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The Mark Foley scandal, which broke in late September 2006, centers on Soliciting E-mail s and Sexually Explicit Instant Message s sent by Mark Foley , a Republican Congressman from Florida , to teenaged boys who had formerly served as Congressional Page s.12 The scandal has grown to encompass the response of Republican congressional leaders to previous complaints about Foley's contacts with the pages and inconsistencies in the leaders' public statements.3 4567 There are also allegations that a second Republican Congressman, Jim Kolbe , had improper conduct with at least two youths, a 16-year old page and a recently graduated page.89 The scandal led to Foley's resignation from Congress on September 29 , 2006 . It is believed to have contributed to the Republican Party's loss of control over Congress in the November 7, 2006 Election , as well as the end of House Speaker Dennis Hastert 's leadership of the House Republicans. Kirk Fordham , chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds and former chief of staff for Foley, also resigned as a result of the scandal. The questionable conversations, which took place between 1995101112 and 2005, are under investigation by the FBI and Florida officials for possible criminal violations. The House Ethics Committee is investigating the response of the House Republican leadership and their staff to earlier warnings of Foley's conduct.13 In early October 2006, two news organizations quoted anonymous former pages saying they had sexual liaisons with Foley after turning 18 and 21. Foley was chairman of the House Caucus On Missing And Exploited Children , which introduced legislation targeting Sexual Predator s and created stricter guidelines for tracking them. MESSAGES E-mails In 2004, Foley sent five e-mails to a 16-year-old former page from Monroe, Louisiana 14 sponsored by Rep. Rodney Alexander ( R - LA ). They were the first messages to be made public in the scandal.1516 Among other things, Foley asked for a photo of the page, his age and birthday, and what he wanted for a birthday present. Foley observed that another male page (to whom he had also written) was "in really great shape... i am just finished riding my bike on a 25 mile journey..." The page forwarded the e-mails to a colleague in Alexander's office, saying "this really freaked me out," and repeating the word "sick" 13 times to describe the photo request. The page asked "if you can, please tell Rodney {Link without Title} about this," and in addition, mentioned a female page who had been warned about a Congressman who "hit on" interns.171819 ABC News reported on October 5 that in 2002, Foley e-mailed one page with an invitation to stay at the congressman's home in exchange for Oral Sex . The page, who was 17 years old at the time, declined the offer. The same report stated that he e-mailed another with a request for a photograph of his erect penis.20 Another former page reports that he saw sexually explicit e-mails sent to one page from his page class of 2001-2002, and learned of "three or four" pages from that class who received similar e-mails.21 Instant messages After the initial story on the e-mails, other pages contacted ABC and the ''Washington Post'', providing transcripts of sexually explicit Instant Messaging (IM) conversations from 2003 that Foley had with two pages under the age of 18 at the time.222324 The Washington Post reported that it had received its copies of these same IMs from a page who had served on Capitol Hill with the two pages who received them.25 Another former page, Tyson Vivyan, has said that he received "sexually suggestive" messages from Foley in 1997, a month after he left the page program. A page from the class of 1998 also reported receiving explicit IMs from Foley. A page from the class of 2000 reported that he chatted with Foley during the Congressman's 2000 visit to the page dormitory (see Visits and Meetings below), and that afterwards, he began receiving e-mails and IMs from Foley, which became explicit immediately after his 18th birthday. 26 Message excerpts Foley's e-mails to the former Congressional page in Louisiana, who was 16 at the time, said in part: :"I am in North Carolina...and it was 100 in New Orleans...wow that's really hot...well do you miss DC...it's raining here but 68 degrees so who can argue...did you have fun at your conference...what do you want for your birthday coming up....what stuff do you like to do,"27 and :"I just emailed will...he's such a nice guy...acts much older than his age...and he's in really great shape...i am just finished riding my bike on a 25 mile journey..." and :"how are you weathering the hurricane....are you safe…send me an email pic of you as well...." The instant messages from 2003 that ABC obtained after its initial story were much more explicit than the e-mails from 2005 sent to the Louisiana page, and reportedly with a former page now employed in Oklahoma.28 According to several former congressional pages, the congressman used the AIM screen name Maf54 on these messages. Due to an apparent technical glitch by ABC News, the Website Passionate American later identified the teen to be Jordan Edmund, a Congressional Page in the 2001-2002 House Page Class. 29 He is alleged to have used the screenname lolakana223. Edmund hired Stephen Jones, a prominent attorney known for defending Timothy McVeigh.30Jones threatened the website Passionate American with legal action and requested they take the story about Edmund down. According to Edmund's attorney, Edmund dined with Foley on several occasions and even went up to his hotel room, although he contends nothing inappropriate happened.31 One exchange included:32 Maf54: do you really do it face down Teen: ya Maf54: kneeling Teen: well i don't use my hand...i use the bed itself Maf54: where do you unload it Teen: towel Maf54: really Maf54: completely naked? Teen: well ya Maf54: very nice Teen: lol Maf54: cute butt bouncing in the air In another exchange, Foley proposed to meet with a former page:33 Maf54: I want to see you Teen: Like I said not til feb…then we will go to dinner Maf54: and then what happens Teen: we eat...we drink...who knows...hang out...late into the night Maf54: and Teen: I dunno Maf54: dunno what Teen: hmmm I have the feeling that you are fishing here... im not sure what I would be comfortable with...well see An exchange that took place in April 2003 apparently reveals Foley engaging in Cybersex with an eighteen-year-old former page as the House voted on an emergency supplemental Appropriations Bill to fund the Iraq War ; the released portion does not contain the purported cybersex exchange: Maf54: ok..i better go vote..did you know you would have this effect on