This whole Denny Hastert scandal is moving beyond parody.

Apparently, the Speaker of the House thinks that no one who actually follows the news listens to conservative talk radio.

That’s the only explanation for Hastert’s claim, during a Tuesday attempt at face saving on Rush Limbaugh’s show, that he and other GOP leaders had forced Florida Congressman Mark Foley to quit after it was revealed that the Republican representative had been sending “Do I make you horny?” emails to teenage Congressional pages.

“We took care of Mr. Foley,” Hastert told Limbaugh. “We found out about it, asked him to resign. He did resign. He’s gone.”

Sounds good. There’s only one problem.

Hastert was making the whole thing up.

Foley quit after the news of the emails was broken by ABC’s Brian Ross. There has never been any indication that the congressman spoke with members of the Republican leadership. Indeed, by all accounts, including those of Hastert’s office, Foley quit of his own accord before consulting in any way with the Speaker or any other Republican leader.

When ABC reporters contacted Hastert’s office about the discrepancy, they were informed that the Speaker “misspoke.”

Er, no, Hastert did not “misspeak.” As he has several times since this scandal broke, Hastert lied. And, once again, he got caught.