MSNBC: Florida Rep. Mark Foley resigns amid creepy email flap

[Yonivore]

The Democrats aren't the ones roasting him on a rotating spit, Yoni. If some information comes to light that causes them to "eat one of their own", how is that the Democrats fault? Because the G.O.P. are predicatable phobes?

I'm not talking about Foley here. I'm talking about the premature calls for Hastert's head.

Republicans traditionally run off their s . They're not embraced like Studds, Franks, Kennedy, and Clinton.

[Zunni]

Speaker Hastert was told about the e-mails some time back and at the request of the page, he confronted Congressman Foley and told him to stop.

How could that be? He doesn't even remember being told, a GOP trick from way back.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office was notified of concerns about then-Rep. Mark Foley over three years ago -- two years before previous accounts have suggested top GOP leaders learned of Foley's inappropriate behavior, a former aide to Foley told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Kirk Fordham told AP about his warning after resigning Wednesday amid allegations that he tried to protect Foley from congressional inquiries into his inappropriate contact with congressional pages.

Fordham elaborated in an interview with ABC News and said he told Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, that Foley was too friendly with the pages, and Palmer talked to Foley.

Hastert's spokesman Ron Bonjean told ABC News, "That [warning] never happened."

In a statement to CNN, Bonjean said only that "this matter has been referred to the Standards Committee and we fully expect that the bipartisan panel will do what it needs to do to investigate this matter and protect the integrity of the House."

CNN story

Hastert's office has given this account of the speaker's involvement: In the fall of 2005, Hastert's office learned Foley had exchanged e-mails with a former page that were "over friendly" but not sexual. Aides discussed the matter with another congressman and the clerk of the House, who ordered Foley to stop communicating with the youth.

Aides didn't discuss the e-mails with Hastert. Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) said that months later, he mentioned the matter to Hastert. Hastert doesn't remember the conversation but doesn't dispute Reynolds' recollection.

CHI Sun-Times

Dredge had better start telling different lies that DON'T conflict with direct quotes from the subjects in said lies.

[PixelPusher]

Oooops! It now appears Foley may have been doing nothing illegal.

Ooooops! It appears you may have spoken too soon.

Watching MSNBC right now. Looks like Foley visited the Page Dorms while drunk. Now this might not amount to more than "drunken disorderly" or "contributing to the deliquency of minors", but maybe you should wait for the facts to come in during this developing story before declaring "crisis averted".

[Yonivore]

Ooooops! It appears you may have spoken too soon.

Watching MSNBC right now. Looks like Foley visited the Page Dorms while drunk. Now this might not amount to more than "drunken disorderly" or "contributing to the deliquency of minors", but maybe you should wait for the facts to come in during this developing story before declaring "crisis averted".

Foley's toast. Whatever comes out about him is probably true.

We're talking about how the Democrats are conflating the Republican leaderships knowledge and involvement.

And, Zunni, there have already been reports that Speaker Hastert was advised of the e-mails (not the chats or any other behavior) a long time ago. He directed some aides and another Congressman to confront Foley. That was done and the e-mails stopped. Since the e-mails don't contain anything of a criminal nature and since the page didn't want to pursue it, the House leadership considered the matter settled.

Now, none of the other stuff, including the chat sessions, came to light before last Friday. Hastert is denying he had any knowledge of that. And, to be fair, it appears the only people having any knowledge may be the Democrats and this left-wing bogus blog.

Again, I sense a manufactured scandal gone awry.

[Zunni]

So, why is he quoted as saying he doesn't remember being advised?

Aides didn't discuss the e-mails with Hastert. Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) said that months later, he mentioned the matter to Hastert. Hastert doesn't remember the conversation but doesn't dispute Reynolds' recollection.

Wouldn't you think that if he had confronted Foley, or sent his aides to do so, he would have just said so?

[Yonivore]

So, why is he quoted as saying he doesn't remember being advised?

Wouldn't you think that if he had confronted Foley, or sent his aides to do so, he would have just said so?

