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Washington [Update: This story was updated at 2:30 ET to include new statements from Rep. Steve Scalise and House Speaker John Boehner.]

No sooner had House Speaker John Boehner dispensed with one problem congressman admitted tax evader Michael Grimm (R) of New York, who is resigning his seat when another one reared his head. And this situation could be harder to resolve.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R) of Louisiana, the House majority whip and the No. 3 House Republican, has acknowledgedthat he spoke to a white supremacist group in 2002, when he was a member of the Louisiana legislature, according to The Washington Post.

But Congressman Scalise says he didnt know at the time that the organization had troubling connections. The group, called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, or EURO, was founded by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Mr. Duke, a former Louisiana state representative and gubernatorial candidate, was nationally known as a white nationalist, but Scalises associates say he wasnt aware of the groups link to Duke.

For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous, Scalise told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Monday night.

On Tuesday, he issued an additional statement, calling his decision to speak to the group "a mistake.

"Twelve years ago, I spoke to many different Louisiana groups as a state representative, trying to build support for legislation that focused on cutting wasteful state spending, eliminating government corruption, and stopping tax hikes, Scalise said. "One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn. It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.

Speaker Boehner also released a statement Tuesday in support of Scalise.

More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate, Boehner said. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans.

Louisiana-based political blogger Lamar White Jr. first brought the story to light, after finding posts on the white nationalist website Stormfront.

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Top Republican Steve Scalise sweats over 2002 speech to white supremacists