Representative Foley?

[DCJenn]

Representative of whom? Perverts of the United States?

How's it playing in Florida for those of you who are there? and to think he is the Chair of the Missing and Exploited Children Committee.

Did he miss the orientation day where they explained what exploited means?

Jenn

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Representative Foley?

and to think he is the Chair of the Missing and Exploited Children Committee.

He was??????????????

Wow....

kris

Huh...being from FL I actually remember this guys campaign races. He was always very pro-family/anti-pedophile. This is like the closet gay guy who is outwardly homophobic.

The Foley doth protest too much, methinks.

BTW, his name is "foley".

I haven't had the news on much lately so I just looked it up.

Lovely.

How did he look himself in the mirror every morning?

[Meenah]

I love the timing!!!!!!

[DCJenn]

My cousin (the one who used to work for Rep. Baldwin, D-WI) called me yesterday and said that the emails are pretty bad. and I read last night that Hastert has known about this for months- but he's claiming he only knew of their existence, not the content.

Yikes.

Jenn

[DCJenn]

Here's the latest:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Republican leaders mounted an effort to explain their own conduct after the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley, and they suggested there should be a criminal investigation of Foley's contacts with congressional pages.

A strongly worded statement assailing Foley from the chamber's top three Republicans came as they addressed questions about what they knew of the incidents and what action they took.

Calling Foley's contacts "an obscene breach of trust," the congressmen said in their statement that his "immediate resignation must now be followed by the full weight of the criminal justice system." (Watch how the handling of the scandal puts the GOP on the defensive -- 2:40 )

"The improper communications between Congressman Mark Foley and former House congressional pages is unacceptable and abhorrent," read the statement issued by Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.

Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned Friday after his alleged e-mail exchanges with a teenage male page were made public, and the House voted to launch an investigation. Foley apologized to his family and his constituents.

Foley, who co-chaired the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, did not mention the messages that brought him down. The six-term representative has pushed legislation to crack down on Internet child pornography and tighten tracking rules for sex offenders.

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 on Friday evening reported details of three exchanges of instant messages sent in 2003 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?" (More details)

Democrats suggest cover up

The scandal comes just weeks before the November 7 midterm elections, and Republicans were hurriedly trying to find someone to replace Foley.

Foley, who is single, had been favored to win re-election in the Republican-leaning district running against Democrat Tim Mahoney.

Democrats sought to take advantage of the bad press.

The Democratic National Committee issued a statement Saturday saying that at least one member of the Republican House leadership, Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, had "known about the situation for months and did nothing about it."

Reynolds chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, the election campaign arm for House Republicans.

Reynolds responded by saying that when Rep. Rodney Alexander, a Louisiana Republican, told him about the e-mails, he said the teen's parents didn't want the matter pursued. Alexander was the boy's sponsor.

"Mark Foley betrayed the integrity of this institution as well as the trust of his colleagues and constituents. There is no excuse, and he needs to be held accountable," Reynolds said in a statement Saturday.

Reynolds said he passed the information he got from Alexander on to Hastert.

After an initial denial, Hastert's office said Saturday night that Reynolds, in a meeting with the speaker this year, had brought up the e-mail issue.

Reynolds told Hastert in that meeting an investigation had been done by Rep. John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican, chairman of the House Page Board, and the clerk of the House, who manages the work-study program for youths under 18.

"While the speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynolds' recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution," the Hastert statement said.

No one in the speaker's office "was ever made aware of any sexually explicit e-mail or text messages at any time," the statement said.

But Rep. Dale Kildee, the only Democratic member of the House Page Board, insisted Saturday the full board did not investigate Foley.

"Any statement by Mr. Reynolds or anyone else that the House Page Board ever investigated Mr. Foley is completely untrue," the Michigan Democrat said in a statement.

The Foley e-mail allegations first arose in 2005, and the Democratic National Committee said Reynolds took no steps to discipline Foley -- "apparently choosing instead to sweep the matter under the rug to protect the Republican Party's dwindling chances of retaining control of the House."

"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 committee spokesperson Karen Finney.

'Foley was not honest'

Shimkus said when he and the clerk discussed the e-mail reports with Foley, the congressman falsely assured them that he was only mentoring the teen.

Foley also explained that he was concerned about the teen's fate following Hurricane Katrina. He asked the young man to send him a photograph of himself, according to Shimkus.

"It has become clear to me today, based on information I only now have learned, that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct," Shimkus said in a statement issued after Foley's resignation Friday.

Shimkus said Foley was warned "to cease all contact with this former House page to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

Boehner learned about the e-mails in the spring, but "there wasn't a level of alarm because there was no specificity about the contact," an aide to Boehner told CNN.

"I am working with the clerk [of the House] to fully review this incident and determine what actions need to be taken," Shimkus said. "Preserving the integrity of the House page program is of utmost importance to me."

Boehner, Blunt and Hastert said in their joint statement they have asked the House Page Board to undertake a full review of the incident, and have also requested a toll-free number be created for pages, their families and staffers to report "incidents of concern."

The White House expressed "disappointment" Saturday over the allegations involving Foley.

"We have confidence that the House of Representatives will address this matter appropriately," said White House spokesman Blain Rethmeier in a statement.

CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Did anyone hear the whack-job on NPR who said Foley's behavior was now "not as surprising" b/c we now know he's homosexual? It was less surprising, this fellow said b/c we know "homosexuals are obsessed with sex."

I love how this scandal, and the behavior of another one of the holier than thou Florida republicans is now turning into a homosexual slam-fest.