Republican Foley Resigns House Seat Over Allegations Of Sexual Harrassment

irishgrl · #1 09-29-2006, 03:21 PM

Republican Foley resigns House seat By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

Six-term Republican Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) of Florida resigned from the U.S. Congress on Friday following reports he sent sexually inappropriate e-mails to underage congressional interns.
Foley, chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children, said he would resign immediately after ABC News reported he sent messages to current and former congressional pages with repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

"Today I have delivered a letter to the Speaker of the House informing him of my decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective today," Foley said in a statement.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."

Foley's decision to resign just five weeks before the November 7 congressional election complicated Republican efforts to retain control of the House of Representatives. Democrats must pick up 15 seats to reclaim a House majority.

Lawyers from both parties were examining Florida election laws to see if his name can be removed from the ballot in his Republican-leaning district, party sources said, but it might be too late.

Foley won re-election in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote and was favored to win in November over Democrat Tim Mahoney, a self-funding financial officer. President George W. Bush carried the district with 54 percent of the vote.

Foley was the author of the key sexual predator provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006,

which Bush signed in July.

(I guess it takes one to know one eh?)

Foley, who represents a district in southern Florida, also was a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy.

(DELETED STUPID COPYRIGHT CRAP)

ELIUD · #2 09-29-2006, 04:45 PM

Mmm. Yummy. Love that republican hypocrisy.

estranged4life · #3 09-29-2006, 04:54 PM

another wolf in sheep's clothing.

DavidMn · #4 09-30-2006, 02:22 AM

I guffawed loudly when I read this...

mikeschmike · #5 10-01-2006, 08:18 AM

This guy is gross. Not only is he a disgusting hyocritical pedophile, he broke the "don't **** where you eat" rule .

Seriously though, good job on busting this guy. I'm glad he won't be here at the convention seducing kids on the internet.

Nixxxed · #6 10-01-2006, 02:52 PM

This is going to get really nasty this week now that it's been revealed the Republican House leadership has known about this for nearly a year.

I saw a R strategist on TV this morning saying the public should "wait until a proper investigation is conducted" before forming an opinion. Do you think he means the investigation that should have been (and never was) started a year ago????????????????????????

irishgrl · #7 10-01-2006, 05:41 PM

no, what he's really saying is: "Folks ignore this when you go to the voting booth"

Rickypt · #8 10-02-2006, 11:33 AM

I see Foley is checking himself into rehab for alcoholism. Not to downplay alcoholism, and I don't doubt he has a problem, but has anyone noticed that often when a politician gets busted for something, they say they are an alcoholic and go into rehab?

That's what one of the guys who was nailed in the Abramoff scandal did (Rep. Ney, I think).

So far, Foley has not admitted that what he did was wrong. He has tried to claim that the emails weren't that big a deal and now he's saying he's an alcoholic. But I haven't read anything that acknowledges the severity of what he did, nor has he apologized to the boy.

On another note, did he really think he'd never get caught? It amazes me that an elected representative would do something like this that has an obvious paper trail.

strandinthewind · #9 10-02-2006, 11:46 AM

And - now he's claiming the liquor made him do it

Maybe he'll say "sugar tits" too

Also and for the record, a pedophile is someone who likes pre pubescent kids, not 16 year olds. In fact, in some states 16 is the age of consent. So, there is a big difference between inappropriate behaviour and illegal behaviour here and assuming it was consensual.

Also, does anyone get the feeling that the parents sold out by not pursuing this? I mean if it had been a D that did it, maybe they would have. If so, that is just sick.

Livia · #10 10-02-2006, 11:55 AM

IM transcripts:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=2509586

Rickypt · #11 10-02-2006, 12:24 PM

I think it's pretty clear why the parents didn't pursue this. This is pretty humiliating for their son, given that he played along in the IM and we all now know his fetishes and size. Why on earth did this get printed in the media? Even if you take out the boy's IM handle, his friends are going to know it's him.

I expected something completely different, like a bunch of harassing questions from Foley and silence from the boy.

Nixxxed · #12 10-02-2006, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickypt

I think it's pretty clear why the parents didn't pursue this. This is pretty humiliating for their son, given that he played along in the IM and we all now know his fetishes and size. Why on earth did this get printed in the media? Even if you take out the boy's IM handle, his friends are going to know it's him.

I expected something completely different, like a bunch of harassing questions from Foley and silence from the boy.

It may have been silence in the beginning - it's not clear from the emails/IMs already published when they occurred, and how long the exchange had been happening. It may very well be that the student was wary at first, and was slowly lured into giving more info, etc. - a basic pattern of predator behavior.

ABC just posted more - the page seems more wary in this set...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/..._show_fol.html

Also, I read elsewhere that the 2001-2002 page class was warned about Foley and his behavior.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...aff_warne.html

BombaySapphire3 · #13 10-02-2006, 02:23 PM

Like many politicians Foley appears to be an entitled sociopath.Judging from the IMS he may be telling the truth about being alcoholic ..either that or he is an illiterate.

mikeschmike · #14 10-02-2006, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Livia

IM transcripts:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=2509586

Eeew. That grosses me out in a big big way.

strandinthewind · #15 10-02-2006, 03:54 PM

What is intersting is the pages seem interested in him sexually. If I am not mistaken, these are almost eighteen uear old teenagers. I knew what I was doing then and everyone I knew knew as well - and I do not come from a big city. So, I guess these kids are gay or curious. I get that Foley was in a position of power, their employer, etc. - but I wonder how much of the interlude (even written) was consenual. Again, in some states (CT comes to mind) the age of consent is 16

I posit this only as a matter of curiosity and not in approval in any way of Foley.