I guess that would depend on the matter of which he is speaking. And, in relation to why I posted, that's exactly what he's said.

I have a feeling you're confusing two issues. But, that's okay, so is everyone else.

Here, read this press release

It appears, that Hastert may not have been made aware of even the e-mails.

[boutons_]

"manufactured scandal gone awry."

yep, EXACTLY what it is:


Federal Prosecutors Order Electronic Communications Preserved

Foley's Former Chief of Staff Resigns

By Dan Eggen and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 4, 2006; 3:54 PM

Federal prosecutors today ordered the House to preserve all do ents and other materials possibly related to former Rep. Mark Foley's electronic communications with teenage pages on Capitol Hill, signaling an intensifying investigation by the FBI and Justice Department into possible criminal activity connected to the scandal.

The three-page "preservation letter," sent to the House counsel from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor in Washington, indicates that law enforcement officials are getting closer to seeking grand jury subpoenas for records or searches of Foley's Capitol Hill office, according to law enforcement officials and legal experts.

Foley resigned Friday after sexually explicit comments he made to pages in e-mails and electronic instant messages began to become public. He later checked himself into a alcohol treatment program. The resulting scandal has rocked Capitol Hill.

FBI agents around the country have begun seeking to locate and interview former pages who may have had contact with Foley (R-Fla.),

and the Justice Department and FBI are discussing the use of administrative subpoenas to obtain subscriber information for the e-mail and instant-messaging accounts at the heart of the case, according to law enforcement officials.

Although still classified as a preliminary investigation, the demands to preserve records and other steps increase the chances that federal prosecutors will open a full criminal investigation and bring the case before a grand jury, officials said.

The focus of the probe so far is on whether Foley might be liable for charges of crossing state lines in order to entice or engage a minor in sexual acts, but investigators "have not ruled out any number of possible crimes that could be looked at," said one law enforcement official, who along with others requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Also this afternoon, Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, announced that he was resigning from his current job as chief of staff for Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.). In the days leading up to Foley's resignation, Reynolds allowed Fordham to advise the Florida congressman and Fordham played a role in helping Foley after an ABC News reporter told the congressman he had copies of his sexually charged exchanges with pages.

Brian Ross of ABC told The Post Sunday that when ABC approached Foley with the graphic exchanges, Fordham intervened and offered ABC the exclusive story of Foley's resignation, if ABC withheld the instant messages. Ross refused the deal.

In his statement, Fordham said he felt betrayed by Foley's "indefensible behavior" and was resigning because it was "clear the Democrats are intent on making me a political issue in my boss's race, and I will not let them do so."

( how do the Democrats command all this activity by prosectors and FBI? )


He said his help to Foley was based on concerns about his "emotional well-being."

( aw, going all touchy-feely like dubya's press-release emotions about the Amish massacre )

But he strongly denied that he sought to impede any investigation. "I want it to be perfectly clear that I never attempted to prevent any inquiries or investigation of Foley's conduct by House officials or any other authorities," he said.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

====================

Nothing looks "awry" at all.

Seems more like an avalanche heading straight for Foley and the Repug leadership, causing, at least, an incredibly revolting odor about the entire bunch of Congressional Repugs.

[Zunni]

I guess that would depend on the matter of which he is speaking. And, in relation to why I posted, that's exactly what he's said.

I have a feeling you're confusing two issues. But, that's okay, so is everyone else.

Here, read this press release

It appears, that Hastert may not have been made aware of even the e-mails.

I'm referring to that Drudge CRAP you posted.

Speaker Hastert was told about the e-mails some time back and at the request of the page, he confronted Congressman Foley and told him to stop.

[Yonivore]

I'm referring to that Drudge CRAP you posted.

Apparently, I was wrong, it was his office that was approached and they handled it as appropriate. So sue me.

[Yonivore]

I'm also beginning to think this "scandal" is flying apart too fast for Democrats. They've already taken to lying about it...

