Boehner and Ex-Clerk of House Testify

Trandahl's testimony is considered crucial in either bolstering or challenging that of Kirk Fordham, a former Foley chief of staff who testified before the ethics subcommittee last week. Fordham has said that Trandahl repeatedly urged him to rein in Foley, who was showing inappropriate attention to male pages on Capitol Hill. Fordham has said that he eventually appealed for help from Palmer, a powerful Hastert aide respected and feared by many lawmakers.

Fordham said Palmer later reported that he had met with Foley about the problem and had alerted Hastert. Palmer has issued a seven-word statement: "What Kirk Fordham said did not happen."

Fordham's attorney, Timothy J. Heaphy, said yesterday that he expected Trandahl to have corroborated his client's statement: that the then-clerk had repeatedly alerted Fordham about Foley's overly friendly behavior toward pages, long before top House leaders say the matter came to their attention. "I always believed he would say that," Heaphy said in an interview.

Craig Shniderman, a Trandahl friend who directs the Washington charity Food & Friends, said that, of all his responsibilities as House clerk, Trandahl viewed the care of the pages as his biggest.

Republican insiders say that they are perplexed and troubled by conflicting accounts stemming from the scandal, especially the differences between Fordham and Palmer. Both men are described as truthful, conscientious staffers who are too smart and honest to try to mislead the FBI or the ethics committee.

Some GOP staffers wonder whether their differences result from misunderstandings or faulty memories. One veteran congressional aide said Palmer handles a huge load of issues for Hastert, including matters of policy, legislation, budgets, office allocations and staffing levels. House members and employees constantly approach him with problems and requests, the aide said, and it is possible that Palmer feels he had "dealt with" complaints about Foley in a way that fell short of other people's expectations and understanding.

Staff writer Jonathan Weisman contributed to this report.