Congressman Mark Foley
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."
His homosexauality seems to be an open secret.
I doubt it will hurt him with his constituents that he asked the boy how old he was.
Now, if he hadn't that would be a different story... only a Dem could get away with propositioning minors for sodomy.
Honey.........trust me. All his email was missing was ".....so.......what're you wearing?"
"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."
If the young man did not work or intern for Foley, why would he ask him for a recommendation?
June Cleaver: "Oh stewardess! I speak jive."
Which begs the question...why is he emailing Foley for a recommendation (the kid made the first contact) instead of someone for whom he did work with?
This is a possible set up.
Like I said, if this was Barney Frank, you would be going nuts about now. A pervert is a pervert. This type of personal exchange with a Congressman's PERSONAL email account is not kosher. How many constituants does Foley give his personal email too? How many does he ask about what they want for their b-days and if he can have a picture? Try calling Foley's office and getting in to even meet with him for 5 minutes. Won't happen because he will be "too busy" And you know what, he really is that busy so why is he taking so much time out of his schedule to have an online relationship with a 16 year old boy? These are exactly the behavioral characteristics of an online predator. We need to look past our natural tendancies to view Republicans favorably when their is a pervert in our midst.
"Did you catch Will and Grace last night"?
Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?
All I've got is a breathless media story and I'm calling the man innocent untill proven guilty. Bringing Barney frank into a story that has nothing to do with him doesn't mean anything to me.
Congressman Mark Foley
I will have to remember NEVER to ask a child what he is wanting for his birthday and to NEVER ask for a picture.
On the Senate side, where I also worked for a while, it was a lot different. Each Senator got a budget based on the size of the state, but even the smaller state Senators had big offices. The people who work there did not all have daily interaction with the head guy. It was more like working in a mid-sized firm that had one head honcho, a staff of 6 or 8 VPs, a coterie of 8 legislative aides/researchers/letter answerers, and a large support staff of secretaries, file people and constituent relations people. There, the Senator might meet with the interns once, at a special luncheon, all summer.
So, it seems to me that this could be a case of a Congressman taking a genuine interest in a kid who worked in his office, or it could be creepy. No way to know, but the emails themselves don't prove or indicate anything.
He doesn't even have a goatee?! Incognito!
"I'm not kidding and don't call me Shirley!"
His own office said the boy didn't work for him.
Did they ask you for a picture? Are you 16?
I'm with you. Especially, since the email was sent from a personal account.
I'd like to see all the e-mails between them..not just this edited synopsis. As the e-mails are quoted here, i'd agree it sounds creepy.
I can see how it could be a set up, but how did the kid get Foley's personal email account.
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