Kirk Fordham

Kirk Fordham (born April 4 1967 in Rochester, New York, USA) has served on the staff of various U.S. Republican Party politicians. Fordham was largely unknown outside Washington until he found himself in the middle of the Mark Foley scandal.

Fordham had worked for Foley, as his chief of staff and campaign manager from 1995 to 2004. Later, he was chief of staff to U.S. Representative Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY), who, in 2006, was also the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Early life and career

Fordham is a graduate of Greece Olympia High School in Greece, N.Y. In 1989 he received a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

He got his start in politics an intern for his congressman, one-term Republican Fred J. Eckert [cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fordham5oct05,1,4878747.story | title=Onetime Loyal Aide Now Stands to Undermine GOP | author=Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger | publisher=Los Angeles Times | date=October 5 2006 (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)] . He worked for then Rep. James Inhofe from 1989 to 1994 as his Legislative Director and Deputy Chief of Staff. [cite news | url=http://www.cantorforcongress.com/news/2006/june/chiefs_of_staff.htm | title=Republican Chiefs of Staff in the House (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)] In 1994 he managed the first congressional campaign of Foley, became his chief of staff, and stayed with him for 10 years.

From January 2004 to January 2005 he served as the finance director for Senator Mel Martinez [cite news | url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2004/7-23/news/national/antigaysen.cfm | title=Anti-gay Senate candidate has two gay advisers]

In 2005, Fordham was National Field Director for the DCI Group, a public and government affairs firm with close ties to the Republican Party.

In January 2007, Fordham launched his own public affairs and government relations firm, called Rock Creek Strategies. [ [http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/27779 Foley Scandal Figure Makes Comeback | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ] ]

Involvement in Mark Foley scandal

Fordham, with a decade-plus working relationship with Foley, and close personal friends of Foley and his sister, emerged as a central player in the scandal. According to the Los Angeles Times Foley was well known for approaching young men in Washington, and Fordham would sometimes accompany him to keep him out of trouble. [cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-foley3oct03,0,7011268.story?coll=la-home-headlines | title=Foley Saga No Shock to Some |date=October 3 2006 | author=Noam N. Levey, Maura Reynolds and Richard B. Schmitt | publisher=Los Angeles Times (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)] [cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fordham4oct04,1,4419993.story?coll=la-headlines-nation | title=Aide at Center of the Controversy |date=October 4 2006 | author=Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger | publisher=Los Angeles Times (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)]

When ABC news was about to break the story on Foley's instant messages, Fordham offered ABC News a deal, asking that they refrain from publishing explicit messages from Foley to young male pages, in exchange for an exclusive story on Foley's resignation. [cite news | url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/top_gop_staffer.html |title= Top GOP Staffer Forced Out for Role in Page Scandal] [cite news | url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/forced_out_staf.html |title=Forced Out Staffer Issues Statement] After it became public, Fordham was then instrumental in arranging Foley's resignation. Questions were then raised about Reynolds' role, and on 4 October 2006, Fordham resigned as Reynolds' Chief of Staff. [cite news | http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/04/foley.ap/index.html |title=All Foley records ordered preserved; former aide resigns] It was reported that in the spring of 2006 Fordham had urged Republican leaders not to raise questionable Foley e-mails with the full Congressional Page Board. On the other hand, Fordham claimed that he had raised the issue with the staff of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert more than three years prior -- before Fordham left his post as Foley's aide in January 2004 -- but that little had been done. [cite news | url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4236273.html |title=Aide says he reported Foley 2 years ago (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)] Hastert's Chief of Staff Scott Palmer denied this assertion. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20061005/pl_usnw/statement_from_speaker_s_chief_of_staff_scott_palmer_to_speaker_hastert330_xml Yahoo News] (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)]

In December 2006, The House Ethics Committee released their report on the Foley scandal and found Fordham's testimony to be credible. The report suggested Fordham had been truthful when he testified he had informed Palmer of Foley's inappropriate behavior toward young male staffers and pages. At the same time, the ethics report indicates that Hastert and Palmer may not have been truthful about their handling of the Foley matter, although the committee did not formally reprimand them. [ [http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/20611 Panel Hits Hastert, Staff | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ] ] [ [http://www.rollcall.com/issues/52_113/news/18123-1.html Foley Scandal Figure Makes Comeback ] ]

References