Gay? Indiscretion? or just plain Caring?
CNSNews.com) - Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned Friday from his post amid allegations that he sent inappropriate emails to a 16-year-old former male page employed by the House. "Today I have delivered a letter to the Speaker of the House informing him of my decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective today. I thank the people of Florida's 16th Congressional District for giving me the opportunity to serve them for the last twelve years; it has been an honor," said Foley in a statement. "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he added. Foley's reelection appeared certain until the emails surfaced recently. Foley said the emails were not inappropriate. He reportedly emailed the page, who worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), five times. According to excerpts of the emails originally released by ABC News, Foley asked the page how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina, what he wanted for his birthday and for him to send a photo of himself. Foley served as chairman of a House caucus on missing and exploited children and was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Foley's political opponent, Democrat Tim Mahoney, has called for an investigation. GOP attorneys are looking into whether Foley's name can be removed from the ballot in his district.
CNSNews.com) - Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned Friday from his post amid allegations that he sent inappropriate emails to a 16-year-old former male page employed by the House. "Today I have delivered a letter to the Speaker of the House informing him of my decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective today. I thank the people of Florida's 16th Congressional District for giving me the opportunity to serve them for the last twelve years; it has been an honor," said Foley in a statement. "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he added. Foley's reelection appeared certain until the emails surfaced recently. Foley said the emails were not inappropriate. He reportedly emailed the page, who worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), five times. According to excerpts of the emails originally released by ABC News, Foley asked the page how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina, what he wanted for his birthday and for him to send a photo of himself. Foley served as chairman of a House caucus on missing and exploited children and was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Foley's political opponent, Democrat Tim Mahoney, has called for an investigation. GOP attorneys are looking into whether Foley's name can be removed from the ballot in his district.
8 comments:
[a gift to the Democrats, eh?]
FBI Probes Legality of Foley Sex Messages to Congressional Pages
By VOA News
02 October 2006
U.S. congressional and FBI officials are looking into whether a former congressman broke any laws when he sent sexually explicit messages to underage boys working as congressional pages.
An FBI spokesman said Sunday the bureau is working to determine if former Republican congressman Mark Foley violated federal laws.
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert also sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting an investigation into the six-term congressman's conduct with the boys. Reports say Foley of Florida had been sending inappropriate messages to pages since at least 2003.
The 52-year-old Foley abruptly resigned his seat in the House Friday after news about the messages broke.
The scandal comes only five weeks before pivotal legislative elections. President Bush's Republican Party is in jeopardy of losing control of one or both houses of Congress.
House leaders have acknowledged they knew about some of the messages Foley sent to pages in 2005, but say they were not aware of any sexual content.
Some opposition Democrats are calling for the resignations of all members of Congress who knew about Foley sending messages and did nothing to stop it.
Foley had served as the co-chairman of a congressional committee set up to protect children from violence and sexual abuse - the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.
Congressional pages are teenage boys and girls from across the country who serve as messengers and perform administrative tasks in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. They face tough competition to be selected for the prestigious volunteer positions, which last one year.
Foley's Exchange With Underage Page
September 29, 2006 — The following is an instant message exchange a former page says he had with Rep. Foley in 2003. Warning: sexually explicit language, reader discretion is advised.
Maf54 (7:25:14 PM): hey
Auto response from Xxxxxxxxx (7:25:14 PM): scrounging for food…brb
Maf54 (7:25:25 PM): ok
Maf54 (7:25:35 PM): kep scrounging
Xxxxxxxxx (7:31:51 PM): boo
Maf54 (7:32:13 PM): bo dude
Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:17 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:26 PM): whered ya go this afternoon
Maf54 (7:33:39 PM): i am in pensecola…had to catch a plane
Xxxxxxxxx (7:33:47 PM): oh well thats fun
Maf54 (7:34:04 PM): indeed
Xxxxxxxxx (7:34:14 PM): what are you doing in pensecola
Maf54 (7:34:21 PM): now in my hotel room
Xxxxxxxxx (7:34:39 PM): well ..like why did you go there
Maf54 (7:35:02 PM): for the campaign
Xxxxxxxxx (7:35:29 PM): have you officialy announced yt
Maf54 (7:35:45 PM): not yet
Xxxxxxxxx (7:36:06 PM): cool cool…
Maf54 (7:37:27 PM): how my favorite young stud doing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:37:46 PM): tired and sore
Xxxxxxxxx (7:37:52 PM): i didnt no waltzing could make you sore
Maf54 (7:38:04 PM): from what
Xxxxxxxxx (7:38:34 PM): what do you mean from what
Xxxxxxxxx (7:38:42 PM): from waltzing…im sore from waltzing
Maf54 (7:39:32 PM): tahts good
Maf54 (7:39:32 PM): you need a massage
Maf54 signed off at 7:39:37 PM.
