Foley resigns from Congress over e-mails

[Steve Savicki]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060929/ap_on_go_co/congressman_e_mails_8

Rep. Mark Foley resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page.

"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 said in a statement issued by his office.

Has congress killed its future?

[FORD]

Must have been Joey Blunder's congressman.

[Nickdfresh]

Ha ha! Another queer Republican? Gee, I wonder how he voted on the whole gay marriage amendment?

[Nickdfresh]

Well it turns out that he does support Gay rights, but is apparently an abortion nut.

http://www.ontheissues.org/FL/Mark_Foley.htm#Families_+_Children

[Nickdfresh]

Rep. Mark Foley Resigns Over Lewd Messages To Minors

Rep. Mark Foley didn't get busted by Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen, but he might as well have been. ABC's Brian Ross reports

Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) planned to resign today, hours after ABC questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former Congressional pages under the age of 18.


A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog has screen captures of some of the e-mails, thought apparently not the ones Ross is referring to.

Update: Foley was apparently one of "The Terrible Three" along with Barney Frank and Jim Kolbe. The e-mails are from the first source most of us saw the Foley story on last week, Stop Sex Predators. Of course, at the time, they just looked like really bad Photoshop jobs...
By: Kevin Aylward at 05:16 PM

http://politics.wizbangblog.com/2006/09/29/rep-mark-foley-resigns-over-lewd-messages-to-minors.php

Foley Resigns From Congress Over E-Mails

By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON —

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page.

"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 said in a statement issued by his office.

The two-sentence statement did not refer to the e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's decision to abruptly abandon a flourishing career in Congress.

Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days.

Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.

It was not clear what prompted Foley to abruptly decide to give up a successful career in the House.

Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

Foley's aides initially blamed Democratic rival Tim Mahoney and Democrats with attempting to smear the congressman about five weeks before the election.

The e-mails were posted Friday on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Web site after ABC News reported their existence. The group asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate the exchange Foley had with the boy, who served as a page for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La.

"The House of Representatives has an obligation to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process," the group wrote, adding that the committee, "must investigate any allegation that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by members of the House."

http://www.normantranscript.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8KENF980.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview

© 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Nickdfresh]

Mark Foley on Families & Children


* Voted YES on establishing nationwide AMBER alert system for missing kids. (Apr 2003)
* Voted YES on reducing Marriage Tax by $399B over 10 years. (Mar 2001)
* Rated 84% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)
* Use tax code to reinforce families. (Sep 1994)
* Fund 2,500 Boys and Girls Clubs in underserved areas. (Dec 1997)

[BITEYOASS]

Call me crazy, but we need some damn splinter parties. Whether it be pro-war vegans or gay pro-lifers.

[Nickdfresh]

OMG! I just saw the report on ABC News, they have him sending sexually explicit IMs to teen boys, and it's much worse than the above articles. He may be prosecuted under the same sexual predator legislation he co-sponsored!



September 29, 2006
FOLEY ARTISTS

For those of you who have asked, and anyone who might wonder, Foley is in the GOP leadership, albeit on the second tier. He's a deputy Majority Whip. He is also Co-Chairman of the Missing and Exploited Childrens Caucus.

Obviously, the current scandal may prove somewhat irrelevant to this, but while Foley has never admitted being gay, there has been much media speculation about whether the never-married bachelor's orientation may be.

In 1994, when he first ran for Congress, his hometown newspaper the Stuart (Fla.) News asked him his orientation and Foley responded: "I like women."

During the debate over the Defense of Marriage Act -- the law allowing states to only recognize heterosexual unions -- Foley's orientation came under question by gay and lesbian media. In 1996, when asked by The Advocate, a gay magazine, about his private life, Foley said, "Frankly, I don't think what kind of personal relationships I have in my private life is of any relevance to anyone else. I know one thing for certain: When I travel around the district every weekend, the people who attend my town meetings and stop me on the street corner certainly are a lot more concerned with issues like how I voted on welfare reform or whether or not Medicare is going to be there when they need it -- not the details of whom I choose to have a relationship with."

