Posted on 09/30/2006 3:06:00 PM PDT by wjersey
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said he told Speaker Dennis Hastert after learning a fellow GOP lawmaker sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy.
Reynolds, R-N.Y., was told months ago about e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley and is now defending himself from Democratic accusations that he did too little. Foley, R-Fla., resigned Friday after ABC News questioned him about the e-mails to a former congressional page and about sexually suggestive instant messages to other pages. The boy who received the e-mails was 16 in summer 2005 when he worked in Congress as a page. After the boy returned to his Louisiana home, the congressman e-mailed him, and the teenager thought the messages were inappropriate, particularly one in which Foley asked the teen to send a picture of himself.
The teen's family contacted their congressman, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who then discussed it with Reynolds sometime this spring.
"Rodney Alexander brought to my attention the existence of e-mails between Mark Foley and a former page of Mr. Alexander's," Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a written statement Saturday.
"Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn't want the matter pursued, I told the speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me," Reynolds said.
Reynolds added that Alexander also discussed it with the clerk of the House, and the congressman who oversees the page program, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Shimkus has said he learned about the e-mail exchange in late 2005 and took immediate action to investigate.
Shimkus said Foley told him it was an innocent exchange. Shimkus said he warned Foley not to have any more contact with the teenager and to respect other pages.
Democrats charged Reynolds did far too little and said more digging should be done.
"Congressman Reynolds' inaction in the face of such a serious situation is very troubling, and raises important questions about whether there was an attempt to cover up criminal activity involving a minor to keep it from coming to light before election day," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney.
New York Democrats hoping to unseat Reynolds blasted the congressman, saying they call into question the Republican's values.
"Mr. Reynolds knew about these allegedly inappropriate emails from a fellow congressman to a minor for months and didn't lift a finger," said Blake Zeff, a spokesman for the state Democrats.
I don't know and why he's being investigated.
Foley is a slime. And I am glad that he is gone. He is a pervent and a fiend who deserves what he gets. He betrayed his constituents, party and the country in addition to his disgusting violation of the Pages.
God knows what other perversions are going on in there. Like the creepy Senate where they put their hands all over each other constantly. 'Gives me the heebie-geebies just thinking of it.
Exactly and this needs to be the tough voice of all our Representative.
FOR GOD SAKE DON'T DEFEND THIS TALK TO IT...IF HE DID IT THEN WE CONDEM IT.
ENOUGH SAID. THIS IS NOT A REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT ISSUE THIS IS A HUMAN DESCENSY ISSUE.
Your clear position on the matter is the only valid position for sincere conservatives. This is not the time to try and trivialize what is a fundamental ethical issue. Well done!
Thanks! I'm finished making excuses for Republicans. I'm a Conservative, and that used to be what the GOP stood for. We did NOT leave the Republican Party, it left us when they started straying from our values and morals. When I stand back and look at both parties, I'm having a difficult time telling them apart. Granted, the RATS 'look' more evil to us, but that's probably the way the GOP is looking to people now too.
We have got to start holding their feet to the fire when they do things that are unethical and/or immoral. It's time that they are held accountable for their actions! They are NOT above the law, and it's time that we drive that message home to them at the polls, or in a court of law!
"Doesn't look good for Hastert."
This man's leadership has been, shall we say, less than stellar?
Now, for all the others ~ and I'd hope they'd use Foley as an example of what they, too, should do.
"How come its ok for queer dems?"
They're from Massachusetts. That's all you need to know. How did Ted Kennedy get re-elected to the Senate?
| G.O.P. Leaders Knew in Late ’05 of E-Mail |
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| Posted by mathprof On 09/30/2006 8:33:09 PM CDT · 8 replies · 176+ views new york times ^ | 10/1/06 | RAYMOND HERNANDEZ 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 children’s 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... |
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My own PERSONAL theory is that both parties are less than ethical. Both protect their own.
It's just disgusting. We should insist on better.
The hell with Foley and all the Republicans that covered up for this POS.
And, guess what? Foley was also a long time apologist for $cientology.
Good riddance. Another phony antiporn warrior that is a closet pervert.
You should really ask why we have so much dreck in Congress. How many are under indictment?
"If Foley was a Democrat, he would be lionized for being a Gay American."
As I said on another thread, Dems have their own standards of behavior, and are not going to be held to some standards of morality.
You are correct. The Republicans have just kissed the House goodbye, and maybe it's for the best.
"I've already suggested that Foley bring the discussion about his misdeeds to a close through the simple expedient of cutting his guts out and falling to the ground dead."
In regard to this matter, I am not as angry as you appear to be. Perhaps the anger is still to come. For the most part I just have a profound sense of disappointment.
"Popcorn!!!!
Pubbies are throwing each other under the bus."
You said it. I think Foley is an idiot, and obviously shouldn't have made these advances to this young man. But if it was a Democrat, the Dems would be circling the wagons, and the guy might even get re-elected. The sky is not falling just because of one Congressman's stupidity.
That means they know exactly what happened but are seeking to deceive their readers who will confound what seem to be innocuous "e-mails" with salicious "Instant Messages".
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html?ex=1313812800&en=4ca4585011496b35&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss is a New York Times article that's virtually sympathetic to pedophiles and pedophilia where the NYT writers and editors demonstrate their profound knowledge of how the internet works and what the various "products" on the net are called.
Wonder if their little buddies in the homosexual and pedophile communities are going to hold this one against them.
"I don't think Barney Frank has been caught cavorting with under-aged boys (although it wouldn't surprise me)."
No, Frank just tried to help out a male prostitute who happened to live with him.
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