Maf54 signed on at 7:40:35 PM.
Xxxxxxxxx (7:40:44 PM): got kicked off?
Maf54 (7:41:24 PM): must have
Xxxxxxxxx (7:41:57 PM): ugh tomorrow i have the first day of lacrosse practice
Maf54 (7:42:27 PM): love to watch that
Maf54 (7:42:33 PM): those great legs running
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:38 PM): haha…they arent great
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:45 PM): thats why we have conditioning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:56 PM): 2 days running….3 days lifting
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:11 PM): every week
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:14 PM): until the end of march
Maf54 (7:43:27 PM): well dont ruin my mental picture
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:32 PM): oh lol…sorry
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): nice
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): youll be way hot then
Xxxxxxxxx (7:44:01 PM): haha…hopefully
Maf54 (7:44:22 PM): better be
Maf54 (7:46:01 PM): well I better let you go do oyur thing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:07 PM): oh ok
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:11 PM): have fun campaigning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:17 PM): or however you spell it
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:18 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:25 PM): ill see ya in a couple of weeks
Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny
Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol…a bit
Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy
Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…
Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never to busy haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:51 PM): haha
Maf54 (7:50:02 PM): or tired..helps me sleep
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:15 PM): thats true
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:36 PM): havent been having a problem with sleep though.. i just walk in the door and collapse well at least this weekend
Maf54 (7:50:56 PM): i am sure
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:57 PM): i dont do it very often normally though
Maf54 (7:51:11 PM): why not
Maf54 (7:51:22 PM): at your age seems like it would be daily
Xxxxxxxxx (7:51:57 PM): not me
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:01 PM): im not a horn dog
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:07 PM): maybe 2 or 3 times a week
Maf54 (7:52:20 PM): thats a good number
Maf54 (7:52:27 PM): in the shower
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:36 PM): actually usually i dont do it in the shower
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:42 PM): just cause i shower in the morning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:47 PM): and quickly
Maf54 (7:52:50 PM): in the bed
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:59 PM): i get up at 530 and am outta the house by 610
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:03 PM): eh ya
Maf54 (7:53:24 PM): on your back
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:30 PM): no face down
Maf54 (7:53:32 PM): love details
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:34 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:36 PM): i see that
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:37 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:53:39 PM): really
Maf54 (7:53:54 PM): do you really do it face down
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:03 PM): ya
Maf54 (7:54:13 PM): kneeling
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:31 PM): well i dont use my hand…i use the bed itself
Maf54 (7:54:31 PM): where do you unload it
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:36 PM): towel
Maf54 (7:54:43 PM): really
Maf54 (7:55:02 PM): completely naked?
Xxxxxxxxx (7:55:12 PM): well ya
Maf54 (7:55:21 PM): very nice
Xxxxxxxxx (7:55:24 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:55:51 PM): cute butt bouncing in the air
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:00 PM): haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:05 PM): well ive never watched myslef
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:08 PM): but ya i guess
Maf54 (7:56:18 PM): i am sure not
Maf54 (7:56:22 PM): hmmm
Maf54 (7:56:30 PM): great visual
Maf54 (7:56:39 PM): i may try that
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:43 PM): it works
Maf54 (7:56:51 PM): hmm
Maf54 (7:56:57 PM): sound inetersting
Maf54 (7:57:05 PM): i always use lotion and the hand
Maf54 (7:57:10 PM): but who knows
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:24 PM): i dont use lotion…takes too much time to clean up
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:37 PM): with a towel you can just wipe off….and go
Maf54 (7:57:38 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:57:45 PM): where do you throw the towel
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:48 PM): but you cant work it too hard….or its not good
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:51 PM): in the laundry
Maf54 (7:58:16 PM): just kinda slow rubbing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:23 PM): ya….
