Posted on 09/30/2006 6:33:09 PM PDT by mathprof
Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail traffic between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret and allowed Mr. Foley to remain head of a Congressional caucus on childrens issues, Republican lawmakers said Saturday.
The exchanges began with what Republicans now describe as an overfriendly e-mail message from Mr. Foley to the unidentified teenager. But news reports about the exchanges have led to the disclosure of e-mail correspondence with other former pages in which the discussions became more and more sexually explicit. Shortly after he was confronted by ABC News on Friday about the subject, Mr. Foley, who represented a south Florida district, resigned from the House.
The revelations set off a political upheaval, with Democrats and some Republicans alike calling for a full investigation of Mr. Foleys conduct and whether House leaders did enough to look into it. Members of the Republican leadership sought Saturday to detail how they had handled the case in an effort to defuse the matter, even as it was emerging as an issue in Congressional races.
Among those who became aware of the communication in the fall of 2005 between Mr. Foley and the 16-year-old page, who worked for Representative Rodney Alexander, Republican of Louisiana, were Representative John A. Boehner, the majority leader, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Mr. Reynolds said in a statement Saturday that he had also personally raised the issue with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert earlier this year.
Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didnt want the matter pursued, I told the speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me, Mr. Reynolds said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The 'leadership' is bankrupt.
Well, those that "looked the other way" pretty much are going to be boxed in.
Look for them to resign, or face some serious trouble themselves, on ethics grounds, not to mention politically.
Psalm 1 is a good place for people in office to read.
If people in office stick to that Psalm, they won't ever get burned.
Such drama
Which pervert? I see two. LOL!!
No one saw the disgusting IM's. Just the emails.
Huge differance in the two.
Foley's guilt is not even proved at this time, only implied (strongly) by his own action in resigning and the second hand information being passed on, almost totally anonymously, by the ever reliable drive by media. Why do we suddenly accept anything they say as gospel because it fits into a salacious pattern?
I know this may bother some, but I have this nagging thing I call a principle, I actually believe in "innocent until proved guilty," particularly when dealing with accusations against Republicans in the New York Times. I'm just cynical that way.
Someone told me he was married.
My error, I didn't check.
Not much of him getting arried now.
Only Wacko Jacko can marry for cover, and have people buy it...well...liberal people buy it...
First, he was emailing a boy in Florida who was 16. Age of consent in Florida is 18.
Second, when you see one cockroach, there are typically a few hundred behind the wall. I am sure we will be hearing a lot more about Mr. Foley's perversions.
Hypothetical situation - if you knew your neighbor was trying to seduce a child and did nothing about it and eventually they got caught, are you completely absolved of any responsibility?
This man has damaged the GOP big time with his behavior. This is all a result of him. And now it seems that the leadership made a mistake based on the greed of staying in power. They should have booted him as soon as they found out. I don't feel any sympathy for any of them. Let the circus begin.
Where was Foley when he sent the IMs?
I never said anything about him. Maybe you should learn to read for comprehension, eh?
It depends on the law.
And Nancy Pelosi knew about William Jefferson when?
I'm in Fla.
Soliciting sex with a kid in this state, is a felony.
There's nothing sexual about asking a 16 year boy if he is horny, or telling him that you have a hard-on thinking about him???? Have you actually read any of the transcripts of the emails?
"And Nancy Pelosi knew about William Jefferson when?"
Right on.
Did he solicit sex? All I read was about masturbation.
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