In May 2003, the New Times of Broward-Palm Beach, in a story titled "Out With the Truth: With His Voting Record at Issue, Why Won't U.S. Congressman Mark Foley Just Say That He's Gay?" That story prompted a cover story in the Washington Blade, a gay and lesbian newspaper in D.C. "Newspaper Outs Fla. Congressman," read the Blade's headline. "Republican Mark Foley's Staff Says Sexual Orientation Irrelevant to Senate Bid." That month, Foley held a conference call for Florida reporters and refused to answer the question, calling it "revolting and unforgivable."

_______________________________

AXING FOLEY

On the heels of some tough questions from BRIAN ROSS AND THE ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE UNIT (link) Rep. Mark Foley, R-FL, has announced he will resign from Congress. "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," Foley just announced "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. I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."

As Ross reports: "ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages" -- under the age of 18 -- "who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts."

You can read more of Brian's reporting HERE.

Interesting note -- on Capitol Hill, Foley has long been pushing bill against certain images of kids on websites, the Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act, or CMEPA.
"These websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles," Foley said when he introduced the bill in 2002.

So what does this all mean in terms of the fight for control of the House? Democrats had considered that seat a "Leans Republican district," meaning they thought Foley would probably win. His was NOT considered one of the 44 or so seats in play, so to speak. The Democrat, a businessman named Tim Mahoney, is funding his candidacy with his own money.

Right now, both parties are looking into Florida election law (ugh -- been there) but early speculation is that the general election ballots may already be printed up and in the mail for absentee voters. Which would mean Foley would be on the ballot in November; but Republicans would likely be able to launch a write-in candidate. More later...

Link

[Little Texan]

A little more detail about the messages...

Associated Press
Foley Resigns From Congress Over E-Mails
By DAVID ESPO and JIM KUHNHENN , 09.29.2006, 05:47 PM

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former teenage male page.

"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 said in a statement issued by his office.

The two-sentence statement did not refer to the e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's abrupt decision to abandon a flourishing career in Congress.

Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days.

His resignation comes less than six weeks before the elections and further complicates the political landscape for Republicans, who are fighting to retain control of Congress. Democrats need to win a net of 15 Republican seats to regain the power they lost in 1994.

Florida Republicans planned to meet as soon as Monday to name a replacement in Foley's district, which President Bush won with 55 percent in 2004 and is now in play for November. Though Florida ballots have already been printed with Foley's name and cannot be changed, any votes for Foley will count toward the party's choice.

Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.

The page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he called the teen's parents. Alexander added, "We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he had asked the chairman of the House's page board, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., to investigate the page system. "We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe," Hastert said.

He said Foley submitted the letter of resignation to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and submitted a copy to him. A House clerk read Foley's resignation on the House floor.

"He's done the right thing," Hastert said. Asked if the chain of events was disturbing, he said, "None of us are very happy about it."

ABC News reported Friday that Foley also engaged in a series of sexually explicit instant messages with current and former teenage male pages. In one message, ABC said, Foley wrote to one page: "Do I make you a little horny?"

Foley, as chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, had introduced legislation in July to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet. He also sponsored other legislation designed to protect minors from abuse and neglect.

"We track library books better than we do sexual predators," Foley has said.

Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Alexander and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

Foley's aides initially blamed Democratic rival Tim Mahoney and Democrats with attempting to smear the congressman before the election.

The e-mails were posted Friday on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Web site after ABC News reported their existence. The group asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate the exchange Foley had with the boy.

"The House of Representatives has an obligation to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process," the group wrote, adding that the committee, "must investigate any allegation that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by members of the House."

In 2003, Foley faced questions about his sexual orientation as he prepared to run for Sen. Bob Graham's seat. At a news conference in May of that year, he said he would not comment on rumors he was gay. He later decided not to seek the Senate seat to care for his parents.

