News & Politics - Lawmaker Quits Over Messages Sent to Teenage Pages

*Ledi* · 09-30-2006, 02:02 PM

So I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of this by now, but I'm curious to know what Republicans think about it.

Quote:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 — In six terms representing a wealthy swath of southern Florida, Representative Mark Foley, a Republican, became well known for his ardent efforts to safeguard the young and vulnerable, leading the House caucus on missing and exploited children and championing laws against sexual predators.

On Friday, Mr. Foley resigned abruptly after being confronted with a series of sexually explicit Internet messages he is reported to have sent to under-age Congressional pages. He stands accused of being the very kind of predator he had denounced.

“I am deeply sorry,” Mr. Foley, 52, said in a three-sentence statement released by his office, “and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent.” The statement did not refer specifically to the Internet messages.

The first e-mail messages to one male page, sexually suggestive but not explicit, were reported by ABC News on Thursday. Mr. Foley, a member of the House Republican leadership, dismissed them as “overly friendly” but not inappropriate.

But by Friday, other pages had come forward with more blatant instant messages. “What ya wearing?” Mr. Foley wrote to one, according to the network. “Tshirt and shorts,” the teenager responded. “Love to slip them off of you,” Mr. Foley replied.

ABC News said it had read him other messages that were far more graphic. Within hours, Mr. Foley resigned in a one-sentence letter to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. He left the Capitol without answering questions.

The resignation threw Congressional Republicans off stride on the day they were breaking to campaign for the midterm elections just five weeks away. It also gave Democrats hopes of capturing another seat in November. Even by the standards of Washington, this revelation stunned Mr. Foley’s colleagues for how openly he had courted danger.

According to ABC, he exchanged instant messages with the pages using his initials and year of birth: “MAF54.” And he might have known he would be watched; the pages, teenagers in navy blue uniforms who open doors and carry messages and water to members on the House and Senate floors, are closely guarded, not only for their vulnerability, but because they have been the object of past Congressional scandals.

The page who received the first e-mail messages told ABC News that people in the program had warned his class to watch out for Mr. Foley. The page worked for Representative Rodney Alexander, Republican of Louisiana, and sent the messages to a colleague in the office with a note saying they had “freaked me out.”

Investigators would not say whether they were looking into the matter.

Mr. Foley’s rise in Florida politics had been striking. He told interviewers of getting hooked on politics after he moved to Florida from Massachusetts as a small child, watching people flock around the local congressman as he shook hands at a shopping center in southern Florida.

He started a small family restaurant at age 20 and by 23 was elected to the city commission in Lake Worth, a working-class town south of West Palm Beach. He was known as a tireless campaigner and was elected to the State Legislature in 1990, and to Congress in 1994, at age 40. He was appointed to the powerful Ways and Means committee and was named one of the party’s deputy whips by Tom DeLay, then the House Republican leader.

“He had a meteoric rise,” said Al Cardenas, a former leader of the Florida Republican Party who described himself as a longtime friend of Mr. Foley. “In a span of six years he went through an incredible ascension in our party. He worked real hard, he had a very engaging personality, and people took him very seriously at a young age.”

As a moderate Republican in Congress, Mr. Foley proved a good ideological match for his district, centered in the wealthy northern end of Palm Beach County. He was fiscally conservative but more moderate on social and environmental issues.

He spoke vehemently about the need to protect children from pedophiles. “We track library books better than we do sexual predators,” he said, arguing the need for the Children’s Safety Act, passed by the House in 2005.

Questions about his sexuality swirled beginning with his first run for Congress, when his opponent in the Republican primary sent out mailings saying Mr. Foley was gay. He was single and seemed uncommonly focused on politics. He sometimes referred to his sister, Donna, who often served as his campaign manager, as his “surrogate wife.”

In 2003, when he was considered the front-runner in a crowded primary race for the Senate seat being vacated by Bob Graham, Mr. Foley gave a news conference to condemn rumors that he was gay but refused to say whether he was. A few months later, he dropped out of the race, saying he needed to spend more time with his father, who had prostate cancer. Many believed he had left the race to avoid questions about his sexual orientation.

“There were accusations made that he was gay, and clearly that had an impact on him deciding not to run for Senate,” said Jim Kane, the chief pollster for Florida Voter, a nonpartisan polling organization. “He knew the scrutiny was clearly going to be much different once he stepped up a notch.”

Mr. Foley reportedly sent the messages to the first page in August 2005.

Representative John Shimkus, Republican of Illinois and chairman of the House Page Board, issued a statement late Friday saying he had known of the first e-mail messages “in late 2005.” Mr. Foley, Mr. Shimkus said, had said he was simply acting as a mentor, but Mr. Shimkus told him to cut off contact with the page and “be especially mindful of his conduct” with pages.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, called late Friday for an investigation into who knew of the messages, and when. After Republicans criticized her move on the floor, the House referred the request to the ethics committee.

Although his current race was considered competitive, Mr. Foley had been favored to win re-election; President Bush won his district in 2004 with 54 percent of the vote. And yet the campaign between Mr. Foley and his Democratic opponent, Tim Mahoney, had been combative. Mr. Mahoney, a businessman and former Republican, sued Mr. Foley this month, saying Mr. Foley had defamed him in campaign advertisements.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had included the campaign in its list of “emerging races,” or the 50 seats most primed for takeover. Mr. Mahoney, Democrats said, was a good candidate even before the scandal, with $1 million in his campaign chest.

State Republican Party leaders said they would meet with officials from each of the counties in Mr. Foley’s district to nominate someone to replace him. But an election official in Florida said Friday night that Mr. Foley’s name would have to remain on the ballot. Any votes for him will be counted for his replacement, the official said.

