Free Republic

Ever since my congressman, Vito Fossella, was arrested on a DWI last Thursday, the local papers were spreading gossip about Fossella's love child with the woman who bailed him out of jail.

When cops stopped Rep. Vito Fossella for drunken driving, the married congressman said he was rushing to see his sick daughter on nearby Grimm St. - the home of the mystery woman who later plucked him from jail. Fossella's spokeswoman has insisted the single mom, Air Force Col. Laura Fay, 45, was only a "good friend," but the Staten Island Republican implied to suburban D.C. cops that Fay's 3-year-old was his. "The subject stated that he was driving down from Washington, D.C., to Grimm St. because his daughter was sick and needed to go to the hospital," a police report...

The mystery woman who last week signed Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella out of jail following his drunken-driving arrest gave up her own promising intelligence career at the Pentagon when she couldn't juggle the demands of raising a daughter on her own, her relatives said. Laura Fay, 45, a comely blonde with two failed marriages, kept a low profile yesterday as questions con tinued to haunt the one-time Air Force colonel over her relationship with Fossella.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Vito Fossella, who has been mentioned as a possible Republican rival for Mayor Bloomberg in the 2005 race for City Hall, said yesterday he has no intention of running. "I have no plans, no, never had any intention, no plans to run for mayor," he said. Fossella (Staten Island/Brooklyn) joined Bloomberg in Washington yesterday to help lobby legislators for more homeland security and transportation funds. "I've been supportive of Mike Bloomberg and continue to be supportive of Mike Bloomberg for mayor," Fossella said. Asked whether he will endorse Bloomberg for reelection, Fossella said: "I see that."...

When Representative Vito J. Fossella strode into a Staten Island senior center on a recent snowy afternoon, he was greeted as something of a conquering hero. After entering the dining area, he was introduced by the center's director, who mentioned that he was a possible candidate for mayor. "Maybe he'll run for mayor and we can get rid of Bloomberg," the director said. With that, the group of about 50 people erupted with wild cheers and sustained applause. It is not uncommon these days for Mr. Fossella, a Republican from Staten Island, to be described as a possible challenger to...