According to the CREW posting, the boy e-mailed a colleague in Alexander's office about Foley's e-mails, saying, "This freaked me out." On the request for a photo, the boy repeated the word "sick" 13 times.

He said Foley asked for his e-mail when the boy gave him a thank you card. The boy also said Foley wrote that he e-mailed another page.

"he's such a nice guy," Foley wrote about the other boy. "acts much older than his age...and hes in really great shape...i am just finished riding my bike on a 25 mile journey now heading to the gym...whats school like for you this year?"

In other e-mails, Foley wrote, "I am back in Florida now...its nice here...been raining today...it sounds like you will have some fun over the next few weeks...how old are you now?" and "how are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me an email pic of you as well."

What the boy wrote to Foley, who is single, wasn't available. The e-mails were sent from Foley's personal account, which Foley spokesman Jason Kello says he uses to communicate with many people, including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Efforts to reach the boy were unsuccessful, but he told the St. Petersburg Times last November, "I thought it was very inappropriate. After the one about the picture, I decided to stop e-mailing him back." The Times didn't publish the comments until Friday.

Alexander said the boy notified a staffer in his office about the e-mails and promptly called the boy's parents.

"My concern then was the young man's interests and the parents' interests," Alexander said. "We weren't trying to protect anybody except the parents. ... They told me they were comfortable with it and didn't want to pursue anything, didn't want to talk about it anymore."

Foley was a member of the Republican leadership, serving as a deputy whip. He also was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Florida Republican Party lawyers were reviewing the process to pick a replacement. Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan said she hopes a replacement will be chosen by Monday. Among the possibilities was state Rep. Joe Negron, who was a candidate for attorney general before dropping out of the race to avoid a primary with former Rep. Bill McCollum.

"It would be very time sensitive so the nominee would have the opportunity to get around the district and campaign in a very short amount of time," Jordan said.

David Johnson, a former state Republican chairman who worked as a strategist for Foley, said it will be difficult for the party's pick to win with Foley's name on the ballot.

On Foley, Jordan said, "Congressman Foley served as my congressman. He's given a great deal of time and effort and extreme good hard work to the state of Florida. I just so appreciate all the things he's done over the years."

Mahoney, a Republican who became a Democrat last year, is chairman and chief operating officer of a $1 billion-a-year financial services company. In his House bid, he has focused on Washington corruption and oversized deficits.

In 1983, the House censured two lawmakers - Daniel Crane of Illinois and Gerry Studds of Massachusetts - for having improper relationships with pages.

The page program is for high school students who study at a congressional school while also carrying out tasks for lawmakers.



Associated Press Writers Brendan Farrington in Florida and Natasha Metzler in Washington contributed to this report.

Link

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Another seat for the Dems in November....

[FORD]

Originally posted by Va Beach VH Fan
Another seat for the Dems in November....

Yep. They can't even insert another candidate at this point. Though this being Florida, it wouldn't surprise me if they tried.

[Nitro Express]

Right now we have a handful of people in the executive branch running the country. The house and senate hasn't done shit for years. You mean we still have Congressmen and Senators?

[Jesus Christ]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
Right now we have a handful of people in the executive branch running the country. The house and senate hasn't done shit for years. You mean we still have Congressmen and Senators?

They exist, but they do not do their duty and oppose the Son of Bush in his sins against Me and against thine own laws and Constitution.

[sadaist]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh


"made repeated references to sexual organs and acts."

Heehee. I guess that means pretty much every Roth Army member will be ineligible to run for public office in the future.

[Satan]

Originally posted by sadaist
Heehee. I guess that means pretty much every Roth Army member will be ineligible to run for public office in the future.

Since the overwhelming majority of Roth Army members are adults making adult sex references, that's entirely different than an adult male trolling for teenage boys.

For that matter, Foley's homosexuality was rumored for years, and it didn't stop him from being re-elected in Florida. But then, his constituents assumed his boyfriends were all over 18.