GOP Attempting to Turn Foleygate on the Dems

The GOP is not taking the Foleygate accusations lightly, and is trying to turn the scandal back on the Dems, some of whom undoubtedly knew about the emails and IMs but kept that info under their hats until the right time to create the most political damage:

Top GOP leaders -- including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, of Illinois, and Majority Leader John Boehner, of Ohio -- have accused the Democrats of knowing about Foley's correspondences with teen pages, and waiting to release them until it was politically advantageous.

Democratic candidates are using the scandal as fodder in their campaign ads. Candidate Baron Hill, of Indiana, criticized Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Indiana, for refusing to return contributions "from the House leadership who knew about but did nothing to stop sexual predator Congressman Foley."

Pelosi, a California Democrat, also lobbed the accusation Thursday, saying, "Those who covered up Mark Foley's behavior must be held accountable," Reuters reported.

In a letter to Pelosi, which also was sent to Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Georgia, asked them to disclose whether Democrats played a role in publicizing Foley's correspondences.

"Just as it must be determined whether any Republican members or political operatives were aware of and attempted to conceal Mr. Foley's activities, it must also be determined whether any Democrat members or political operatives were aware of and attempted to conceal these same activities," Kingston wrote in a letter signed by 10 other GOP lawmakers.

There's a lot of idiocy going on with this, and neither side is going to come out looking well. The GOP probably didn't act as quickly as they should have to stop Foley, but if the Dems knew about it and held the info to make a political attack, they will be found equally liable.