Patty Wetterling is the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress in Minnesota's Republican-leaning Sixth District. Her sole qualification for higher office is her status as an advocate of "child safety" and an opponent of "child sexual exploitation" since her son was abducted in 1989, never to be found. Now Wetterling is the first off the mark with a fraudulent advertisement capitalizing on the Foley scandal:

“It shocks the conscience. Congressional leaders have admitted to covering up the predatory behavior of a congressman who used the internet to molest children.”

This is -- how to put it? -- disgusting. Will Minnesota's left-wing media call Patty Wetterling out when she molests the truth?

I think they had bigger plans for this and it just ain't panning out. But, in true Democrat fashion, they're going to plug ahead as if the scandal were unfolding according to the script they've devised.

[Yonivore]

Then there's the new subtext to this whole affair:

They can call it a "big tent" party all they want, but by their actions, it's rather clear that what liberals are hiding under is just another name for a large white sheet:

There's a list going around. Those disseminating it call it "The List." It's a roster of top-level Republican congressional aides who are gay.

On CBS News on Tuesday, correspondent Gloria Borger reported that there's anger among House Republicans at what an unidentified House GOPer called a "network of gay staffers and gay members who protect each other and did the Speaker a disservice." The implication is that these gay Republicans somehow helped page-pursuing Mark Foley before his ugly (and possibly illegal) conduct was exposed. The List--drawn up by gay politicos--is a partial accounting of who on Capitol Hill might be in that network.

I have a copy. I'm not going to publish it.

Not going to publish it? He's just going to mention the positions held by those on the list, as well as which Congressional offices they work for. David Corn's the kid in class who claimed he didn't "tattle" even as he pointed at the other kids. The "List" was compiled by liberal activists over the course of several years.

There is a vile, bullying aspect at play here in the left as they once again attack a minority group for daring to wander off of what Democrats feel are the borders of their liberal plantation.

A black conservative? Must be a race traitor. Let's call him Sambo, or better yet, stalk him.

A gay conservative? Let's invoke the 3/5 compromise, because gay conservatives don't have full citizenship.

Nothing like whipping up on an uppity minority to get that liberal superiority Jones satisfied.

One of these days, voters in different minority groups are going to realize that by giving the overwhelming supermajority of their votes to one party, no matter how they are treated by that party, that they've made themselves a political non-en y. They’ve taken themselves completely out of play, and given aware their power.

Only once both parties have the think that they could gain or lose their votes as values-based individuals and families—and not a monolithic special interest groups—will they have any real power as people.

It never amazes me that liberals abuse those they claim to represent. It only amazes me that those they abuse put up with the abuse.

[PixelPusher]

I'm also beginning to think this "scandal" is flying apart too fast for Democrats. They've already taken to lying about it...

Patty Wetterling is the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress in Minnesota's Republican-leaning Sixth District. Her sole qualification for higher office is her status as an advocate of "child safety" and an opponent of "child sexual exploitation" since her son was abducted in 1989, never to be found. Now Wetterling is the first off the mark with a fraudulent advertisement capitalizing on the Foley scandal:


This is -- how to put it? -- disgusting. Will Minnesota's left-wing media call Patty Wetterling out when she molests the truth?

I think they had bigger plans for this and it just ain't panning out. But, in true Democrat fashion, they're going to plug ahead as if the scandal were unfolding according to the script they've devised.

"Congressional leaders have admitted to covering up the predatory behavior of a congressman"

(from AP) At the same time, Foley's former chief of staff said in an Associated Press interview that he first warned Hastert's aides more than three years ago that Foley's behavior toward pages was troublesome. That was long before GOP leaders acknowledged learning of the problem.

Kirk Fordham, who was Foley's top aide until January 2004, said he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene" several years ago.

That takes care of the "Congressional leaders have admitted" part. As for the "predatory behavior" part, well, I'll leave that up to your judgement to determine if a middle aged man engaging in "naughty emailing" (as Tony Snow calls it) with a minor is "predatory behavior". I guessing many parents would think so, which is why she is running this political ad. Frankly I find your "outrage" to be hypocritical, as this kind of ad is par for the course for Republicans...oh, I forgot, they're no better than Democrats...or is it the other way around...whatever.

