House ethics panel set for Foley hearing News
House ethics panel set for Foley hearing

[JURIST] The US House Ethics Committee [official website] will hold hearings Thursday on the Mark Foley scandal [JURIST news archive]. Former Foley chief of staff Kirk Fordham is set to testify about when he notified the staff of US House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) [official website] about Foley's inappropriate behavior. Fordham has maintained he notified Hastert in either 2002 or 2003, while Hastert's chief of staff Scott Palmer claims that he did not receive warnings about Foley until the fall of 2005, when US Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA) [official website] told the Speaker's office about a questionable, but not sexually explicit, Foley email.

Hastert has come under fire [BBC report] after allegations that he had prior knowledge of the sexually explicit e-mails sent from Foley to teenage males in the House Page program [PDF backgrounder]. Hastert disputes claims by Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) [official websites], the House Republican campaign chairman, that Boehner and Reynolds warned Hastert of Foley months before Foley resigned [Reuters report]. The ethics committee has not yet scheduled Hastert to testify, though Hastert has said he will provide full testimony if subpoenaed. The committee issued four dozen subpoenas [JURIST report] last week. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.