posted
Representative Mark Foley has resigned from Congress because he sent extremely inappropriate and sexual emails to congressional pages under the age of 18. That he was chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus only makes it more outrageous.
It has come out that other congressmen including some congressional leaders had been alerted to this ten to eleven months earlier.
Every member of Congress who either found out about the nature of the emails and did not publicly call for Foley's resignation after giving him a brief window to quietly resign, or who had been tipped off of the possibility and been in a position with a responsibility to investigate the charges but did not do so, should resign. Now.
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quote:Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.
Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who sponsored the page from his district, told reporters that he learned of the e-mails from a reporter some months ago and passed on the information to Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Republican campaign organization.
Alexander said he did not pursue the matter further because “his parents said they didn’t want me to do anything.”
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the GOP campaign organization, said Reynolds learned from Alexander that the parents did not want to pursue the matter. Forti said, however, that the matter did go before the House Page Board — the three lawmakers and two House officials who oversee the pages.
Foley was a shoe-in for reelection. The going theory in the last few hours is that the House Republican campaign organization was willing to keep hush-hush to avoid complications during this close race.
Which leads us to
PART TWO: Profit. Nary a scandal will pass without the attentions of those who seek to benefit from it most. Nancy Pelosi has already bared her adorable little monkey-fangs and stated:
quote: "For nearly a year, Republican leaders have known of the egregious behavior of Congressman Mark Foley, yet were prepared to adjourn tonight without an Ethics Committee investigation. But because Democrats forced a vote on a privileged resolution, the House has now acted unanimously to have the Ethics Committee conduct a bipartisan investigation.
"The investigation must determine when Mr. Foley sent the inappropriate emails, who knew of them, whether there was a pattern of inappropriate activity by Mr. Foley with pages or former pages, when the Republican leadership was notified, and what corrective action was taken once officials learned of any improper activity."
And introduced an out-and-out attack resolution, the text of which states:
quote: Whereas for more than 150 years, parents from across the country have sent their children to be pages in the U.S. Capitol, the Page School is a national treasure, and the children who attend it and work in the Congress are our special trust;
Whereas, according to press reports, Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) reportedly engaged in highly inappropriate and explicit communications with a former underage page;
Whereas these allegations were so severe that Representative Foley immediately resigned his seat;
Whereas the page worked for Representative Rodney Alexander (R-LA) and, according to press reports, Representative Alexander learned of the emails "10 to 11 months ago"; (AP, September 29, 2006)
Whereas Representative Alexander has said, "We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem", and the Democratic leadership was not informed; (AP, September 29, 2006)
Whereas all Members of Congress have a responsibility to protect their employees, especially young pages who serve this institution;
Whereas these charges demand immediate investigation, including a determination of when the emails were sent, who knew of the emails, whether there was a pattern of inappropriate activity by Mr. Foley involving email or other contacts with pages or former pages, when the Republican leadership was notified, and what corrective action was taken once officials learned of any improper activity;
Whereas given the serious nature of these charges, the pages, their parents, the public, and our colleagues must be assured that Congress will take responsibility that such egregious behavior is not tolerated and will never happen again;
Therefore be it resolved,
That the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall immediately appoint an Investigative Subcommittee to fully and expeditiously determine the facts connected with Representative Foley's conduct and the response thereto; and
That Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is further directed to make a preliminary report to the House within ten days.
Ahoy, circus off the port bow. To its credit, though, this one's being worked up over the issue of House leadership essentially covering up reported predatory behavior towards .. um, kids. May be undeniably substanceful.
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posted
An "out-and-out attack resolution", Sam? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it passed 410 to zero.
quote: Pelosi, furious that the Democratic leadership were not informed of the situation for nearly an entire year after the emails were discovered, has already demanded and gotten a House Ethics investigation -- her resolution passed the House 410 to zero.
posted
You know, as creepy as the emails sound, they also sound charmingly naive. The guy could be a sleazebag, but he could also be trapped in 1943. I think it's a sad comment on modern society that either is equally possible.
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Those are all from one of the pages involved, I think.
