Following the leak of a video of Louisiana Representative Vance McAllister kissing a staff member, the office of the politician issued a statement on Wednesday that he will not be ordering a federal probe on the release of the damaging video.
The statement read, "Congressman McAllister's office will not pursue an FBI investigation at this time regarding the distribution of a video filmed in leased federal office space. Congressman McAllister is focused on earning back the trust of those he has disappointed, and he reiterates his request for privacy for his family during this difficult period."
The Christian Science Monitor said that the report also put silence to earlier reports that the senator might be asking for help from the Capitol Police, and not the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on tracking the individual or the group responsible for the leak. The online news site pointed out that the Capitol Police would be the first appropriate federal entity to respond security concerns for US Congress members.
On the other hand, CS Monitor believes that McAllister's call on the probe is a wise one, considering how political sex scandals rarely leave careers unscathed. This is because McAllister's best chance to regain back the graces of those he serve would be playing the card wherein he frames the video leak as a conspiracy that was carried out by partisan enemies. Moreover, regardless of whether who's responsible for the leak, CS Monitor said McAllister might need to thread carefully, with its next statements at least, in order to keep his congressional future. Also, his FBI blunder might not go away, as some journalists and political experts had noted.
senior opinion editor Emily Miller of The Washington Times tweeted of the possible probe, which read, "Dumb move. Extends news cycle of his cheating."
Political reporter Michael Barbaro for The New York Times chimed in in a separate tweet, which read, "Something tells me the source of the leaked video is not the question most voters wanted answered in this case."
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