[ChumpDumper]

Took awhile for the blogosphere to find a way to spin this. Drudge was actually blaming the pages yesterday. Good show, jackass!

[PixelPusher]

Took awhile for the blogosphere to find a way to spin this. Drudge was actually blaming the pages yesterday. Good show, jackass!

Blaming the victim never gets old.

[Yonivore]

And Fordham has provided what evidence that he "warned Hastert's aides more than three years ago that Foley's behavior toward pages was troublesome."

Because, that would coincide with the e-mail incident which was investigated by the House and resolved.

And, in the quote itself, it says Hastert's aides. If you'll read my link, that also agrees with the Speaker's press release.

[Yonivore]

Blaming the victim never gets old.

Wait a minute, if the guy is 18, is he a victim? Any more so than Monica Lewinsky?

[boutons_]

Sure!

A well-known, long-term, Congressmen, aged 52 years, a member of the "employer" group, exchanging erotic emails with teen boys in the "employee" group 30+ years younger would certainly be a violaton of employer/employee decorum and ethics in US Congress (supposedly a model ins ution for the nation), and would be an extremely alarming violaton to parents 100s or 1000s of mile away.

It's absolutely beautiful, and expected, how Yoni sees that nothing illegal were done, as if legality was the only measure, and then blames it all on Dem dirty campaign tricks, rather than the Repug "Bible-thumping/family values" leadership failing to keep its own house clean of salacious, predatory pedophiles.

[Zunni]

Wait a minute, if the guy is 18, is he a victim? Any more so than Monica Lewinsky?

Was Monica a victim? The GOP sure liked to portray her that way. If so, then this kid sure was....

[Yonivore]

Was Monica a victim? The GOP sure liked to portray her that way. If so, then this kid sure was....

Okay then. Now we're getting somewhere.

[Dimm-O-Crap]

[xrayzebra]

Huh-Ho-II........we have this little tid-bit.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU OCT 5 2006 2:53:48 ET XXXXX

CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRY
**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats. This source, an ally of Edmund, also adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a sexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund.

The news come on the heels that Edmund has hired former Timothy McVeigh attorney, Stephen Jones, and that former FBI chief Louis Freeh has been named to investigate the entire mess.

Developing...


Now, I wonder. Are the dimm-o-craps gay bashing?
Hmmmmm, this gets darker and darker. I wonder
who else is going to turn up in this little "Alice in
Wonderland" tale. Stand-by for further developments.


But the Dimm-o-craps are happy they have destroyed
another Republican (even tho he is gay and they love
them) and wanted Hastert, but he wont cooperate.

[ChumpDumper]

Then why are the Republicans pointing fingers at each other and resigning?

[xrayzebra]

I don't know, how is that the dimm-o-craps, when caught
with their hands in a young person's pants or kill someone
or get caught DWI don't.

By the way, has Foley really been accused of having
sex with anyone? Just checking. Talking dirty is
not consider unlawful, the last time I heard. Otherwise
half (most boutons) of the posters on this board would
be on the run......

[Mr. Peabody]

Talking dirty is
not consider unlawful, the last time I heard. Otherwise
half (most boutons) of the posters on this board would
be on the run......

Haven't you ever seen "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline? Those losers are always getting arrested for talking dirty to minors and trying to elicit illicit sex.

[Crookshanks]

Then why are the Republicans pointing fingers at each other and resigning?

Maybe because they know how the democrats are going to use this and are afraid of getting covered in the mud the left is slinging! But, at least Foley was aware of the negative fallout and resigned immediately - unlike the democrats caught in scandals or ethic violations!

This is just another example of the democrats not having any luck in running on the issues - so they have to divert stupid people's attention away from their lack of any real plan by "uncovering" all these scandals involving the horrible, de able Republicans. What a joke!