Hill Republicans, trying to find a bit of silver lining in the cloudiest of issues, are digging into the ethics committee’s findings on the Mark Foley case. One sent along the following to show that there were, after all, DCCC fingerprints on the case.

First, DCCC chair Rahm Emanuel on “This Week” after the scandal broke on September. Below that, excerpts from pages 45-46 of the ethics committee’s report.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS)

(OC) All week long there have been suggestions by – on talk radio and by Republicans and their allies that this was perhaps a Democratic dirty trick. And I just want to ask you plainly, did you or your staff know anything…

REP RAHM EMANUEL (CHAIR DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE)

No.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS)

(OC) About these e-mails or instant messages before they came out?

REP RAHM EMANUEL (CHAIR DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE)

George, never saw them. And I’m going to say one thing, let’s go through the facts right here. . .

From the report: Upon receiving the e-mails, Halliwell fowarded them to her boyfriend, Justin Field, who then worked for the House Democratic Caucus, and also to her boss, Mike Grisso, a registered lobbyist. Field was disturbed by the nature of the e-mails, and shortly after he received them, he shared them with his friend and colleague, Matt Miller, who was then the communications director for the Democratic Caucus. The two discussed the nature of the e-mails and possible actions. Miller believed that the e-mails were inappropriate, and suggested that they be given to the press. Miller testified that he considered providing the e-mails to the Committee on Standards or to the Page Board, but feared that “nothing would come” of such action. He says that he also considered providing them to law enforcement, but believed that the e-mails, though inappropriate, did not evidence the commission of a crime. Miller testified that in approximately November 2005, he redacted Savoy’s email address and Field’s name from the top of a printed copy of the emails and faxed them to reporters that he knew at both the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times. Miller said that later in November or in December, he also provided the emails to a reporter from Roll Call. Both Field and Miller testified that neither then Rep. Menendez, who was then the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, nor any other person in the office of the Democratic Caucus, was provided with the emails or was involved in the decision to provide them to the press. Miller testified that also during the fall of 2005, in part as a “gut check” regarding his impression of the emails, he provided the emails to the communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (“DCCC”). Miller testified that he was not aware of what actions his DCCC counterpart may have taken with respect to the emails, but he expected that he would share them with the press. Miller testified: I think I game them to him not with any direct expectation, but with the understanding that [the DCCC communications director] is someone that talks to reporters all day. If there’s something that I’m missing, maybe – maybe there’s a way that he could get the – you know, that he could give them to a reporter; you know, in the course of talking to reporters that he might find a way. I didn’t have any direct expectation, but in general.