Tom Foley Makes It Worse. Dismisses Call to Unseal Records of Arrests.
Tom Foley fired back at his Republican rivals for governor this evening. Michael Fedele and Nelson “Oz” Griebel issued statements calling on Foley to provide more details on his arrests in 1981 and 1993 on charges related to the use of his motor vehicle. Foley says his opponents have deliberately misrepresented the 2 arrests.
Foley’s statement complains about the leaking to The Courant’s Jon Lender of a letter and documents his former wife sent to the governor’s office in 2002. He characterizes them as “confidential.” They are not. Virtually all the correspondence a governor (or other state official) receives falls within the public domain under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
The events after the 1981 party Foley attended in the Hamptons remain unclear, and Foley’s done nothing to cast some light. A routine fender bender would include parties summoning the police, waiting for them to arrive, and giving them the lowdown on what happened. One isn’t supposed to leave the scene of an accident until that’s done. For the police to summon Foley to their station the next day, charge him with serious offenses, and hold him overnight until, he says, a lawyer from New York City could arrive, suggests this was treated as something more than a routine traffic incident.
If Foley had been engaged in a routine incident that involved following too close to the vehicle in front of his, he would have been given a citation with a court date and sent on his way. Some type of investigation must have preceded the call to Foley to go to the local police station and be charged with charges serious enough for the police to hold him overnight in jail cell. Foley’s statement tonight says he was “retained” by the police. Oy, unless they hired him to perform a task, he was detained.
Routine traffic citations are not the stuff of court orders to seal. Foley’s version of events is confusing. He can clarify the contradictions in his story by seeking the release of the Southampton police report and court file. In addition, he could release the background investigation performed in conjunction with his nomination by George W. Bush to be ambassador to Ireland. That should include verification that he told autorities of the incident and what they discovered about it.
This is an important moment in Tom Foley’s short public political career. The standard cant of the public wanting to talk about issues that matter isn’t going to seal off simple questions about his conduct when he drives.
12 comments
Tommy, we hardly knew ye.
Next Kevin Fedele will be asking for DNA evidence on the matter. 1981 ? Really? Who cares. What an inconsequential story.
I’m with E on this story Kevin…in all honesty who gives a crap about an incident that happened almost 30 years ago. Did he kill someone like Teddy Kennedy? Nope. Did he get a nice new kitchen and bathroom in exchange for a lucrative contract? Nope. More than likely he got drunk, lost his temper, and made some stupid decisions…he was 20 something at the time. Did you do anything stupid in your 20’s Kevin? You were a public official…ever get drunk and drive? Or something even stupider? Why not talk about something of real value, like what the candidates are planning on actually doing if elected.
>>Did you do anything stupid in your 20′s ??
Who didn’t? But at 29?
And look at ACR — he continues to do stupid things even at 58.
^ and again at 41?
Doug, you’re almost 60 and you still do stupid things on a regular basis.
Kevin and Jon Blender must be rubbing dinkies again. When will you two clowns learn that Tom Foley has no ability to “unseal” and records. That’s the court’s call and the police department’s call. Kevin, you’re supposedly a lawyer and you should know better, stop muddying the waters just for the sake of continuing your drama. I also know that you know that the odds of finding any records for a crime that was not prosecuted THIRTY YEARS AGO is virtually non-existent so please spare us your childish, giddy-little-girl drama will you?
“Oy” as you say…….
My comment was not directed at Doug.
Sure we all make mistakes, but we all aren’t running for Governor. Foley is a real buckethead. Vote for him at your own risk!
Mine was.
And just like that POOF no more “story” all gone, nobody cares, over and done with. Looks like Blender and Rennie got what, two maybe three days out of this?
I’m sorta thinking it was a desperation move on the part of the Fedele campaign to boost their fund raising since they’re looking down the barrel of a shotgun that’s set to blow their heads off on July 12th. That’s the day that Fedele HAS to report how much money he’s raised so far. No way would Fedele use what he thought was a silver bullet this early in the primary contest. Oh wait, in order for him to even be in the primary contest, he has to get his taxpayer grant so public money can be used in his smear campaign. Fedele has probably already spent more than he’s raised so his staff including Doug “$1,000.00 a month for WHAT?” Hageman is working without getting paid. What a responsible way to run a campaign!
I was at a Republican Town Committee meeting tonight in a town that supported Fedele at the convention. The few who actually saw the Courant non-story were shaking their heads in disgust with Fedele and Grebal’s “reactions” then laughing at how ludicrous the whole thing was. Most people at the meeting hadn’t even heard about it which just goes to show how much respect people have for the Hartford Courant and Kevin Rennie, LOL!
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