Saturday, October 7
WHO IS JEFF TRANDAHL?
We've yet to hear from House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, but he's increasingly appearing to be a key factor in the Mark Foley case:
Hastert's office contends that the first confrontation with Foley occurred in November 2005, when Shimkus, the head of the House Page Board, and then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl took Foley aside to discuss what they termed "over-friendly" e-mails that Foley had sent to a Louisiana boy. Fordham's account not only pushed the matter back at least two years but also indicated that alarms over Foley's behavior had gone well beyond bland e-mails.
Sources close to Fordham say Trandahl repeatedly urged the longtime aide and close family friend to confront Foley about his inappropriate advances on pages. Each time, Foley pledged to no longer socialize with the teenagers, but, weeks later, Trandahl would again alert Fordham about more contacts. Out of frustration, the sources said, Fordham contacted Palmer, hoping that an intervention from such a powerful figure in the House would persuade Foley to stop.
...
Palmer, who shares a townhouse with Hastert when they are in town, is more powerful than all but a few House members. Members know that he speaks for Hastert.
The divergent accounts have highlighted the holes in the public's understanding of Foley's undoing. And they are sure to ratchet up the pressure on Trandahl to come forward with his knowledge of events. As House clerk between January 1999 and November 2005, Trandahl had direct control over the page program.
...
Trandahl's departure came within days of his confrontation with Foley over e-mails that the congressman had sent a former page.
...
Lilly said: "He seemed to suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke."
More:
http://nomoreapples.blogspot.com/2006/10/who-is-jeff-trandahl.htmlSee also:
Hello 2001-2003 pages and those interested in the House Page Program,
I was fired from the House Page Program on June 11, 2003 after almost two academic years of devoted service.
I am writing this to tell my side of the story to my former colleagues and to affect some positive change in the Page Program. I intend to professionally and constructively criticize my former employer. In doing so, I have decided to remove the Page Program from my resume.
I am first and foremost an educator boys and girls, don't ever do this unless you are absolutely certain that you will never need a reference from a former employer. Also, be aware that a letter like this could wind up in your current employers hands. Im not worried about that because Im proud of this document, and my current employer has already reviewed it. (I now teach at a very progressive school).
Please note that I have made every effort to be factual. In the interest of full disclosure, I applied for the position of Page School science teacher last summer, and the job was given to Tom Levatino.
<snip>
My supervisor, House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, asserted that I was fired because I falsified the study hall sign-in sheet, and hence I jeopardized the entire Page Program. However, the intent of the study hall sign-in sheet is not to account for the whereabouts of the pages, but simply to take attendance in study hall. The study hall sign-in sheets are not archived. The sign-in sheet in the front office is the official record of the whereabouts of the pages. The front office sign-in sheets are archived. Jenelle Pulis, who manages the page dorm, asserted that these records were never compromised. The whereabouts of the pages was never in doubt, and any page could have been found in an emergency. When I asked Jeff Trandahl to detail exactly how I jeopardized the entire page program, the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives offered the following, and I could not make this up if I tried: if a bomb went off in the Page Dorm office, destroying the front desk sign-in sheet, the falsified study hall sign-in sheet, if it had survived the blast, could compromise the program.
Incidentally, that was not the most incredulous statement that Jeff Trandahl spoke to me. As I was walking out of his office for the very last time -- and again I couldnt make this up if I tried -- after he fired me, his last words were: Come back and visit some time.
More:
http://members.tripod.com/secretpage_1/
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