As if what he did wasn't bad enough, other Republicans have helped him hide it. Amazing. How's that for "morals"? Seriously, everyone who knew about this and did nothing, should be punished in a way or another.

S.A.S.H.A. · 09-30-2006, 03:27 PM

I think he's gross for having such conversations with a child, and am not surprised others helped him try to cover it up. Seems people that appear as the most moral are actually the least moral of all.

Sasha

*Ledi* · 09-30-2006, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.A.S.H.A. (View Post)

I think he's gross for having such conversations with a child, and am not surprised others helped him try to cover it up. Seems people that appear as the most moral are actually the least moral of all.

Sasha

That is so true.

ceilirose · 09-30-2006, 03:37 PM

Now there's talk that the Speaker of the House -Hastert - has known about this for close to a year and basically did nothing. Foley should have been reprimanded at that time and this should have been investigated thoroughly and openly. They all look like they've been covering up for one of their own.

I still doubt that this story will have legs though. We'll see...Republicans invstigating themselves isn't going to come to much.

Lexis · 10-01-2006, 03:29 AM

On Crooks and Liars they said that Republicans booed Pelosi when she wanted a recorded vote on who backed an investigation into this whole thing. Seriously screwed up.

TokyoNiGHTS · 10-01-2006, 05:57 AM

Here's a video of him on America's Most Wanted talking about sexual predators with John Walsh

YouTube - Hypocrite Foley on AMW: "If I were one of these sickos..."

No one like this deserves to be defended. And anyone else that might be doing this type of stuff in congress should be smoked out also. I wouldn't want anyone that'd try to stop investigations into this stuff to be representing where i'm from.

Lain · 10-01-2006, 09:03 AM

Hypocricy at its best here. A lawmaker who is "against" sexual predators is eating his own words.

The only thing I kinda give him kudos is for him quitting while he's ahead, before he'll be under a lot of pressure by the Congress.

*Ledi* · 10-01-2006, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS (View Post)

Here's a video of him on America's Most Wanted talking about sexual predators with John Walsh

YouTube - Hypocrite Foley on AMW: "If I were one of these sickos..."

No one like this deserves to be defended. And anyone else that might be doing this type of stuff in congress should be smoked out also. I wouldn't want anyone that'd try to stop investigations into this stuff to be representing where i'm from.

I don't know how anyone would be OK with that. There has to be an investigation! That shouldn't even be a question.

TokyoNiGHTS · 10-01-2006, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ledi* (View Post)

I don't know how anyone would be OK with that. There has to be an investigation! That shouldn't even be a question.

I think the cover up is very much the reason it's not happening. If its true that they were really covering up what he'd done then they definetly don't want that exposed. It's their own fault though. I'm just confused by it all really. What is the benefit of being in politics and helping cover up what a child predator is doing? Wouldn't you want someone doing that out of your party ASAP? Not just because its one of the most disgusting crimes you can do, but because there's nothing beneficial to you or anyone in your party about it.

If there is an investigation it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to look into the pasts of the people that helped cover it up. Because you've got to wonder what they've done to be willing to cover something like this up.

ceilirose · 10-01-2006, 11:40 AM

The House Ethics Committee is going to investigate. The FBI knew two months ago and didn't do anything.

People get thrown in jail for what this guy did..why isn't some form of law enforcement involved at this point?

I heard Hastert's people say they thought it was troubling but that it was just over-friendly. In other words he never saw these e-mails.

That's a question I'd like answered. Why didn't any of them think to look at these e-mails when this all came about. What's troubling is that they all seem clueless now.

TokyoNiGHTS · 10-01-2006, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceilirose (View Post)

The House Ethics Committee is going to investigate. The FBI knew two months ago and didn't do anything.

People get thrown in jail for what this guy did..why isn't some form of law enforcement involved at this point?

There needs to be a big investigation into all of this. I mean does this stuff need to be made public before anyone starts feeling the heat over it? Because if that's a case then there are likely alot of people in higher positions getting away with it because its not anything the public knows about.

*Ledi* · 10-01-2006, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS (View Post)

There needs to be a big investigation into all of this. I mean does this stuff need to be made public before anyone starts feeling the heat over it? Because if that's a case then there are likely alot of people in higher positions getting away with it because its not anything the public knows about.

I want to know what the Republicans on this forum think about this. So far none of them have posted in this thread and I wonder why.

TokyoNiGHTS · 10-01-2006, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ledi* (View Post)

I want to know what the Republicans on this forum think about this. So far none of them have posted in this thread and I wonder why.

I'd hope they'd be for the investigation. This is one of those times where politics shouldn't be involved. It should be all about what's best for the children these predators are going after.

ceilirose · 10-01-2006, 04:36 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...aff_warne.html

Quote:

A Republican staff member warned congressional pages five years ago to watch out for Congressman Mark Foley, according to a former page.

Matthew Loraditch, a page in the 2001-2002 class, told ABC News he and other pages were warned about Foley by a supervisor in the House Clerk's office.

Loraditch, the president of the Page Alumni Association, said the pages were told "don't get too wrapped up in him being too nice to you and all that kind of stuff."

Staff members at the House Clerk's office did not return calls seeking comment.

Some of the sexually explicit instant messages that led to Foley's abrupt resignation Friday were sent to pages in Loraditch's class.

It doesn't look very good..I can't imagine anyone on either side not wanting an investigation to go forward.

The Republican leaders of the House need to come forward and tell us when they knew about this and what they did. Al they've done all weekend is contradict themselves.

S.A.S.H.A. · 10-01-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ledi* (View Post)

I want to know what the Republicans on this forum think about this. So far none of them have posted in this thread and I wonder why.

Wrong. I do believe a Republican was the first to reply with an opinion of disgust.

Sasha


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