Vito's Vote, Finally

Rep. Vito Fossella finally tells us he voted Yes on the DeLay Rule in House Republican Caucus November 17. That's the rule that allows members to remain in leadership after they've been indicted, the one even John Podhoretz and David Brooks flagged as a sign of Republican hubris and a danger to members in swing districts like, say, Staten Island. "I was in support of the move," Fossella told us this morning at the Sheraton New York Hotel. "The fundamental morality in this country is you're innocent until proven guilty." A fine sentiment. But if he was proud of this vote, or didn't think it was a political liability, do you think his press secretary, Craig Donner, would have ignored six phone calls and two emails on this question? Not that I was counting.