing its job, and I support that effort. Now we should all support and protect the victims, and they should not be hounded by the press.

“It was a complete surprise to learn this morning that one victim may be someone I know. Each one of the victims deserves their privacy. To every reporter I request, please have the decency to avoid making things worse for the victims, and just leave them alone. This happened years ago when the victims were minors.”

Reached at his home, Istook referred to the prepared statement.

Edmund’s name surfaced on Internet blogs that linked him to the instant message address used in communications with Foley.

One blogger got the instant message address from the Web site of ABC News, which has obtained the instant messages sent between Foley and a former page.

In the sequence of messages identified by the blogger, Foley tells the person to “strip down and get relaxed.”

It is not clear whether Foley’s other instant messages, including one in which he apparently conducted “instant message” sex with a person, were all to the same person.

Asked why Edmund needed an attorney, Jones said, “You read the blogs. You know why he needs an attorney.”

Jones, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in his murder trial in Denver, confirmed Edmund was a U.S. House page.”

I’m a little surprised that he would hire a criminal attorney as well, but since this is new I have to do some further checking, but as this story goes on it lends to my original thesis that there is a greater than Foley here. Subsequently, those who are calling it an act of the Devil that the Edumunds was “outed”, really need to hold their water for a while, as there is a lot more than they realize.

I referenced this American Prowler article at the bottom of the last post. Let’s look at it again as there are indications that today we are going to see “extreme” positioning and “blacking off” of the story by Democrats:

“They’ll Regret It

“We’re getting into very dangerous territory, and I’ve warned my colleagues to be careful.” That’s what a Democrat leadership aide was saying on Wednesday, as word circulated about David Corn’s blog posting that revealed that a list of gay Republicans congressional staffers was circulating through emails.

Such a list has been talked about for months, if not years, by more militant homosexual activists, who have threatened to out Republican congressional staffers or even congressmen if they take positions counter to their gay lifestyle.

Now, in the wake of the Rep. Mark Foley scandal, a form of “the list” is again circulating among journalists and any other interested third parties.

“If that list is made public, all of the political gains we’ve made in the past 96 hours get flushed down the toilet,” says the leadership aide.

Just as troubling are concerns among some House Democrat staff that there are potential scandals lurking of a similar vein for them. According to another Democrat source, “I’ve been warning my people to stay away from this story because you just don’t know what will come back to bite you.”

Of concern: that House Democrat leadership or Rep. Dale Kildee (Mich.), the Democrat member of the page board, who has served on it since 1985, or his staff have received complaints about Democrat colleagues’ perceived inappropriate communications or contact with pages or former pages, and have not brought those complaints to the board or House management, such as the House Clerk’s office. Kildee has been vocal about the Foley complaints not being brought before the full board prior to the scandal breaking, and the secretive nature of the Republican leadership’s attempts to bring closure to the scandal.

“We all know this kind of scandal isn’t just a Republican problem,” says a Democrat political consultant in Washington. “We don’t want to see what is out there about Democratic House members or former members.”

Some of my conservative friends on the right think all this “digging into the story” is useless and counter productive and hoisting the flag of want the entire Republican leadership to step down. I’m all for accountability, but at this point it seems that some are taking the word of the press over the word of their elected leaders (strange eh?), and quite frankly I think many of them are still sore over Dubai, and Fences, and Katrina, and spending and a hundred and one other ways they feel betrayed over.

Fact is that all this armchair quarterbacking is stupid at this point. For what we know now, based on what they knew at the time the leadership followed the procedures. Could’ve they, should’ve they? Again, it’s a stupid exercise.

Moreover, I question they’re “judgement” as they know that mass resignations at this point will give Democrats the control of the house and most likely the Senate and place this country’s security in danger for the next two years as they detract and distract the President from protecting the country. Sorry, not worth the risk. get over it

Foley’s gone, and I might add good riddance. But we can’t give up the asylum to the idiots, especially when the idiots along with outside enablers cooked up the whole “outing” in the first place, and that is becoming increasingly clear as more and more will be uncovered.

As I said before, while we know this whole thing isn’t good for Republicans, some Democrats are getting extremely nervous at this whole thing and really kind of wish the whole thing would go away before one of their own get’s caught with their pants down as well.

UPDATE I: Good to hear that not all Republicans are falling on the sword.

“North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry called on Democratic leaders yesterday to testify under oath about when they knew of former Rep. Mark Foley‚Äôs (R-Fla.) Internet communications with a House page.

Writing to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), McHenry questioned whether Democrats had a role in publicizing the e-mails, which broke in the middle of the fall election season creating a furor rarely seen in congressional politics.

“Is the American public to believe that neither of you nor your staffs nor anyone associated with your staffs had prior knowledge or involvement with the release of Foley’s e-mails and/or explicit instant messages? Is the American public to believe that ABC News stumbled haphazardly on this story without Democratic assistance?” wrote McHenry, a freshman Republican who has emerged as an attack dog for the GOP.

He asked that Pelosi and Emanuel offer a “yes or no” answer as to whether they would go under oath “to assure the American people that neither you nor your staffs had prior knowledge or involvement — at the strategic or tactical levels — with the release of Foley’s e-mails and/or instant messages.”

Pelosi’s office rejected the call, citing it was “posturing”, but they may not have a choice as the Ethic’s Committee that in the case that there was “resistance”, subpoenas would be issued.

Again, we are still awaiting the identity of the “Senior Democrat” who had knowlede of Foley’s activities and might have played a “coordinating role” with ABC News as the timing of the story.

UPDATE II: AJ Strata has a good timeline on “Foley Gate”.

Also Gateway Pundit notes that Madam Pelosi is refusing to take a polygraph.