McCain: The House can't investigate Foleygate itself

The Arizona senator suggests that Republican House leaders aren't "credible" enough to do it on their own.

Published October 4, 2006 7:36PM (EDT)

When Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin suggested earlier this week that Rep. John Shimkus should resign as the head of the House Page Board, Shimkus responded by saying that Durbin "ought to keep his nose out of House business and be the Democratic leader of the minority party in the Senate."

We wonder if he's ready to get so snippy with John McCain. As the Associated Press reports, McCain is raising questions about the ability of House Republicans to handle Foleygate without some guidance from grown-ups outside.

During a campaign appearance today with Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who acknowledged that he's worried that the Foley scandal will hurt his chances for reelection, McCain suggested that House Speaker Dennis Hastert meet with House Democrats to name a handful of respected Capitol Hill alumni to conduct a quick investigation into what went wrong. McCain mentioned former Sen. Warren Rudman and former Rep. and 9/11 Committee co-chairman Lee Hamilton as the kind of people he had in mind.

"We need to move forward quickly and we need to reach conclusions and recommendations about who is responsible," McCain said. "I think it needs to be addressed by people who are credible."

We're not sure, but we think that's French for "Not you, Shimkus."


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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2006 Elections John Mccain R-ariz. Roy Ashburn