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| ‘Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man,’ Foley’s attorney David Roth announced this week. (Photo by AP) |
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ABC News this week reported it had obtained 52 instant message exchanges between former Rep. Mark Foley and two former pages under the age of 18. The male teens told ABC the messages were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54.
This message was dated April 2003, at approximately 7 p.m. and purportedly occurred while Foley was supposed to be voting on the House floor.
Maf54: I miss you?
Teen: ya me too?
Maf54: we are still voting?
Maf54: you miss me too
According to the ABC News report, the IM exchange then includes messages apparently describing both Foley and the teen having an orgasm.
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: :-*?
Teen: <kiss>?
In another message, Foley reportedly invited the teen and a friend to come to his house in Washington and offered to supply alcohol.
Teen: are you going to be in town over
the veterans day weekend ?
Maf54: I may be now that your coming?
Maf54: who you coming to visit?
Teen: haha good stuff?
Teen: umm no one really
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
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LOU CHIBBARO J COMMENTS
 
continued...
groups immediately rescinded their endorsements of Foley’s re-election upon learning of Foley’s alleged improper interaction with pages and former pages and his resignation.
Gay activist and blogger Michael Petrelis of San Francisco called on HRC to demand that Foley return the $27,000 that HRC has contributed to Foley’s congressional election campaigns between 2000 and 2006.
“It’s an interesting idea,” said HRC spokesperson Luis Vizcaino. “We’ll consider it.”
Parents feared publicity
As the Foley scandal continued to unfold this week, some Republican leaders – including former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich – cited reluctance by Republicans to appear “homophobic” as a possible reason for their delay in disclosing a 2005 e-mail that Foley sent to a 16-year-old former page.
The parents of the 16-year-old complained last year to Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), who represents the district where the youth lived, that Foley was sending their son e-mails asking for a photo of the youth along with other inappropriate questions. However, the parents asked that their concerns be kept confidential because they did not want to subject their son to potentially adverse publicity, according to a spokesperson for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
The e-mails were not sexually suggestive, and Foley told the chair of the three-member House page oversight board, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), that his communications with the page were innocent, House GOP leaders have said. They recounted that Foley told them his aim was to find out how the page and his family coped with Hurricane Katrina, which struck near where the youth lived.
Hastert said Shimkus and then House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, who also had oversight authority over the page program, interviewed Foley, and informed him of the concerns raised by the parents. Shimkus then ordered Foley to stop all contact with the youth, and Foley agreed, appearing to put the matter to rest, Hastert said.
Upon learning of Foley’s separate, sexually explicit e-mails to former pages disclosed by ABC News, Hastert said Foley “betrayed” him and his House colleagues.
Democrats and some Republican House members have since complained that the Democrat and second Republican on the page oversight board were not informed about September 2005 e-mail developments.
‘Political correctness’ faulted
Meanwhile, some conservative commentators joined Gingrich in arguing that gay activists and liberal Democrats have created a climate of “political correctness” that discouraged House GOP leaders from act
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