How Many Republicans Knew?

Josh Marshall has several posts up on the fast evolving GOP Sexploitationgate scandal. Josh highlighted this story in Roll Call: Chairman of the House Page Board, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) interviewed Foley last year about some of the contacts with the page. The House clerk, who is also a member of the Board, was also present. Speaker Hastert's office was informed of the interview, but according to GOP leadership sources who spoke to Roll Call, Hastert himself was not informed. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), the only Democrat on the Board, was not informed of the interview, according to Roll Call. Then Josh reported that Majority Leader Boehner - who admits being informed - developed a case of Contradictus Backpedallus about Speaker Haster's knowledge of events. Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker passes along this AP story: Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who sponsored the page from his district, told reporters that he learned of the e-mails from a reporter some months ago and passed on the information to Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Republican campaign organization [the National Republican Congressional Committee].So the only Democrat in a position to exercise proper oversight is kept in the dark by the Republican committee chair, but the Republican campaign operation gets to know about the story from the very start.