Politico has an exclusive involving the Sea of Galilee, alcohol and a skinny-dipping lawmaker:
The FBI probed a late-night swim in the Sea of Galilee that involved drinking, numerous GOP freshmen lawmakers, top leadership staff — and one nude member of Congress, according to more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.
During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the sea, joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed, while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who were participants in the trip.
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In a statement to Politico, Yoder noted that he had “regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit” and apologized for “any embarrassment I have caused.”
Politico reports that the “FBI looked into whether any inappropriate behavior occurred, but the interviews do not appear to have resulted in any formal allegations of wrongdoing.”
And Eric Cantor, the trip’s senior Republican, was “so upset about the antics that he rebuked the 30 lawmakers the morning after the Aug. 18, 2011, incident, saying they were distracting from the mission of the trip,” according to Politico.
UPDATE: It turns out that many aspects of this story are borderline nonsense.
