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."
Wow, all it sounds like is an adult making small talk with a kid. Sounds like the kid may have been affected by Katrina/Rita and the congressman was showing empathy and for the kid. I may be reading to much into it.
It does sound like a reciprocal request for a picture.
It all sounds innocent to me so far.
Funny nothing published from the kid to put this in context.
Funny nothing published from the kid and we have 3 emails out of at least 5 being read out of context.
It's a shame that our world has gotten to a point where a man can't be cordial and show interest in a child's life without being automatically branded a perv. It's possible that the kid had told him that he wanted to get into politics or work for Foley when he graduated from college and Foley might just have been trying to mentor a future Republican politician.
Without the kid's e-mails it's hard to put the whole exchange in context. But it certainly sounds a little weird.
That's the why I see it too. It sounds like he is just trying to show a genuine intrest in the boy to give him encouragement. He did ask for a recommendation so it may be
the child expressed interest in politics.
I see perv written all over this. Political fodder, yes, but the man seems to be a letch drooling over boys. Out with him.
For the emails to be of predatory intent would be inconsistent with legislation that he has written or supported. Inconsistent doesn't mean impossible, but from Bill O'Reilly's comment below, it seems Foley has had formidable dem opposition that would not hesitate to target him in an election.
Congressman Mark Foley - Issues: Children
John Walsh Takes Us Inside a Sex Offender Sting Operation
Excerpt:
O'REILLY: With us now is John Walsh. Well, I'm sure this is going to get very high ratings on FOX on Saturday night. It's dramatic footage. But more importantly, we have to shock the American people because the politicians are letting us down. Can you believe Kennedy and Reid are doing this?
WALSH: You know, I've been going up there for 25 years. And you and I have talked many, many times. I think a lot of people don't realize that I'm a father of a murdered child, and have been up on Capitol Hill doing this.
And this bill should have been passed two years ago. Mark Foley, my congressman...
O'REILLY: Yes.
WALSH: ...from Florida sat down with James Sensenbrenner, wrote it and we got it passed last year in the House of Representatives.
BANG! BANG!
By Marc Klaas
VOLUNTEER PROFILE: ELLIOTT GROVES
ALIEN CHILD MOLESTERS ARRESTED IN STING
By Keith Roberts
NEW FEDERAL LAWS FOCUS ON INTERNET STALKING, ENFORCEMENT
By Marc Klaas
FINGERPRINT CHECKS FOR NONPROFITS: THE VOLUNTEERS FOR CHILDREN ACT
By Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL)
Mark Foley on Families & ChildrenClick here for OR .
This link on the Answers site is of particular interest. Bill O'Reilly interviewed Foley regarding the report. Nude summer youth camps alarm lawmaker
Context........it's all about context.
I'm telling you that the Congressman did not deny writing exactly what the kid reported, it is HIGHLY inappropriate, and reminds me of nothing more than lurid "Internet chat".
People's actions mean things, and I read people very, very well. This isn't a Congressman taking a benign, fatherly interest in some talented young intern. There's more than that cooking here and it floors me that more here don't see it.
I said it above and I'll say it again; all his email was missing was "so what are you wearing?" It was that obvious to me. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.........I don't think so.
Erm...It might not have been abuse intentionally, but if the kid truly registers it as homosexual abuse, someone has to intervene. On one hand, we are dealing with people's personal emotions, and on another hand we are dealing with political chaos. It's the reporters choice what percentage of what to put where. The media, however, has obviously gone too far with that. But we have known all along that news coverage has become a fraction of what it's supposed to be, to any extent. It has become a catalogue of interesting opinions as opposed to "fact".
I would go into a rant about the absurdity of the word 'fact', but I think it's unneccessary.
Well said. It surprises me how some FReepers consider certain acts to be perversions only when they committed by Democrats.
Thankfully, as this thread shows, the vast majority here are fair and are made of sterner morals.
OHhhhhhh....that was soooooooooo bad!! LOL
Well I'm glad you're secure in your instincts. I never said I agreed with one side or the other. I'm just sick and tired of knee-jerk reactions that help out the dem talking points. (and I don't mean that your post did, just that some people live to over-react.) I believe very strongly in innocent until proven guilty.
Nice call....
Florida Republican Mark Foley Resigns From U.S. House Seat
By Nicholas Johnston and Brian Faler
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Mark Foley, a Florida Republican, submitted a letter of resignation to House Speaker Dennis Hastert today after ABC News queried him about sexually explicit messages with underage congressional pages.
``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 said in a statement.
ABC News today said the network had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages who said Foley made references to sexual organs and acts.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net
Well, more supposedly will be revealed on tonight's ABC News, IIRC. Funny how Reps at least resign, Dems stay in office no matter what.
"I don't see anything "sick" in the Congressman's words. Unless the boy has inappropriate actions to report, it seems he's overwrought over nothing."
From what I read, there are IMs in addition to the e-mails. In one of the IMs he supposedly asked the kid if what he was writing was "making you horny." If true -- pretty inappropriate.
If there's nothing there, if it was just "friendly" communications, it's odd that Foley resigned so quickly? I wonder if the local GOP commitee knows of other incidents out there & decided to PUSH him out before worse things surfaced.
I agree entirely. In my earlier posts, I was commenting only on the quotes I had seen at that time. The words themselves were perfectly neutral. In the context of the exchange, they were questionable, but not "sick, sick, sick."
ping for later
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