"Dale's a nice guy, but he's a Democrat, and I was afraid it would be blown out of proportion."

Foley Panel: GOP left pages vulnerable

WASHINGTON - Republican lawmakers and aides left male pages vulnerable to Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s improper sexual advances even though the first concerns surfaced more than a decade ago, the ethics committee said Friday in its report into an election-year scandal that convulsed the House.

...

The panel said it found no evidence that any current lawmakers or aides violated any rules, and recommended no sanctions in the case that cost Foley his seat in Congress and contributed to his party's defeat at the polls in last month's midterm elections.

...

After Foley resigned, Shimkus told another Republican member of the Page Board — Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia — why he never informed the Democratic member of the board, Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., about Foley.

Shimkus said, 'Dale's a nice guy, but he's a Democrat, and I was afraid it would be blown out of proportion."

Speaking about Republicans, the committee said it had found a "significant number of instances where members (of Congress), officers or employees fails to exercise appropriate diligence and oversight, or should have exercised greater diligence and oversight, regarding issues arising from the interaction between former Rep. Mark Foley and current or former House pages."