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Jeff
Trandahl,
the
gay
former
clerk
of
the
U.S.
House
of
Representatives,
has
ended
his
public
silence
on
the
page
scandal
that
led
to
Republican
congressman
Mark
Foley’s
resignation
last
September.
Trandahl
told
an
audience
of
about
250
gays
and
lesbians
that
he
had
“dozens”
of
confrontations
with
Foley
over
the
years
in
an
effort
to
persuade
the
then
representative
from
Florida
to
stop
making
improper
advances
toward
House
pages.
Trandahl
gave
a
brief
account
of
his
interactions
with
Foley
during
a
gay
rights
panel
discussion
that
took
place
May
31
on
board
the
Queen
Mary
2
in
its
first
all-gay
trans-Atlantic
crossing.
Foley
resigned
from
Congress,
came
out
as
gay
and
entered
a
rehab
facility
after
sexually
explicit
text
messages
he
sent
to
male
teenagers
surfaced
in
the
news.
The
teenagers
were
between
the
ages
of
16
and
19
and
had
recently
completed
assignments
as
House
pages,
according
to
findings
of
an
investigation
by
the
House
Committee
on
Standards
of
Official
Conduct,
sometimes
known
as
the
House
Ethics
Committee.
The
committee
found
that
Foley
began
sending
solicitous
but
non-sexually
explicit
e-mails
to
the
teens
while
they
were
still
pages,
an
action
it
called
a
breach
of
proper
behavior
that
could
have
led
to
disciplinary
action
had
Foley
not
resigned.
The
Florida
Attorney
General’s
office
and
the
FBI
continue
to
investigate
Foley
for
possible
criminal
charges
under
Florida
law
in
connection
with
his
alleged
sexually
explicit
messages
to
former
pages
through
the
Internet.
“Foley
was
a
ticking
time
bomb,”
Trandahl
said.
“His
case
shows
how
dangerous
closeted
gays
can
be
for
openly
gay
people.”
As
House
clerk
from
1998
through
November
2005,
Trandahl
had
oversight
authority
over
the
page
program.
Investigators
with
the
House
ethics
committee
have
said
Trandahl
repeatedly
urged
staff
members
of
House
GOP
leaders
to
rein
in
Foley’s
inappropriate
behavior.
In
a
separate
development,
Justice
Department
investigators
on
June
5
informed
former
U.S.
Rep.
Jim
Kolbe
(R-Ariz.),
who
is
gay,
that
they
found
no
wrongdoing
in
an
“inquiry”
into
allegations
that
Kolbe
had
inappropriate
relationships
with
House
pages,
Kolbe’s
attorneys
said.
“We
were
informed
yesterday
afternoon
that
the
Department
of
Justice
has
completed
its
preliminary
inquiry
into
allegations
relating
to
former
Congressman
Jim
Kolbe
and
has
declined
further
investigation,”
attorneys
Reginald
Brown
and
Brent
Gurney
said
in
a
June
6
statement.
“Congressman
Kolbe
cooperated
with
the
inquiry,
which
was
led
by
career
prosecutors
and
conducted
in
a
thorough
and
professional
manor,”
the
two
attorneys
said.
“He
is
gratified
that
the
inquiry
has
concluded
with
no
finding
of
wrongdoing.”
Kolbe
became
linked
to
the
page
scandal
last
October
when
NBC
News
reported
that
federal
prosecutors
were
looking
into
allegations
that
he
acted
inappropriately
with
a
17-year-old
former
page
during
a
July
1996
camping
trip
that
Kolbe
organized
at
the
Grand
Canyon
in
Arizona.
NBC
News
quoted
an
unnamed
participant
in
the
camping
trip
as
saying
that
Kolbe
exhibited
a
lot
of
“fawning,
petting
and
touching”
on
the
arms,
shoulders
and
back
of
the
17-year-old.
Kolbe
denied
he
acted
inappropriately
toward
the
teenager
and
others
participating
in
the
Grand
Canyon
outing,
including
Kolbe’s
sister,
who
insisted
Kolbe
acted
like
a
“gentleman”
at
all
times
and
never
engaged
in
improper
behavior.
Kolbe,
64,
was
the
only
openly
gay
Republican
member
of
Congress.
He
announced
before
allegations
surrounding
the
camping
trip
surfaced
that
he
would
not
seek
election
to
another
term
and
would
retire
from
Congress
at
the
end
of
2006.
He
now
works
as
a
fellow
at
the
German
Marshall
Fund
think
tank
and
serves
as
a
consultant
with
former
Secretary
of
State
Henry
Kissinger’s
consulting
group
on
issues
related
to
trade,
U.S.
foreign
aid
and
immigration.
“When
allegations
involving
me
first
appeared,
I
said
I
was
confident
that
with
appropriate
due
process
it
would
be
demonstrated
that
they
had
no
basis
and
that
I
acted
appropriately,”
Kolbe
said
in
a
statement
June
6.
“Yesterday’s
action
by
the
Justice
Department
is
powerful
evidence
that
the
allegations
of
wrongdoing
were
unfounded,”
he
said.
“I
am
thankful
for
the
Department’s
objective
review
of
this
matter
and
glad
to
have
finally
put
this
issue
to
rest.”
His
attorneys
said
Kolbe
would
have
no
further
comment
beyond
his
written
statement.
Trandahl
told
the
Queen
Mary
2
audience
that
he
opposes
outing
public
officials,
but
said
that
it
is
important
for
gays
and
lesbians
to
be
out
at
work.
Trandahl
also
criticized
mainstream
media
coverage
of
the
Foley
scandal,
saying
he
was
demonized
in
some
accounts.
Trandahl,
a
Republican,
now
holds
the
post
of
executive
director
of
the
National
Fish
&
Wildlife
Foundation
and
is
on
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
board.
Trandahl
and
...
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