Congressman McAllister admits infidelity, staffer dismissed, search on for tape leak

The married staffer apparently shown in a video kissing new Congressman Vance McAllister a month after he took office is no longer his district scheduler.
McAllister’s chief of staff Adam Terry said that Melissa Peacock, 33, was “taken off the payroll” within the past 24 hours.
That 24 hours includes the time when a video of McAllister in a Dec. 23 lip-lock with Peacock in his Monroe district office was revealed by the Ouachita Citizen newspaper of West Monroe.
McAllister took office Nov. 21 after being elected to succeed Rodney Alexander.
His Christian-right campaign defeated the state Republican leadership’s hand-picked candidate State Sen Neil Riser of Columbia.
McAllister on Monday admitted to infidelity and asked for forgiveness by all and sundry.
His statement said nothing about Mrs. Peacock’s dismissal. She is the wife of a long-time friend.
His camp on Tuesday began to shift attention away from the indiscretion to the issue of who provided the video to the media.
Fingers have been pointed in several directions.
“We are conducting our own investigation to seek out who leaked the video and determine our actions once we get all of the facts,” Terry said.
“Clearly, what the congressman did was wrong and he’s taking responsibility for his actions. However, a breach in security in a federal office is a grave concern for us.”