After having Foley's office characterize those as part of a smear campaign, ABC brought out some instant messenger conversations (I think they have more emails, too).
posted
Thanks, fugu. Does AOL save chat logs? I'm assuming if he could prove that wasn't his username, he'd have done so by now. Is he even claiming it's falsified?
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posted
No. His office hasn't claimed any of them are falsified, they just tried to pass the first ones off as completely innocuous (he needed the picture for his files, et cetera -- note that wasn't his page he was talking to). Once the IMs and ABC's mention of even more emails came out, he resigned. His resignation statement included a vague apology, but it doesn't say for what.
I don't believe AOL saves chat logs, at least not long, btw.
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posted
I find that at least in some parts, from what I see myself and read described, they go far beyond "charming and naive," Tom (though our standards may differ, admittedly).
quote:Maf54: Do I make you a little horny? Teen: A little. Maf54: Cool.
The language gets much more graphic, too graphic to be broadcast, and at one point the congressman appears to be describing Internet sex.
To a 16-yr. old? That's what, typical age for a sophomore in high school? From an adult in a position of extreme power -- especially one who is supposed to be in charge of oversight of a committe on child exploitation?
Totally unacceptable.
There is much more explicit stuff linked to at the bottom of that ABC article in a pdf, including questions about the child's masturbation by Foley, reference to frequency and style of Foley's own masturbation preferences by Foley, graphic discussion of his current excitement during the conversation, etc. Way, way, waaaay beyond the pale.
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posted
CT: Yes, extremely. That is why anyone who knew about this for any length of time or who was in a position of responsibility to investigate and was alerted to its possibility but failed to investigate should resign.
I don't care if it turns out most of Congress knew what was going on, I want them gone.
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posted
I quoted Daily Kos above and said it was Pelosi's resolution that passed, but according to the WP it was Boehner's.
quote: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the House floor last night to demand an investigation into the Foley matter. But Boehner headed her off, calling on the House to refer the matter to the ethics committee, which the House promptly voted unanimously to do.
quote: Pelosi, furious that the Democratic leadership were not informed of the situation for nearly an entire year after the emails were discovered, has already demanded and gotten a House Ethics investigation -- her resolution passed the House 410 to zero.
Does this sound really, really wrong to anyone else? I'm not sure if this is an accurate statement, but if Congresswoman Pelosi's complaint is mainly centered around "They didn't tell the Democratic leadership.", then *shudder*.
I get that they are going to try to use this for a political advantage, but being so blatant about it disturbs me. They could at least pretend to care that the Republicans covered up for a pedophile who was going after very low level people on the Congressional staff. Keeping it from the members of the ethics committee might be a way to go about it. Besides being a great deal more palatable, at least to me, I think they'd get more legs out it if they framed it that way.
(edit: All that is assuming that this is an accurate reflection of the Congresswoman's remarks.)
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posted
Squick, that's from Daily Kos, Pelosi's complaint is not centered around the lack of Democratic involvment. The fact that Dems were kept out of the loop is just one aspect of the scandal.
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posted
I am with you fugu, anyone who tried to cover this up or didn't act on it right away should also resign.
Foley - :shudder: what a creep. And I agree Squicky - if that's what Pelosi is concerned with then I want her behind booted out too. This guy goes beyond creepy, is there some legal way, Dag, to keep tabs on him? Because I don't want to next read that he acted on this and raped or abused some young kid.
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posted
Reading up on it, yeah, I think Congressmen Boehner and quite likely Hastert should go too.
"I didn't pursue it because the parents said they didn't want me to?" That's friggin' nonesense. Leaving aside the potential criminal nature of these acts, it's likely (and, according to breaking news stories that has other pages coming forward, actual) that the Congressman was abusing his position with other pages.
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posted
Ahhh, here's the difference between Pelosi's resolution and Boehner's resolution: her's calls for an investigation by the House ethics panel, while the Republican's allows the panel to decide whether to investigate.
quote:_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 Dennis Hastert, 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.
quote: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.
That's investigating it?
