And just like that we see that Lawrence O'Donnell was right and I, in my easy cynicism, was wrong. From tomorrow's The Hill newspaper:

The source who in July gave news media Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-Fla.) suspect e-mails to a former House page says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide.

That aide has been a registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote, said the source, who showed The Hill public records supporting his claim.

The same source, who acted as an intermediary between the aide-turned-whistleblower and several news outlets, says the person who shared the documents is no longer employed in the House.

But the whistleblower was a paid GOP staffer when the documents were first given to the media.

The source bolstered the claim by sharing un-redacted e-mails in which the former page first alerted his congressional sponsor’s office of Foley’s attentions. The copies of these e-mails, now available to the public, have the names of senders and recipients blotted out.

I thought it likely it was a Democrat. Apparently not.

Whoever is doing this, kudos: this is fucking brilliant political theater. The story hits just as Congress goes into recess. It comes in segments of rising intensity. The GOP counterattacks, seeking to blame Democrats. And bang, the hammer comes down.

Okay, in reality the timing would be as much serendipity as planning but still. Damn.

(Thanks to MyDD for the link.)

This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on Wednesday, October 04, 2006. You can leave your response.