The Washington Post is Reporting that it was Indiana's Mike Pence that exposed the Affair of Indiana's Mark Souder, reporting him to the House Ethics Committee when he learned the affair was with a staffer.
Asked by NBC's Luke Russert what he knew of the situation, Pence said,
"I was approached by a journalist I think Wednesday of last week who asked if I had heard anything about my colleague," said Pence. "I indicated that I hadn't."
But I did approach Mr. Souder on Thursday on the House floor to inform him of that inquiry, and it was at that point that he shared the fact that he had been involved in an extramarital affair.
He claims it wasn't until Sunday that he learned the affair was actually with a staff employee of Souder's, after being notified in a Phone call from Souder, as the Post Reports:
"In response to a general media inquiry, Mr. Pence confronted Mr. Souder on Thursday. Mr. Souder confessed to an affair, but did not mention that it was with a part-time staff member. It was not until Sunday evening that Mr. Souder called Mr. Pence to inform him that the affair was with a part-time staff member. Mr. Pence encouraged Mr. Souder to resign immediately and notified ethics on Monday."
So Pence reported the scandal as soon as he got the full details; Souder resigned the next day.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...
This runs counter to an earlier diary today, claiming that it was State Senator Marlin Stutzman that exposed him, and rumors I had heard that Chris Chocola was involved. Some blogs in Northern Indiana were reporting earlier that it may have been Primary loser Bob Thomas, as well.
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AS FAR as replacements for Souder go, the field is getting crowded, fast.
There is no Primary, and it will be a free-for-all.
Marlin Stutzman will officially declare as a candidate on Thursday, Wes Crowder, Bob Thomas, Club-For-Growth Pres and fmr IN-2 Congressman Chris Chocola, and a whole host of other folks are anouncing at least interest.
The GOP, unfortunately, has a VERY deep bench in this part of the state, and a LOT of people interested in running. Unfortunately for them, this could open the door for a Conservative Democrat to slip in to the seat, something I didn't think possible this afternoon.
Democrats in Indiana are likely to stick with Tom Hayhurst, I think, who won the party’s nomination two weeks ago against nominal opposition.
I'm hearing other names like Liz Brown, Fort Wayne City Council-at large rumored to be interested, and local TV anchor Ryan Elijah has also been rumored to be interested in the seat for 4 or 5 years now.