Simply Politics & News

[AKvetch]

ak - the reporter knew of it at least 11 months ago

Shouldn't you be asking when Speaker of the House Hastert and other "responsible" congressmen knew about it, and what they did or did not do to investigate further? They are the responsible parties, not a reporter.

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POSTED: 3:19 a.m. EDT, September 30, 2006

House to probe resigning congressman's notes to teen

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House voted unanimously to launch an investigation into messages allegedly sent by former Rep. Mark Foley to a male teenage page.

The six-term Florida Republican abruptly ended his congressional career Friday after public disclosure of the notes.

uu]The House vote came after the congressman who oversees the page program revealed he had learned about the exchange late last year and subsequently warned Foley to be "mindful" of his behavior.

Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, learned about the matter during the spring, but "there wasn't a level of alarm because there was no specificity about the contact," an aide to Boehner told CNN.

Boehner blocked a vote on a resolution offered by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that asked the House Ethics Committee to begin a preliminary investigation into Foley's conduct and the GOP leadership's "response" to it.

The California Democrat's resolution would have called for an investigation of "when the Republican leadership was notified and what corrective action was taken."

Instead, Boehner made a motion that the Foley matter be sent to the House Ethics Committee, which passed 409-0.

Pelosi said her resolution forced the GOP leadership to send the matter to the Ethics Committee for a bipartisan investigation.

In his e-mails, Foley purportedly asked the page to send a picture of himself to the congressman, asked the teen what he wanted for his birthday and made comments about another former page in which Foley allegedly said he acted "much older than his age" and was "in really great shape."

The teen who said he received the e-mails forwarded them on another party, who had a House e-mail address, and commented that he found the request for his picture "sick." The former page said Foley had asked for his e-mail address after he gave the congressman a thank-you card.

GOP sources told CNN that Foley's resignation was prompted in part by concerns that other potentially politically damaging e-mails or information might surface, including exchanges with other pages that were more graphic.

ABC News Friday evening reported details of three exchanges of instant messages sent between teenage male pages and someone using the screen name Maf54, which ABC identified as Foley. The congressman's initials are MAF, and he was born in 1954.

In one of those exchanges, Maf54 advises the teen to "strip down." In another, when the teen says he's wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Maf54 replies, "Love to slip them off of you." And in a third, Maf54 asks, "Do I make you a little horny?"

Foley led exploited children's caucus

In a three-sentence letter of resignation, Foley did not mention the messages. But the six-term lawmaker said he was "deeply sorry" and apologized "for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."

"I thank the people of Florida's 16th Congressional District for giving me the opportunity to serve them for the last 12 years," Foley said. "It has been an honor."

A spokesman for Foley told CNN that the congressman had exchanged e-mails with the former page but denied he had done anything inappropriate.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said the Florida lawmaker had "done the right thing" by resigning. Hastert also said he had asked Rep. John Shimkus, a fellow Illinois Republican who oversees the House page program, to investigate.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt told CNN that "it sounds like to me ... that Mark made the right decision to leave the Congress."

"I hope that he can solve this problem for himself," the Missouri Republican said.

Foley served as one of Blunt's deputy whips and was also co-chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he was "surprised" by Foley's resignation. "I'm really disappointed if these allegations are true," he said.

Some GOP leaders knew of contact

Shimkus issued a statement saying he had learned about the e-mails in late 2005, after they were forwarded to the Clerk of the House by Rep. Rodney Alexander, a Louisiana Republican, in whose office the page had worked.

Shimkus said when he questioned Foley about the e-mails, the congressman assured him that he was "simply acting as a mentor" to the former page and that "nothing inappropriate had occurred."

He said Foley explained that he was trying to find out if the teen was OK after a hurricane last year and "wanted a photo to see that the former page was all right."

Foley was advised to have no further contact with the former page and "to be especially mindful of his conduct" with pages in the future, Shimkus said.

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

An aide to Rep. Tom Reynolds, a New York Republican who heads the National Republican Campaign Committee, said Reynolds also knew a year ago about the matter. The committee coordinates the election effort for House Republicans.

Boehner's spokesman, Kevin Madden, said Boehner recalls a conversation with Alexander "making him aware earlier this spring that there had been contact by Rep. Foley and a page. It was Congressman Alexander's opinion that the contact was not of a professional nature."

The page program, which brings young people from around the country to work on Capitol Hill, came under intense scrutiny in 1983, after two lawmakers -- Rep. Gerry Studds, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. Dan Crane, an Illinois Republican -- were censured following their admission they had consensual sexual relationships with 17-year-old pages.

Neither lawmaker resigned, but Crane was defeated for re-election in 1984. Studds survived the scandal and continued to serve in the House until retiring in 1996.

GOP scrambles to find replacement

Just six weeks before the midterm election, with control of the House in play, Foley's departure has left Republicans scrambling to find a replacement candidate in Florida's 16th District.

Foley, 53, who is single, had been favored to win re-election in the Republican-leaning district. Under Florida law, his name will remain on the ballot, but Republicans will have seven days to select a new candidate who will receive any votes cast for Foley.

GOP party leaders from the eight counties in the district will meet to decide on a new nominee, according to Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein. One name being mentioned for the post Friday by a number of party leaders was state Rep. Joe Negron from Stuart.

The campaign of Tim Mahoney, the Democratic candidate in the district, denied having any role in disclosure of Foley's e-mails. Mahoney made a brief statement to reporters Friday afternoon but did not answer any questions.

"The challenges facing Congressmen Foley make this a difficult time for the people of 16th District. The families of all those involved are in our thoughts and in our prayers," Mahoney said.

CNN's Dana Bash and Kimberly Segal contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/30/foley.quits