me Teen: lol I guessed Teen: ya go vote…I don't want to keep you from doing our job Maf54: can I have a good kiss goodnight Teen: In another exchange, Foley appeared to invite the same page to his apartment with a friend to consume Alcoholic Beverage s: Maf54: we will be adjourned ny then Teen: oh good Maf54: by Maf54: then we can have a few drinks Maf54: lol Teen: yes yes ;-) Maf54: your not old enough to drink Teen: shhh… Maf54: ok Teen: that's not what my ID says Teen: lol Maf54: ok Teen: I probably shouldn't be telling you that huh Maf54: we may need to drink at my house so we don't get busted Other exchanges show Foley as carefully planning to avoid illegal sexual contact: Teen: im not 18 till feb 23 Maf54: i know. Maf54: nothing will happen Maf54: just dreaming Maf54: don't worry Teen: ya im still 17 till feb 23 Maf54: see you feb 24th Sources of messages and chronology In November 2005, the initial five e-mails were leaked out of Alexander's office, after the recipient (a page whom Alexander sponsored) brought them to the Congressman. Two Florida newspapers, the '' St. Petersburg Times '' and the '' Miami Herald '', and the Fox News Channel acquired copies of these e-mails in November 2005, but decided not to publish a story.343536 According to an editor at the ''St. Petersburg Times'', they received the e-mails from a source in Alexander's office.37 The ''St. Petersburg Times'' editors decided the exchange was probably just "friendly chit-chat". Nonetheless, they assigned two reporters to investigate in November 2005. The recipient of the e-mail refused to cooperate with the story, and no other pages they interviewed had complaints about correspondence with Foley. The ''Times'' revisited their investigation "more than once", ultimately choosing not to break the story.38 Ken Silverstein , an editor at '' Harper's Magazine '', said that he received copies of the five e-mails in May 2006 from a "Democratic operative". Silverstein subsequently wrote a story on the e-mails, which was cancelled due to a lack of absolute proof that Foley was anything more than "creepy". He said that his source "was not working in concert with the national Democratic Party" but was "genuinely disgusted" by Foley's behavior. Silverstein himself passed the information to other media organizations after cancelling the story.39 In July 2006, a paid Republican Congressional staffer sent copies of the e-mails to several Washington media organizations through an intermediary. 40 The organization Citizens For Responsibility And Ethics In Washington (CREW) said it received copies of the e-mails on July 21st and turned them over to the FBI that same day. (See Justice Department investigation, below.) In August 2006, ABC News reporter Brian Ross received the initial e-mails from a Republican source. He did not write a story for over a month because he was working on other stories.41 On September 24 , 2006 , the e-mails were released by Lane Hudson on his anonymous blog ''Stop Sex Predators''. Hudson was at the time employed by the Human Rights Campaign . When the HRC found out about Hudson's activity during the week of October 25 , 2006 , it publicly fired him for misusing its resources.42 At the time of his firing, the Board of Directors of HRC included Jeff Trandahl , who also had prior knowledge and involvement with the issue. The political humor blog , September 27 , 2006 The next day, September 28, Ross reported on the e-mails which he had received in August. After that initial story, two sources brought copies of more explicit instant messages to ABC News and the ''Washington Post''. Both were former pages — the first was a Republican who would "never vote for a Democrat", and the second was a Democrat from the same class as the two pages who received the messages. PHYSICAL CONTACT In early-October 2006, two news organizations quoted anonymous former pages as saying that they had sexual liaisons with Foley after they turned 18 and 21, respectively.4344 Visits and meetings On at least two different occasions, one in the summer of 2000 and one in 2002 or 2003, Foley allegedly visited the dormitory where pages live. On the first occasion, he drove up in his BMW automobile during a nighttime "mixer" party. Students came out of the dorm to talk with him and were warned away by an adult supervisor in the page program, who shooed them back inside. In the second visit, '' Newsweek '' Magazine reported that Foley showed up at the dormitory after the 10 P.M. curfew, apparently drunk, and attempted to enter the building. He was reportedly turned away by a security guard. Other non-sexual meetings include a dinner with one former page, then 17, after which he invited the youth back to his hotel room and "touched his leg"45, and a visit by two pages in 1997 to Foley's Washington condo where they consumed pizza and soda. Another page reported that Foley repeatedly invited him out for ice cream.46 Sexual liaisons Though Foley is not alleged to have engaged in sexual relations with pages during the time of their service, he allegedly entered, on at least two occasions, into sexual relationships with ex-pages. In communications with one of the pages, who has chosen to remain anonymous, Foley appears to emphasize that while he assesses the attractions and Orientation of pages, he waits until they have left the program to engage the youth in erotic activities: "I always knew you were a player but I don't fool around with pages." The '' Los Angeles Times '' contacted the anonymous former page, according to a report in the paper on October 8 , "after others identified him as someone whose contacts with Foley went beyond graphic messages." The page said that after leaving the page program, he began receiving instant messages from Maf54 that quickly became provocative in nature. According to the ''Times'':
The ex-page says that in the fall of 2000, when he was 21 years old, he engaged in Sexual Congress with Foley at the congressman's Washington residence. According to the former page's account, " {Link without Title} he two had Wine and Pizza on a Backyard Patio and then retired to a spare bedroom." Another former page told ABC News that Foley arranged a sexual liaison with him, but only after he turned 18. FOLEY'S RESPONSE After the initial e-mails were publicized, Foley's office confirmed that Foley had sent the messages but said they were innocuous, and accused his election opponent of orchestrating a smear. Shortly after being questioned by ABC about the more explicit IMs -- and before they had been publicly revealed -- Foley resigned from Congress.4748 The congressman issued a statement, saying, "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent." |
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