In The Know: Rescue in paradise: Reps. Chaffetz, Towns help free six jailed in Antigua

In a scene reminiscent of a political thriller, Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) recently made an emergency trip to the Caribbean island of Antigua.

Now, when legislators claim they are urgently needed in a place like Antigua, ITK’s skepticism skyrockets, but as it turns out, the bipartisan duo were on a legitimate mission: to secure the release of six New Yorkers who had been held by Antiguan authorities for more than a month.

Towns makes sense because he represents New York, but why Chaffetz?

Simple: Towns asked him.

Chaffetz, who serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Towns helms, gets along well with his chairman. When he was asked to accompany him, Chaffetz told ITK, “I was happy to go along, because it was the right thing to do.”

As Chaffetz described it, the detained constituents had gotten into a disagreement with a taxi driver last month over whether their fare was $50 round-trip or $50 each way ($100 total). Unbeknownst to the group, the driver transported them to what Chaffetz described as an “unmarked” police station, where he dropped them off.

“Police officers came outside,” Chaffetz said, “but they were in plain clothes, and there was no sign that this was a police station.” The details are a little fuzzy at this point, but a scuffle ensued, and before they knew it the Americans were behind bars, charged with a litany of offenses, including battery of a police officer.

After two days in jail, the group was released, but forbidden from leaving the island. After a month of detention, Towns decided to step in.

“One of the people detained was a woman in law school,” explained Chaffetz, “and now she’s going to miss her semester. Clearly, a month was just too long.”

The case was working its way through the courts, but the arrival of the two congressmen definitely accelerated it. “We met with the prime minister, as well as a number of other officials,” said Chaffetz, “and we convinced them that it was in everyone’s best interest for these Americans to be released.”

After pleading guilty, five of the six detainees were ordered to pay fines of up to $5,000 each before they could be released — a hefty price to pay for a dispute over 50 bucks in cab fare.

As for whether the lawmakers had any fun while in the exclusive vacation destination, Chaffetz demurred, saying, “We were there to do a job, but it’s a beautiful island.”

Who knew? Sen. Barrasso and Sam Donaldson, friends and ranchers

Longtime ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson was in the Senate on Thursday visiting an old friend: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

Some on the right have accused Donaldson of a liberal bias, but the veteran newsman and the career physician have something unique in common: They’re both part-time ranchers. Barrasso has a ranch outside of Casper, Wyo., while Donaldson’s is several states away, in New Mexico.

“He’s from Wyoming, I’m from the Southwest, and anything west of the Mississippi is God’s country,” Donaldson told ITK.

Donaldson also ran into Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin (D), who greeted him like an old friend and asked how he was doing.

“They still pay me at ABC,” Donaldson, 75, joked, “but not very much, because I don’t do very much anymore.”

Flake vs. Schock: The battle of the biceps

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) may have to change his workout routine following the release on Monday of photos from his solo tropical-island getaway in August.

The photos (available on thehill.com) show a tanned and muscular Flake, and they quickly created a stir both on and off Capitol Hill. But that’s not what Flake is worried about. Instead, the GOP congressman is concerned about a comparison made in The Hill of him and another lawmaker known for his healthy physique: Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.).

Flake told ITK on Monday, “This is going to make it difficult for me to work out in the gym next to Aaron Schock.”

ITK plans to monitor the situation closely. Very closely.
 
Vanessa Kerry and Brian Nahed tie the knot

This weekend marked a special milestone for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.): his first trip down the aisle as father of the bride.
Kerry’s daughter, Vanessa Kerry, was married on Saturday to fellow physician Brian Nahed in a ceremony at Brandegee House, an Italian-style historical house in Boston.

As first reported by ITK, the wedding also marked the culmination of a yearlong joint planning effort between Vanessa and her father, which included interviewing potential bands, methodically tasting cakes and sketching a wedding gown.

Kerry and Nahed first met in 2005, during an early-morning shift at Massachusetts General Hospital, and dated for nearly three years before getting engaged in 2008.

Kerry was extremely appreciative of her father’s help.

“I was very close to my mother, and her death [in 2006], which left a gaping hole in my life, has been very difficult for me and my father in a lot of ways,” she told The New York Times.

“But my father has very actively and openly tried to wear both hats ... I understand that what he has to do in Washington takes precedence over most everything, but he has managed to make this whole process very comforting for me.”

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J. Taylor Rushing contributed to this page.