- "Hey, did you send sexually explicit messages to this 16 year old boy who is in my charge?" - "No." - "Good enough for me."
That's not a guy I want looking after my son or daughter.
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posted
Apparently, it has been an open secret in the Beltway that Foley was not only gay (no crime, unless you're Republican ), but that he was hitting on underage boys. A Daily Kos comment from Sept. 6 (via http://www.glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/ )
quote: The Real Problem With Foley (0 / 0)
It's not that he's gay. It's that he constantly hits on underage interns on The Hill. You guys talk about an "open secret" well Foley's eye for the young boys in the White House and around the Capitol is what has the Republican bosses scared to death. It's just wrong that this guy can hit on young boys and still be in the leadership.
by WHInternNow on Tue Sep 05, 2006 at 05:48:09 PM PDT
House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of some "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him "we're taking care of it."
From Roll Call (sub.req.) ...
Boehner strongly denied media reports late Friday night that he had informed Hastert of the allegations, saying "That is not true."
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010062.php Who does Boehner think he's kidding? Are we supposed to believe that the Post reporter just made up out of nothing the quote where Boehner said he told Speaker Hastert? Please.
Also, note that Hastert has denied knowing about the allegations only through a spokesman--thereby allowing him an out if hard evidence surfaces that he did know. Cheesy.
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posted
Could we not just completely clean house? Fire eveyr politician and start over?
Wishful thinking, I know. I'm done with all of them. Democrat, Republican, independent, I don't care I've had it with the whole political process it makes me sick. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: This guy goes beyond creepy, is there some legal way, Dag, to keep tabs on him? Because I don't want to next read that he acted on this and raped or abused some young kid.
quote: "We track library books better than we do sexual predators," Congressman Foley has said.
posted
He'd have to be charged and convicted of a sex crime for the registry requirements to kick in.
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quote:At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.
- Majority Leader John Boehner openly stated that Speaker Hastert knew of the incidents.
- He subsequently withdrew that statement.
- NRCC Chairman Reynolds then also stated that Hastert knew.
- Hastert then gave a statement which (surprise!) did not confirm nor deny anything.
quote:Congressman Tom Reynolds in a statement issued today indicates that many months later, in the spring of 2006, he was approached by Congressman Alexander who mentioned the Foley issue from the previous fall. During a meeting with the Speaker he says he noted the issue which had been raised by Alexander and told the Speaker that an investigation was conducted by the Clerk of the House and Shimkus. While the Speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynold's recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution.
- Rep. John Shimkus confirmed that this was kept secret.
- One of the people who this was purposefully kept secret from was the single non-Republican on the House Page Board, Rep. Dale E. Kildee.
- Kildee stated that "any statement by Mr. Reynolds or anyone else that the House Page Board ever investigated Mr. Foley is completely untrue...The first and only meeting of the House Page Board on this matter occurred on Friday, September 29 at approximately 6 p.m., after the allegations about Mr. Foley had become public."
BONUS KARMA MOMENT:
"It's vile. It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction." --Rep. Mark Foley, commenting on President Clinton, following release of the Starr Report, September 12, 1998.
quote:An "out-and-out attack resolution", Sam? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it passed 410 to zero.
It's an assault on all fronts. There was ethics violations and cover-ups, and this represents a moment in which there is significant punitive and capital opportunity for the Democratic leadership.
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posted
For those interested, Talking Points Memo is the blog with the best coverage on this story, with extensive links. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
*nods to Sara* The "charmingly naive" bit came from before the chat logs were released. If those aren't faked, the guy's clearly a creepazoid.
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quote:Could we not just completely clean house? Fire eveyr politician and start over?
It's worth noting that almost every political thriller that puts a protagonist in the White House does so by killing almost everyone in Congress and the previous administration first.
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posted
The breaking news banner across CNN.com says the FBI is now investigating. And according to ABCNews, pages were warned about him several years ago. It surprises me that he was allowed to remain in his position for so long.
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), but that he was hitting on underage boys. A Daily Kos comment from Sept. 6 (via ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
