Posted on 09/28/2006 3:21:37 PM PDT by slowhand520
Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman September 28, 2006 3:06 PM
Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer Report:
A 16-year-old male former congressional page concerned about the appropriateness of an e-mail exchange with a congressman alerted Capitol Hill staffers to the communication.
Congressman Mark Foley's office says the e-mails were entirely appropriate and that their release is part of a smear campaign by his opponent.
In the series of e-mails, obtained by ABC News, from Rep. Foley (R-FL) to the former page, Foley asks the young man how old he is, what he wants for his birthday and requests a photo of him.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS Congressman Ney Pleads Guilty to Accepting Lavish Gifts NY Moneyman Arrested in Teen Sex Scandal Check out the Brian Ross Webcast on Home Page The concerned young man alerted congressional staffers to the e-mails. In one e-mail, the former page writes to a staffer, "Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out."
Foley's office acknowledges that Foley wrote the e-mails to the young man but says they were completely innocent and that Foley is at most guilty of being "too friendly and too engaging" with young people.
The e-mails were sent from Foley's personal AOL account, and the exchange began within weeks after the page finished his program on Capitol Hill. In one, Foley writes, "did you have fun at your conference…what do you want for your birthday coming up…what stuff do you like to do."
In another Foley writes, "how are you weathering the hurricane…are you safe…send me an email pic of you as well…"
The young man forwarded that e-mail to a congressional staffer saying it was "sick sick sick sick sick."
Foley's office says it is their policy to keep pictures of former interns and anyone who may ask for a recommendation on file so they can remember them.
The Congressional page program was started in the 1800s. In its current form, juniors from high school work on Capitol Hill after school or over the summer. The young man in question did not work or intern for Foley's office.
Elizabeth Nicolson, Foley's Chief of Staff, said they believe the e-mail exchange began when the page asked Foley for a recommendation and that the subsequent exchange was totally innocent. She said Foley's office believes the e-mails were released by the opposition as part of an "ugly smear campaign."
"That said, it doesn't sound like Foley actually propositioned the boy."
Yeah, that's because the kid got creeped out by it and forwarded on to someone else. Good for him.
I hope they will publish the whole versions of all the emails
But Foley wasn't the employer - didn't even know the kid apparently. This whole thing smacks'a crack to me. There were obviously many interactions if a 'conference, birthday, storms, etc' were discussed. Where the heck is all that information? If some kids were talking to me about their hopes for their birthday, their going to a big deal conference, I may have asked what they wanted and how it went.
My whole point was the selective, homophobic, faux-outrage because the kid was male. The article baits for it, and the poster responded. It demeans the importance of the crime, if there was any.
As far as Travolta goes - didn't he just kiss a guy on a staircase last week? Better not reference him, somebody will think you're gay!! ;)
I have to agree. However, did the emails continue when he found out he was 16?
Is he just a gay guy looking for a date, or was he looking for children? That is a big difference!
There is a "there." But that "there" is probably not where we should be.
As a result, this comment never happened!
Now, wouldn't it have been nice to have all that background info before we all made rash judgements.......but then ABC wouldn't have had a story, would they. ;)
Inconsistency and hypocrisy are ugly.
On the surface this seems like nothing more than typical interest in a young person who spent months working for the elected official.
Well, that's a scary thought!!!
But seriously, besides the obvious exceptions, have you or would you?
Yes to both questions. Have I asked for someones/non-relative picture over the internet? Lots of times. Innocent thing, I assure you. And from people who were NOT asking for any recommendation (I'm not in a position to give anyone a recommendation). It's not an unusual thing to exchange photos, or ask for a photo of someone you are conversing with.
(and alot of times those people were FReepers whose photos I would use for joke photos using my photoshop)
No plot here, none at all.
Sounds to me like Foley was asking how old are you and what do you look like. One would hope he would lose interest in anyone under 18. And just how on earth did this young man get the email address to begin with? AND with those kinds of rumors.......why would the boy start emailing Foley? This smells of a set up. A BIG one.
Sounds like the Democrats are getting really desparate.
I made 180 up to show it is possible to explain this-----maybe.
IF he was making a move on the boy, I'd be the first in line to condemn him..that's for sure.
It would be helpful to find out under what circumstances the emails stopped? You see, if Foley was doing something he shouldn't be..AND he suspected the boy turned him in, then wouldn't he have tried to do some damage control?
There has to be more to this..
sw
But from a sixteen year-old????
How about the kid got Foleys email address because he was a congressional page, and like, you know, worked in his office, and like you know, when people work in offices they, uh, well, uh get each others email addresses because, well, uh, they send each other emails.
And how about if Foley got his email address because, like, you know, when you send someone an email, your own email address is on it, and like you know, you don't even have to read the email address because you can hit the reply button and wherever the email came from, well Shezzamm , as Gomer Pyle used to say, miracle of miracles, it goes back to the person who sent it to you. Golleeee
And perhaps, you know, having worked as a page for Folley, well maybe the kid thought that having a recommendation saying that he worked for Foley would be like real cool! I know, most of us here on FR wouldn't be impressed, but some are.
That is because you were not well brought up to understand these these like some of the folks on this forum.
That said..umm..do we even know WHO made the first contact? Like..I think that would be an important part of this whole issue..?
sw
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