Rep. Vito Fossella's Air Force mistress was so distracted by their affair that she couldn't perform her official duties on a junket they attended - so the top aide to then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert reported her to the Pentagon, he claims. Scott Palmer, then chief-of-staff to Hastert, revealed for the first time yesterday that he made a formal complaint to Air Force brass about the unprofessional behavior he witnessed by Laura Fay, the military's top liaison and director of logistics for the 10-day trip to Europe in 2003.
"I lost confidence in her and I'm not going to kid you - I was also concerned with this other relationship thing. It didn't look like it should," the now-retired Palmer told The Post.
It was the first time a government official has publicly acknowledged long-standing concerns about the illicit affair.
"I remember making the call - it was a very awkward call. I didn't want to unfairly say anything," Palmer recalled of reporting Fay to her Pentagon superiors after returning from Europe in August 2003.
Another source, who asked not to be identified, said, "She just seemed to be distracted. Now, in hindsight, I see precisely why she was distracted.
"The person in charge from the military sticks like glue to the chairman or speaker, and she didn't, frankly. She was not always on top of things."
By the time of Hastert's next European trip for the September 2003 G8 meeting, Fay was gone, Palmer said.
The married Fossella was busted May 1 for drunken driving and soon after admitted a long-standing affair with Fay - and siring a child with her.
Sources said Fay and the Staten Island Republican could have hooked up during the European junket, which took them through 10 counties.
Their hanky-panky was well under way in July 2003, when he joined the congressional delegation on a tour of Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain to thank them for supporting the Iraq war, sources said.
Fossella's paramour, then still married, was the official military escort.
"At the end of the trip, it became obvious that . . . they were doing something more than briefing each other," said another staffer on the trip.
A tour of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, got everyone's tongue wagging.
"They showed up late and together. The excuse they gave was that they were getting water for everybody. We had plenty of water," an aide said.
Fossella also did some traveling alone.
He made individual trips, the Congressional Record shows, to Cuba and Bermuda in 2002, as well as a single trip to Italy in 2004. No other House member accompanied him on these fact-finding missions.
Political support for Fossella, who hasn't said whether he'll resign or seek re-election, is thin.
Fossella and Fay remained in seclusion yesterday.
Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte