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:32 PM): or youll rub yourslef raw
Maf54 (7:58:37 PM): well I have aa totally stiff wood now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:40 PM): cause the towell isnt very soft
Maf54 (7:58:44 PM): i bet..taht would hurt
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:50 PM): but you cn find something softer than a towell i guess
Maf54 (7:58:59 PM): but it must feel great spirting on the towel
Xxxxxxxxx (7:59:06 PM): ya
Maf54 (7:59:29 PM): wow
Maf54 (7:59:48 PM): is your little guy limp…or growing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:59:54 PM): eh growing
Maf54 (8:00:00 PM): hmm
Maf54 (8:00:12 PM): so you got a stiff one now
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:19 PM): not that fast
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:20 PM): hey
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:32 PM): so you have a fetich
Maf54 (8:00:32 PM): hey what
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:40 PM): fetish**
Maf54 (8:00:43 PM): like
Maf54 (8:00:53 PM): i like steamroom
Maf54 (8:01:04 PM): whats yours
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:09 PM): its kinda weird
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:14 PM): lol
Maf54 (8:01:21 PM): i am hard as a rock..so tell me when your reaches rock
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:23 PM): i have a cast fetish
Maf54 (8:01:27 PM): well tell me
Maf54 (8:01:32 PM): cast
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:44 PM): ya like…plaster cast
Maf54 (8:01:49 PM): ok..so what happens
Maf54 (8:01:58 PM): how does that turn you in
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:02 PM): i dont know
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:04 PM): it just does
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:08 PM): ive never had one
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:16 PM): but people that have them turn me on
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:27 PM): and if i had one it would probably turn me on
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:29 PM): beats me
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:32 PM): its kinda weird
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:50 PM): but along with that i like the whole catholic girl look….thats our schools uniform
Maf54 (8:03:02 PM): ha thats wild
Xxxxxxxxx (8:03:14 PM): ya but now im hard
Maf54 (8:03:32 PM): me 2
Maf54 (8:03:42 PM): cast got you going
Maf54 (8:03:47 PM): what you wearing
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:04 PM): normal clothes
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:09 PM): tshirt and shorts
Maf54 (8:04:17 PM): um so a big buldge
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:35 PM): ya
Maf54 (8:04:45 PM): um
Maf54 (8:04:58 PM): love to slip them off of you
Xxxxxxxxx (8:05:08 PM): haha
Maf54 (8:05:53 PM): and gram the one eyed snake
Maf54 (8:06:13 PM): grab
Xxxxxxxxx (8:06:53 PM): not tonight…dont get to excited
Maf54 (8:07:12 PM): well your hard
Xxxxxxxxx (8:07:45 PM): that is true
Maf54 (8:08:03 PM): and a little horny
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:11 PM): and also tru
Maf54 (8:08:31 PM): get a ruler and measure it for me
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:38 PM): ive already told you that
Maf54 (8:08:47 PM): tell me again
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:49 PM): 7 and 1/2
Maf54 (8:09:04 PM): ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Maf54 (8:09:08 PM): beautiful
Xxxxxxxxx (8:09:38 PM): lol
Maf54 (8:09:44 PM): thats a great size
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:00 PM): thank you
Maf54 (8:10:22 PM): still stiff
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya
Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling
Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back
Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:59 PM): she is computer dumb though
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:01 PM): it makes me so mad
Maf54 (8:15:04 PM): good
Maf54 (8:15:08 PM): haha
Maf54 (8:15:11 PM): why
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:23 PM): cause she cant do anything
Maf54 (8:15:31 PM): oh well
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:41 PM): she couldnt figure out how to download a file from an email and open it
Maf54 (8:15:53 PM): haha
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:14 PM): and she only does it like a million times a day
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:16 PM): oh well
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:18 PM): whatever
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:53 PM): well i better go finish my hw…i just found out from a friend that i have to finish reading and notating a book for AP english
Maf54 signed off at 8:17:43 PM.
FALLOUT grew today from a sex scandal that has rocked US President George W. Bush's Republican party, despite claims by a former lawmaker at the centre of the controversy that he was abused by a clergy member as a teenager.
Many leading Republicans ignored the explanation offered by former Representative Mark Foley that his sexual overtures to underage male Congress pages were in some way related to the sexual abuse he was said to have suffered at the hands of a clergy member when he was a teenager.
Rather, they continued to hold him responsible for the widening scandal that has increased pressure on the Republicans as they battle to defend control of Congress heading into mid-term elections on November 7.
"He has defamed himself, he has defamed this Congress," said two prominent Republicans, Representative Mike Pence and Joe Pitts.
"Worse than any of these, he has violated the trust and innocence of a number of young people."
At the same time, Republicans rallied around beleaguered House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and rejected calls that he be removed.
"This Republican-led Congress and its leaders have made the protection of young people a high priority," the lawmakers said.
"We believe Speaker Hastert is a man of integrity who has led our conference honourably and effectively throughout the past eight years. Speaker Dennis Hastert should not resign."
At a press conference overnight, Mr Foley's lawyer David Roth revealed that the former lawmaker was undergoing treatment not just for alcoholism but for the effects of abuse.
"Based upon the experts I spoke to, the combination of alcohol and mental illness can result in inappropriate conduct which Mark Foley has fully accepted responsibility for," Mr Roth said.
He said that Mr Foley was being treated at "one of the most renowned inpatient substance abuse and mental health issue facilities in the United States" but did not name the establishment.
"He is extremely apologetic ... to his party and to his country and to the people that he feels he's let down," he said.
Mr Roth said that his client was molested "between the ages of 13 and 15" but himself has "never had sexual contact with a minor".
With Republican control of Congress at stake in an election just over a month from now, the US ABC television network yesterday released details of a possible intimate relationship between Mr Foley and a young male congressional page.
Earlier exchanges made public showed Mr Foley propositioning pages who did not appear to return his advances.
The scandal has become a major national talking point and Mr Bush said yesterday he was "disgusted" by Mr Foley's behaviour.
"I was dismayed and shocked to learn about Congressman Foley's unacceptable behaviour," Mr Bush said during a visit to Stockton, California.
"I was disgusted by the revelations and disappointed that he would violate the trust of the citizens that placed him in office," Mr Bush said.
Mr Foley, who represented Palm Beach County in Florida, abruptly resigned last week after sexually explicit emails to a former male page were published.
Inquiry launched but Hastert stays for now.
WASHINGTON - It's become a full-blown Foley factor.
And it could mean a precipitous slide for the party that's sold itself as the guardian of family values in the United States since former president Bill Clinton dallied with an intern.
Republicans furiously scrambled Thursday to quell the deepening election-year threat from explosive allegations they looked the other way while former Florida congressman Mark Foley stalked teenaged pages and sent them lewd electronic messages.
Dennis Hastert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, refused calls for his resignation. But he took responsibility for the growing scandal and praised the launch of a big congressional investigation expected to take weeks, not months.
Regardless, many observers expect he'll be gone within days to improve the chances Republicans will retain control of Congress after the Nov. 7 mid-term races.
Opinion polls are already showing Americans aren't pleased and even some staunch Christian conservatives say it will affect how many turn out on voting day to support the party.
"I'm deeply sorry this has happened and the bottom line is we're taking responsibility," Hastert told a televised news conference in Batavia, Ill.
"The buck stops here . . . Our children need to be protected. And we're going to do everything we can to protect them."
Hastert, who's ultimately in charge of the longstanding congressional page program in the House, said he had no prior personal knowledge about explicit sexual messages from Foley.
But he admits he knew Foley requested a picture from a former page in Louisiana in a 2005 message that upset the boy's parents and caused them to complain.
Critics call that alone a major red flag that should have prompted far more serious action than simply telling Foley to stop it.
"The parents were happy," said Hastert.
"Could we have done it better? Could the page board have handled it better?"
"In retrospect, probably yes. But at that time, what we knew and what we acted upon was what we had . . . If members of my staff didn't do their job, we will act appropriately."
The story of much more sexually explicit messages to other pages broke last Friday and Foley resigned.
Since then, his former chief of staff until early 2004, Kirk Fordham, said he warned top officials in Hastert's office about the problem as early as 2003.
"I don't know who knew what when," said Hastert, who has spent much of his time blaming the news media and Democrats for leaking the story for political advantage.
"I haven't done anything wrong. What we need to do it start talking about the issues."
House ethics committee chairman Doc Hastings, a Republican from Washington state, said some four dozen subpoenas have gone out in the new bipartisan investigation but he wouldn't say if Hastert was among them.
"The American people and especially the parents of all current and former pages, are entitled to know how this situation was handled," he said.
"There appears something has gone terribly wrong."
"We will go where the evidence takes us," added his Democratic colleague, Howard Berman from California.
That investigation has no authority to discipline Foley, since he's left Congress.
But the FBI is also looking into the case and the Justice Department is considering whether charges against Foley are warranted.
Congress has started an official phone line that can be used to report any concerns or information about the page program and Hastert is looking for a high-profile expert to take a look at all the policies to see how they can be improved.
In Atlanta, former page Tyson Vivyan, now 26, told the Associated Press he received sexually suggestive messages as far back as 1997 from an anonymous sender who turned out to be Foley.
The White House is so far backing Hastert from afar while unleashing a firestorm of adjectives to describe Foley's behaviour and mostly trying to change the subject.
"This is disgusting," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
"I don't think that any sane person in any way condones what happened. The question is whether people are going to be voting on the basis of disgusting (messages) between a grown man and a young man or something that's probably more important to everybody, which is safety, security and prosperity."
President George W. Bush, said Snow, hasn't talked with Hastert.
The former legislator's lawyer said Foley is homosexual but denies ever having sexual contact with a minor. He blames alcoholism and sexual abuse in his early teens for his client's troubles.
Ironically, Bush was trumpeting his No Child Left Behind education program Thursday as the furore over Foley widened.
An AP-Ipsos poll conducted this week after the scandal broke suggested about one-half of likely voters would consider the issue very or extremely important in their vote. Democrats had nearly a two-to-one advantage as the party better able to fight corruption.
In a CNN survey released Tuesday, only 38 per cent said Republican incumbents should be re-elected, while 53 per cent said most Democrats in Congress deserve to get in.
© The Canadian Press 2006
NATIONAL NEWS
Foley sex scandal roils Hill (Gay)
Closeted GOP congressman comes out, denies sexual contact with teenage male pages
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, October 06, 2006
Some of the nation’s largest gay rights groups this week denounced former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) following reports that he sent sexually explicit instant messages and e-mails to 16- and 17-year-old males who worked as pages at the U.S. Capitol.
“Gay or straight, Democrat or Republican, it is completely inexcusable for an adult to have this kind of communication with a minor,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political group.
The Foley saga took another twist on Oct. 3 when Foley’s attorney announced for the first time at a news conference that Foley is gay and that a clergyman sexually molested him as a teenager.
The attorney, David Roth, told reporters Foley “does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate” e-mails and instant messages to teenagers, and he “continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct.”
Roth said Foley was in treatment at an undisclosed recovery facility for alcoholism and was taking steps to come to terms with who he is.
“Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man,” Roth said.
While acknowledging Foley sent sexually explicit
e-mails to underage youths, Roth insisted that Foley never had sexual contact with a minor.
“Any suggestion that Mark Foley is a pedophile is false,” he said.
The attorney declined to identify the clergyman who allegedly molested Foley or the church with which the clergyman was affiliated, saying only that the incidents took place when Foley was between the ages of 13 and 15. Foley is Roman Catholic.
News of Foley’s online exchanges with former male pages has mushroomed into an election year scandal, prompting Democrats to accuse House Republican leaders of covering up reports that surfaced last September that Foley sent an inappropriate but non-explicit e-mail to a 16-year-old page.
Republicans and Democrats alike have called on the FBI and a bipartisan congressional ethics panel to investigate Foley’s action.
Foley resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives on Sept. 29, hours after ABC News published on its web site excerpts of an instant message exchange between Foley and a 17-year-old former congressional page.
Foley, who in the past has refused to comment on published reports that he is gay, repeatedly asked the 17-year-old about masturbation and the size of the youth’s penis, according to a transcript of the exchange released by ABC News.
The television network said the transcript was one of 52 instant message exchanges it has obtained from former congressional pages that consist of online conversations between Foley and two former pages under the age of 18. In each of the exchanges, Foley used the screen name Maf54, which ABC News said it verified as Foley’s online name.
In one 2003 exchange, Foley said he delayed voting on the floor of the House to engage in internet sex with one of the youths, the transcript shows.
Gay Democrats joined House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi in raising questions about whether House Republican leaders deliberately withheld information they learned last year about at least one questionable e-mail that Foley sent to a 16-year-old former page from Louisiana.
House GOP leaders defended their action, saying they accepted Foley’s private explanation that his e-mail, which asked the 16-year-old for his photograph, did not intentionally seek to offend the youth. ABC News reported that the youth told others the message “freaked me out” and was “sick, sick, sick.”
Democrats want investigators to find out whether the GOP leaders sought to suppress news about Foley’s behavior to prevent negative publicity that could jeopardize Republican efforts to retain control of the House in the November election.
“Mark Foley’s shameful actions were reprehensible,” said Patrick Sammon, executive vice president of Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay group. “He abused the power of his office, violated the trust of the voters, and exploited young people,” Sammon said.
“There should be a thorough criminal investigation by appropriate law enforcement agencies,” he said, and if Foley broke the law, “he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The National Youth Advocacy Coalition, which represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth advocacy groups throughout the country, called on federal authorities to fully investigate Foley’s conduct.
“Gay or straight, Congressman Mark Foley’s behavior is like that of a predator who should be arrested and prosecuted for his criminal behavior,” the group said in an Oct. 3 statement. “And those around him who knew, and did not act to stop him, are just as guilty,” the NYAC statement said.
Officials with HRC and Log Cabin Republicans said the two groups immediately rescinded their endorsements of Foley’s re-election upon learning of Foley’s alleged improper interaction with pages and former pages and his resignation.
Gay activist and blogger Michael Petrelis of San Francisco called on HRC to demand that Foley return the $27,000 that HRC has contributed to Foley’s congressional election campaigns between 2000 and 2006.
“It’s an interesting idea,” said HRC spokesperson Luis Vizcaino. “We’ll consider it.”
Parents feared publicity
As the Foley scandal continued to unfold this week, some Republican leaders – including former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich – cited reluctance by Republicans to appear “homophobic” as a possible reason for their delay in disclosing a 2005 e-mail that Foley sent to a 16-year-old former page.
The parents of the 16-year-old complained last year to Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), who represents the district where the youth lived, that Foley was sending their son e-mails asking for a photo of the youth along with other inappropriate questions. However, the parents asked that their concerns be kept confidential because they did not want to subject their son to potentially adverse publicity, according to a spokesperson for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
The e-mails were not sexually suggestive, and Foley told the chair of the three-member House page oversight board, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), that his communications with the page were innocent, House GOP leaders have said. They recounted that Foley told them his aim was to find out how the page and his family coped with Hurricane Katrina, which struck near where the youth lived.
Hastert said Shimkus and then House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, who also had oversight authority over the page program, interviewed Foley, and informed him of the concerns raised by the parents. Shimkus then ordered Foley to stop all contact with the youth, and Foley agreed, appearing to put the matter to rest, Hastert said.
Upon learning of Foley’s separate, sexually explicit e-mails to former pages disclosed by ABC News, Hastert said Foley “betrayed” him and his House colleagues.
Democrats and some Republican House members have since complained that the Democrat and second Republican on the page oversight board were not informed about September 2005 e-mail developments.
‘Political correctness’ faulted
Meanwhile, some conservative commentators joined Gingrich in arguing that gay activists and liberal Democrats have created a climate of “political correctness” that discouraged House GOP leaders from acting more aggressively last September, lest they appear to be attempting to “out” Foley as a closeted gay congressman.
An Oct. 3 editorial in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Democrats were being hypocritical in attempting to blame Hastert and his GOP colleagues for not taking more action against Foley when they learned last September of Foley’s non-explicit email to the 16-year-old.
“Some of those liberals now shouting for Mr. Hastert’s head are the same voices who tell us that the larger society must be tolerant of private lifestyle choices, and certainly must never leap to conclusions about gay men and young boys,” the Wall Street Journal editorial said. “Are these Democratic critics of Mr. Hastert saying that they now have more sympathy for the Boy Scouts’ decision to ban gay scoutmasters?”
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, took strong exception to Gingrich’s and the WSJ’s assessment of the Foley scandal.
“[I]t’s absurd to blame the Foley spectacle on his being gay, closeted or otherwise,” Foreman said in an Oct. 3 statement. “Given the fact that the current Republican leadership in the House has never hesitated to attack gay people, it’s even more absurd for people like Newt Gingrich to say the reason they didn’t take prompt action was because they didn’t want to be accused of ‘gay bashing.’” Foreman said.
“What’s clear is that the House leadership elevated holding onto a seat above the interests of young people in the page system,” he said. “And they want to talk about ‘moral values? Please.”
The Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, startled some GOP leaders on Oct. 3 when it published a strongly worded editorial calling on Hastert to resign over the Foley scandal.
“House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once,” the newspaper said. “Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not remembering the order of events leading up to last weeks revelations – or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away,” the newspaper said.
Subpoenas issued in Foley probe
Charles Babington
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The US House of Representatives' ethics committee launched a wide-ranging investigation into Congress's handling of information about a Florida lawmaker and teenage messengers.
That was followed by Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, vowing to keep his job, saying: "I haven't done anything wrong."
The ethics panel approved nearly four dozen subpoenas for documents and testimony from House members, officers and aides. Its leaders plan to complete the inquiry in a matter of weeks - but not necessarily before the November 7 congressional elections.
"Our investigation will go wherever the evidence leads us," said the panel's Republican chairman, Doc Hastings.
The ethics committee is divided evenly between the two parties, and Hastings and Howard Berman, the top Democrat, promised to conduct an impartial investigation into the House's handling of warnings about the conduct of disgraced former Florida Republican representative Mark Foley.
The committee's inquiry will proceed in tandem with investigations by the FBI and Florida officials. Unlike those agencies, the ethics committee has no jurisdiction over Foley, who resigned last week as ABC News was publishing sexually graphic electronic messages between him and teenage congressional messengers, or pages.
Democrats and some Republicans have accused Hastert and his leadership team of brushing off early indications of a problem - including what they called an "overly friendly" e-mail that Foley sent to a Louisiana boy in 2005 - that might have led investigators to find the far more explicit exchanges that had occurred in previous years.
Two top House Republicans have said they told Hastert about that e-mail, and another lawmaker says he told Hastert's staff.
Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, said this week that he repeatedly alerted Hastert's staff in 2003 to complaints that the Florida lawmaker was showing inappropriate interest in male pages - high-schoolers spending a semester or two working in Congress.
Some Republicans said they are most concerned about Fordham's claims. Scott Palmer, the speaker's top aide,
has already told Hastert that Fordham's claims are false.
Fordham has already been questioned by the FBI.
Hastert's office has meanwhile been on edge. Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Stokke, who handles politics for the Speaker, offered to resign, and several other aides have expressed frustration that Ted Van Der Meid, the top counsel in the office, did not do a better job monitoring the Foley situation.
Hastert reasserted that he knew nothing of complaints about Foley's behavior until the day the Floridian resigned last week.
He then rejected calls for his resignation by a handful of conservative groups, saying: "I haven't done anything wrong, obviously."
Hastert suggested that Democrats may have known about the lewd instant messages and leaked them for partisan advantage, but he had no evidence. THE WASHINGTON POST
Rep. Kolbe saw Foley messages in 2000
Another lawmaker knew of inappropriate Internet exchanges
Another Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications.
A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline.
The revelation pushes back by at least five years the date when a member of Congress has acknowledged learning of Foley's questionable behavior. A timeline issued by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) suggested that the first lawmakers to know, Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), became aware of "over-friendly" e-mails only last fall. It also expands the universe of players in the drama beyond members, either in leadership or on the page board.
A source with direct knowledge of Kolbe's involvement said the messages shared with Kolbe were sexually explicit, and he read the contents to The Washington Post under condition that they are not reprinted. But Cline denied the source's characterization, saying only that the messages had made the former page feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she said, "corrective action" was taken. Cline said she still has not yet determined whether that action went beyond Kolbe's confrontation with Foley.
In interviews with The Post last week, multiple pages identified Kolbe as a close friend and personal confidante, who was one of the only members of Congress to take any interest in them. A former page himself, Kolbe offered to mentor pages and kept in touch with some of them after they left the program, according to the interviews.
Kolbe once invited four former pages to make use of his Washington home while he was out of town, according to an instant message between Foley and another former page, Jordan Edmund, in January 2002. The pages planned to attend a first-year reunion of their page class. But they never took Kolbe up on his offer because of a snow storm, according to one of the four pages.
Cline said one of the youths invited was a former page of Kolbe's. Because the congressman frequently travels on weekends, either to his Arizona ranch or abroad, the house is often available to friends, constituents, staff and former staff members, such as a former page, she said.
Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress, is retiring at the end of the year.
Crucial midterm elections
The latest revelation in the growing House page scandal comes just a month before crucial midterm elections. Foley resigned Sept. 29 after ABC News confronted him with the sexually explicit messages that he exchanged with a former page, triggering investigations by the Justice Department, the House ethics committee and Florida authorities.
Hastert and his top aides have been sharply criticized by Democrats and some conservative Republicans for failing to act promptly after receiving warnings that Foley had been sexually predatory in dealing with pages and former pages. Ron Bonjean, the speaker's spokesman, said yesterday: "Allegations of inappropriate conduct by members of Congress towards pages need to be fully reviewed by the ethics committee and law enforcement."
In addressing the revelation about Kolbe, Bonjean said, "This allegation reiterates why the speaker has also called for a full review of the House page program to ensure that it is as safe and secure as possible."
A new poll by Newsweek indicated the Foley scandal was doing significant damage to the Republicans' political fortunes and could sink their chances of holding onto control of Congress on Election Day, Nov. 7. The poll found that 52 percent of Americans, including 29 percent of Republicans, believe Hastert was aware of Foley's Internet communications with underage pages and tried to cover up Foley's actions. More of those polled, 42 percent, now say they trust Democrats to do a better job handling moral values than Republicans; 36 percent favored Republicans on the values question.
Sharp exchange
In a sharp exchange on "Fox News Sunday," Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, insinuated that Democrats were behind the revelations of Foley's actions and the release of e-mails and instant messages showing Foley having sexually graphic or highly suggestive conversations with former pages.
"What I don't understand is where have these e-mails been for three years? Are we saying that a 15-year-old child would have sat on e-mails that were triple-X-rated for three years and suddenly spring them out right on the eve of an election? That's just a little bit too suspicious, even for Washington, D.C.," Kingston said.
Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Mass.) shot back, "If there's any evidence that you need that the values in Washington have turned upside down, you could just hear what Jack had to say. Only in Washington, D.C., can you take a group of people in charge of the House and basically have evidence that they've been looking the other way while a predator has been . . . going after 15- and 16-year-old pages, [and] they somehow . . . have the audacity to turn that into a political attack against Democrats."
So far, only ABC News and The Washington Post have actually obtained the sexually explicit instant messages between two former pages and Foley. The Post obtained its copies from a former page who served on Capitol Hill with the other two pages.
Staff writer James V. Grimaldi contributed to this report.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
PRIEST ADMITS BEING NAKED WITH FOLEY WHEN HE WAS A KID
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO
ROME Oct 20, 2006 (AP)— The diocese of Gozo said it was opening an investigation after a Roman Catholic priest on the Maltese island said he was naked in saunas with Mark Foley when the former U.S. congressman was a boy in Florida.
The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, also acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that he went skinny-dipping with Foley, but denied that the two had sex.
Foley, a 52-year-old Florida Republican, resigned from Congress last month after the release of his sexually explicit e-mails to young male pages.
After Foley's resignation from Congress, his lawyer said that Foley was an alcoholic, gay and had been molested as a boy by a "clergyman." Foley's civil lawyer, Gerald Richman, said the alleged abuser was a Catholic priest whose name he shared with Florida state prosecutors.
A statement from the diocese of Gozo, a small Mediterranean island off Malta, said that its bishop, Mario Grech, contacted the Archdiocese of Miami on Thursday evening seeking further information about the case. The statement, issued late Thursday evening, said the diocese had learnt of the case for the first time in the international press.
"In the light of all this … Bishop Grech will instruct the response team to investigate these allegations according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regards to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity," the statement said. "Grech will pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to the response team as he has done in similar cases."
The Maltese Church instituted the team in 1999 to deal with any sexual abuse allegations.
The statement said the team would present the bishop with a report, and that Grech promised to cooperate. It did not say whether Mercieca was still serving as a priest on Gozo, where he regularly hears confession and celebrates Mass in the cathedral, one of two main churches on the Mediterranean island.
It also did not say whether it would investigate anything other than Mercieca's recent statements about Foley.
Gozo, 60 miles south of Sicily, has a population of about 32,000 and is one of Malta's three inhabited islands filled with vacation homes and holiday resorts.
"Bishop Grech, conscious of the gravity of pedophilia, reiterates that he will cooperate with those responsible for investigating such cases so that justice is done to the victims, the perpetrators are reformed and the common good is safeguarded," the statement said.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune published an interview with Mercieca on Thursday in which the priest described several encounters that he said Foley might perceive as sexually inappropriate.
Mercieca later told The Associated Press in Rome that the report was "exaggerated."
"We were friends and trusted each other as brothers and loved each other as brothers," Mercieca said in the AP interview. Asked if their association was sexual, the priest replied: "It wasn't."
Mercieca told the AP that he and Foley would go into saunas naked when he was a priest in Florida and Foley was a parishioner, but he said that "everybody does that."
Mercieca had worked at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth in 1967, according to church records. Foley would have been 13 at the time.
A spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, Fla., Mike Edmondson, said that an e-mail from Foley's attorney was received late Wednesday night identifying the alleged abuser. He said the e-mail was being forwarded to the archdiocese of Miami on Thursday. Edmondson said law enforcement action is over, unless other alleged victims come forward, because Foley's attorneys have said that the politician doesn't want to prosecute.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press
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