Republican congressman resigns

The Washington Post carried this remarkable passage today: "House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate 'contact' between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

"Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.

"It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy."

Near midnight, the Republicans engineered a vote to let the House ethics committee decide whether an investigation is needed.

-- Among the Republican explanations during the night:
The congressional sponsor of the page, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., said he was asked by the youth's parents not to pursue the matter, so he dropped it.

-- Alexander said that before deciding to end his involvement, he passed on what he knew to the chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y. Reynolds' spokesman, Carl Forti, said the campaign chairman also took no action in deference to the parents' wishes.

--Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the Page Board that oversees the congressional work-study program for high schoolers, said he did investigate but Foley falsely assured him he was only mentoring the boy. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.

--The spokesman for Speaker, Ron Bonjean, said the top House Republican had not known about the allegations. Shimkus said he learned about them in late 2005.

Just as Shimkus' explanation was released, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California proposed to the House that its ethics committee investigate and make a preliminary report in 10 days. She demanded to know who knew of the messages, whether Foley had other contacts with pages and when the Republican leadership was notified of Foley's conduct.

Instead, majority Republicans engineered a vote to allow the ethics panel to decide whether there should even be an investigation.

Foley's departure sent Republicans scrambling for a replacement candidate.

Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days. The page was 16 at the time of the correspondence.

Foley's resignation 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.

Hastert said Friday he had asked Shimkus to investigate the page system. "We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe," Hastert said.

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

In another message, Foley wrote, "You in your boxers, too? ... Well, strip down and get relaxed."

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.

"The House of Representatives has an obligation to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process," one group wrote.

Why did Republicans let Foley keep child-protection job?
The Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau
Originally posted: September 30, 2006
Why did Foley keep child-protection job?
Posted by Frank James at 8:00 am CDT

One of the most troubling parts of the emerging scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley, the Florida Republican who sent sexually suggestive emails to teenaged congressional pages, is this: he chaired the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Foley carved out a role for himself as a congressional leader on the issue of exploited children, and is credited with authoring important sections of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 which President Bush signed into law this summer.

(Former Rep. Mark Foley, far right, at the White House Rose Garden signing ceremony for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 on July 27, 2006. White House photo by Paul Morse)

He worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children whose website has pictures of him presenting awards to law enforcement officers and children who survived and or helped bring child predators to justice.

It would be a fascinating psychological study to try and understand how Foley could be both sending such emails to high schoolers while at the same time fighting against child predators. He is like the firefighter who turns out to also be an arsonist.

As yet no evidence has been produced publicly to indicate that Foley did anything more than have inappropriate Internet communications with minors. If such evidence does arise, then obviously the scandal becomes even more explosive.

Another difficult aspect of the story is how the House Republican leadership dealt with Foley. According to a story in the Washington Post, House Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) at the very least knew about Foley's "inappropriate contact" with a minor months ago:

"House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate 'contact' between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.

It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy."

So Boehner, at the very least, knew about the "inappropriate contact." And Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) who oversees the congressional pages as head of the Page Board, the group responsible for the teenagers who work essentially as gofers and doorholders for lawmakers, knew even earlier.

The Post report contained the following passage:

"Shimkus said in a statement last night, 'in late 2005, I was notified by the then Clerk of the House,' that Alexander had told the Clerk 'about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page. I took immediate action to investigate the matter.'

"In the e-mail, 'Foley asked about the former Page's well-being after Hurricane Katrina and requested a photograph,' Shimkus said. He said Foley assured him it was an innocent exchange, but 'nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact' with the boy and to respect all pages. 'Only now have I learned that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct,' Shimkus said."

Despite all of this, Boehner allowed Foley to remain chair of the House caucus devoted to protecting children from sexual predators. Not only is this disturbing, it doesn't make any sense.

Read Shimkus's full press statement below:

Subject: Statement by Congressman Shimkus on the Foley Resignation

(Washington, D.C.) - Congressman John Shimkus, Chairman of the House Page Board, made the following statement tonight after the resignation from the House of Congressman Mark Foley.

As chairman of the bipartisan House Page Board in late 2005, I was notified by the then Clerk of the House, who manages the Page Program, that he had been told by Congressman Rodney Alexander about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page. I took immediate action to investigate the matter.

In that email exchange, Congressman Foley asked about the former Page's well-being after Hurricane Katrina and requested a photograph. When asked about the email exchange, Congressman Foley said he expressed concern about the Page's well-being and wanted a photo to see that the former Page was alright.

