Congressional GOPers Set Deadline For Fossella Resignation
Rep. King Tells Fellow Republicans To Back Off
POSTED: 10:28 pm EDT May 9,
2008
UPDATED: 9:57 am EDT May 10,
2008
NEW YORK -- Congressional Republicans have given embattled Rep. Vito Fossella until the end of the weekend to resign, News4 reported on Friday.An advisor to Fossella told News 4's Andrew Siff that the congressman spent the day on Staten Island in seclusion with his family, adding that Fossella has no public schedule this weekend.
DeDapper's Blog: Fossella Resignation Could Come Soon
If Fossella steps down by July 1, Gov. David Paterson can order a special election.One prominent lawmaker, however, has asked fellow Republicans to back off their demands that Fossella step down. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island congressman, and a longtime friend and ally of Fossellas, told his fellow Republicans, in so many words, to back off."I think it's really wrong for people in the Republican leadership -- or behind-the-scenes operators, who claim to be his friends, to try and put this pressure on him," he said. "The world is not going to end if Vito Fossella takes another four or five days to make up his mind."The tabloids had a field day on Friday with Fossella's now-much-discussed admission of a secret family in the Washington, D.C. area -- an affair the congressman revealed only when pressed for details about allegedly running a red light last week while drunk behind the wheel."He has kind of gone into the bunker, and he needs to come out soon and decide what he's going to do," said Republican media consultant Andrea Tantaros.The once-rising star and New York City's only Republican in congress was not getting a break from his hometown paper, the Staten Island Advance. In a Friday editorial, the paper wrote, "When you are forced -- by events, not personal integrity -- to make two public statements within a week of apologizing, your viability as a public official is finished."The scandal prompted Congressional Quarterly late Friday to change the status of the 13th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, from "safe Republican" to "no clear favorite" this fall.
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DeDapper's Blog: Fossella Resignation Could Come Soon
If Fossella steps down by July 1, Gov. David Paterson can order a special election.One prominent lawmaker, however, has asked fellow Republicans to back off their demands that Fossella step down. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island congressman, and a longtime friend and ally of Fossellas, told his fellow Republicans, in so many words, to back off."I think it's really wrong for people in the Republican leadership -- or behind-the-scenes operators, who claim to be his friends, to try and put this pressure on him," he said. "The world is not going to end if Vito Fossella takes another four or five days to make up his mind."The tabloids had a field day on Friday with Fossella's now-much-discussed admission of a secret family in the Washington, D.C. area -- an affair the congressman revealed only when pressed for details about allegedly running a red light last week while drunk behind the wheel."He has kind of gone into the bunker, and he needs to come out soon and decide what he's going to do," said Republican media consultant Andrea Tantaros.The once-rising star and New York City's only Republican in congress was not getting a break from his hometown paper, the Staten Island Advance. In a Friday editorial, the paper wrote, "When you are forced -- by events, not personal integrity -- to make two public statements within a week of apologizing, your viability as a public official is finished."The scandal prompted Congressional Quarterly late Friday to change the status of the 13th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, from "safe Republican" to "no clear favorite" this fall.
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