WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Reed of Corning joined more than 20 other Republican lawmakers, staffers and spouses on an evening of eating and drinking in Israel last summer that ended in a late-night dip in the Sea of Galilee, skinny-dipping by a Kansas lawmaker and a brief FBI investigation.
Politico, a well-regarded Capitol Hill newspaper and web site, reported the incident and the FBI probe, citing more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.
According to Politico, the GOP contingent plunged into the Sea of Galilee - where the Bible says Jesus walked on water - after dinner at a waterfront restaurant that involved drinking.
Some members of the party jumped in the Sea of Galilee fully clothed, while others took off some of their clothes. But Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas, got naked, Politico said.
While there is nothing illegal about swimming in the Sea of Galilee, the FBI interviewed congressional staffers who were on the trip regarding the incident, Politico said.
In a telephone interview this morning, Reed said the FBI did not question him about the events that evening. Reed also said he did not see Yoder stripping off his clothes.
For his part, Reed said he entered the Sea of Galilee wearing shorts and a golf shirt. Reed's wife, Jean, accompanied him.
"Looking back on it, obviously with the attention that's been brought to it and looking at it, obviously it's something I would probably not do again going forward," Reed said. "But in the moment - my wife and I going in the sea - it's one of those things that to me at the time wasn't extraordinary."
Reed acknowledged having wine at dinner that night, and while some sources told Politico that alcohol may have motivated some participants to jump in the lake, Reed said no one in the party appeared intoxicated to him.
The incident took place at Decks, a waterfront restaurant in the historic town of Tiberias. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., was there, as was Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California.
But both leaders left the party at the end of dinner, at which point some of the remaining lawmakers and staffers continued drinking, Politico said.
Other lawmakers who later jumped into the Sea of Galilee - technically a lake - included Rep. Michael Grimm, R-Staten Island; Rep. Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., and Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif.
While some of the participants privately told Politico that they entered the Sea of Galilee as a matter of religious significance, Reed characterized it more as a "spur-of-the-moment thing."
"It was right at the moment, at the end of a long day," said Reed, a practicing Catholic. "Being at the Sea of Galilee, obviously, it's an important area to my wife and I. It was just one of those things that developed momentarily."
The next morning, Cantor admonished the GOP lawmakers and staffers regarding the incident, which involved some of his own aides, Politico said.
"He expressed his concern about it and we all discussed it and agreed that we're not going to do that again," Reed said. "He also stressed the nature of the trip and what we were there for."
The American Israel Educational Foundation, which is tied to the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee, sponsored and paid for the trip, which cost up to $10,000 per person according to records filed with the House Ethics Committee, Politico said.
The pro-Israel group routinely sponsors such trips for U.S. lawmakers. Events on the agenda included meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, and dinner with Dan Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The trip took place last Aug. 13-21, and the waterfront dinner/late-night dip happened Aug. 18.
Yoder, the Kansas lawmaker who entered the water naked, expressed his regrets in a statement to Politico.
"After dinner I followed some members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit," Yoder said. "It is my greatest honor to represent the people of Kansas in Congress and [for] any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents, I apologize."
Reed, meanwhile, questioned the timing of the controversy over the incident, noting that the Politico story was published a year after the late-night swim and "in the political season."
Still, the incident can do no political good to Reed or the rest of a Congress beset by approval ratings hovering around 10 percent.
The incident follows a series of scandals involving lawmakers, including the resignation of Rep. Chris Lee, R-Amherst, who was found to have published shirtless pictures of himself on CraigsList.
Reed himself was elected to Congress in 2010 to replace Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, who resigned amid a scandal that found him accused of groping young male staffers.
Reed represents a Southern Tier district that, next year, will be stretched to include Chautauqua as well as Cattaraugus and Allegany counties and points east.
The 40-year-old congressman, whose earlier experience in politics included a brief tenure as mayor of Corning, acknowledged that he's now playing on a bigger stage.
"Knowing we're in this public domain is something we're learning and adjusting to," Reed said.