Congressman Foley told the Clerk and me that he was simply acting as a mentor to this former House Page and that nothing inappropriate had occurred. Nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact with this former House Page to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. We also advised him to be especially mindful of his conduct with respect to current and former House Pages, and he assured us he would do so. I received no subsequent complaints about his behavior nor was I ever made aware of any additional emails.

It has become clear to me today, based on information I only now have learned, that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct.

As Chairman of the House Page Board, I am working with the Clerk to fully review this incident and determine what actions need to be taken.

The House Page Program has been an integral part of the House of Representatives for many decades. Preserving the integrity of the House Page Program is of utmost importance to me and to the House of Representatives, and we intend to uphold and protect its values and traditions.

what's the big deal? It's not he like he received a blowjob from an adult member of the opposite sex or anything.... now THAT would be worth a 40 million dollar investigation.....

This is simply another case of a hypocrite Republican. He can join the ranks of all the others that have crashed and burned in disgrace. He joins Rush Linbaugh who preached against drugs then got arrested for abusing drugs, Jimmy Swaggert who preached against porn then was arrested in his car with 200 porn magazines and a prostitute, Dr Laura Shlessinger who preached family values and honoring thy mother while her own mother laid dead at home for a month before someone noticed the smell. I could go on and on but lets end there.

the usual excusers and defenders shold be along shortly...

No matter what his political leanings, this man is an ephebophile, and has taken advantage of impressionable teenagers. I really wonder if what he has done has caused any permanent emotional damage to the young people.

Not only should he lose his job, but some time in the slammer to mull things over his misdeeds is definitely in order.

agreed

We have seen the same thing happen in 'Army' and 'Police' scandals. Instead of being the first to get rid of the rotten apple, they often hide and protect the cancer source.

White House downplays Foley scandal as "simply naughty
Monday, October 02, 2006
White House downplays Foley scandal as "simply naughty emails"
by Joe in DC - 10/02/2006

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, appearing on CNN this morning, downplayed the Foley scandal. Soledad later noted that Snow "tried really hard to minimize the impact and any kind of political fallout."

Soledad asks as "a parent" why any communication between a 16-year old page a Member of Congress doesn't "raise red flags, major, massive red flags." Snow responds, "t's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails."

ThinkProgress has the video of the Bush White House defending a child sex predator.

"Simply naughty emails"? That's all they were says the Bush White House. Just naughty emails between a 52 year old member of Congress and some 16 and 17 year olds childen. Just naughty emails when a grown man asks a sixteen year old boy to measure his penis. Just naughty emails when a member of Congress asks a child to describe how he masturbates.

That's why the GOP House leadership is scrambling. That's why they had to call in the FBI. That's why the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

I hate being right all the time

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=74035&highlight=tony+snow+prediction

Strange they haven't shown up!

So let's get this straight.... Clinton gets his dick sucked by an adult consenting member of the opposite sex and it costs the taxpayers 40 million dollars, the repubs purvey it into an entire platform of "returning family values to America, but when a republican congressman sends dirty emails back and forth with minor members of the SAME sex, it's just "simply naughty emails".

Yup, that makes a lot of sense all right.

Foley didn't stand before the nation and lie and then perjure himself before a grand jury. I know that's a strange concept for you to understand, but pretend you do.

therer have been more lies and denials in the first three days of this than the whole Clinton trial....

what lies? That the house leaders only had access to the emails and not the IM's? That they told Foley to stop sending such emails to pages?

The only liar in this is Foley who used his position to try to further his perversion. He betrayed his position and will be punished for it I hope.

I think he means the "Hastert didn't know, yes he did, well maybe, can't remember" lies.

BBB
One thing I learned a long time ago is that when someone protests that they "don't recall" an incident, it means they usually are lying and don't want to admit they did it. The I don't remember excuse is a red flag widely used by politicians. Even Karl Rove and Condi Rice are the most recent examples.

The House Speaker has already been outed by the people who talked to him about the page problem. His I don't know won't protect him for long. He is toast.

BBB

Hastert knew about the emails. Which, if you look at only the emails, by themselves do not show anything but a slight problem that could be handled internally.

It's the IM text that shows Foley to have a serious problem that would exclude him from any position of leadership and should rightly end in a criminal offense and punishment.

I do not think Hastert or any Republican had any access or knowledge of those. Foley was a liar and a pervert. He hid his sickness. Is that really so hard to believe?

McG
McG, you are not keeping up with the latest news. When first informed, the Speaker told the informant he had taken care of the matter. He never investigate the issue and gave the violator a slap on the wrist to save a Republican house seat.

Party comes before page protection, no doubt.

BBB