Not only that, but they never told her about the Foley emails.
From the Charleston (WV) Gazette:
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says she was not told about suggestive e-mails that a Florida congressman sent to a 16-year-old former Capitol page, even though she is one of three representatives who oversee the page program....
Several high-ranking House Republicans have known about the e-mails for months, including Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the House Page Board.
Late last year, Shimkus met with Foley about the e-mails. But Shimkus never told Capito or the board’s other member, Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., about them until Friday, according to all three.
“There’s only three of us on the page board. I feel that we should have been informed,” Capito said. “I’m absolutely disgusted by what I’m hearing. I was caught totally unaware.”
Foley sent the e-mails to a former page from Louisiana about one year ago. Foley wrote, “send me an email pic of you as well” and “what do you want for your birthday coming up?” according to ABC News.
Foley also comments on another page, saying he “acts much older than his age...and he’s in really good shape.”
The teen forwarded the e-mails to someone else and wrote, “Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out,” and that one e-mail was “sick, sick, sick, sick, sick.”
Capito said she would have been very concerned if she had read those e-mails.
“I don’t think it would pass the sniff test,” she said. “Even asking those questions — that is not normal between a 52-year-old adult and a 16-year-old. It’s not like they’re family friends or anything. I think it would raise some serious questions. But I wasn’t given that opportunity.”
Late last year, Shimkus and former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl met privately with Foley to talk about the e-mails. They did not tell the other House Page Board members or launch an investigation.
“My evaluation was there’s no smoking gun here,” Shimkus told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. “At the time, that e-mail had no significance ... other than ‘Mark, stay away from this kid; this doesn’t look good.’”
Shimkus added: “I think, based on the information I had, what I did was fine. If I regret something, maybe I should have had Dale [Kildee] with me because now it’s going to be a political football.”
Shimkus said he did not know about sexually explicit instant messages that Foley allegedly sent to a former page. According to ABC News, one asked, “Do I make you a little horny?” and another said, “You in your boxers, too? ... Well, strip down and get relaxed.”
Capito said she heard about the explicit e-mails and instant messages from the media. She heard Friday afternoon that Foley resigned and then found Shimkus waiting for her in her office. That’s when she discovered that Shimkus and other Republican House leaders already knew about some of the e-mails, she said.
“I was astounded he knew about this before,” Capito said. “I thought they were as surprised as I was.”
Friday night, Capito and Shimkus went to visit the pages, who stay in a Washington dorm.
