Posted on 09/29/2006 12:56:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page.
"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he said in a statement issued by his office.
The two-sentence statement did not refer to the e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's decision to abruptly abandon a flourishing career in Congress.
Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days.
His resignation comes less than six weeks before the elections. It was not clear how Republicans would fill his spot on the November ballot.
Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.
It was not clear what prompted Foley to abruptly decide to give up a successful career in the House.
Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander (news, bio, voting record), R-La., and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.
Foley's aides initially blamed Democratic rival Tim Mahoney and Democrats with attempting to smear the congressman before the election.
The e-mails were posted Friday on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Web site after ABC News reported their existence. The group asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate the exchange Foley had with the boy, who served as a page for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La.
"The House of Representatives has an obligation to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process," the group wrote, adding that the committee, "must investigate any allegation that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by members of the House."
Floridians were aware of his homosexuality, but he voted the way his district wanted, "brought home the bacon," and kept his sexual deviation out of his constituency's face. He even crafted many of his official acts and House votes to camouflage his own perverse proclivities, supporting tougher enforcement against child pornographers and other sex offenders, even sheparding through a bill to give organizations like the Boy Scouts access to FBI fingerprint files for scout leader background checks. That was probably one of the moves that eventually sealed his doom. Anything done in support of the BSA is a major felony to democrats, not just to homosexuals.
Then there was his opposition to a teenagers' program at a Florida nudist resort -- all of this intended to counter the talk about his being a nellie boy. Yet another transgression that democrats most likely never forgave him for, was his active support of Bush during the 2000 Florida election fiasco.
When he decided to file for a Senate seat that the democrats wanted for themselves, they gave the liberal media the green light and finally took him out of the game entirely, just when it would be most difficult for the Republicans to substitute a candidate and campaign effectively.
Despite his repeated indignant evasions over the years, his homosexuality was never really in question to those in his state and district. They just wanted him to stay in the closet, so they could continue voting for this blockhead. Now that's no longer possible.
How do we KNOW that Maf54 is Mark Foley? Is it possible that these are FAKES? Or did he admit he is guilty? This is so crazy. If he is guilty, he deserves what ever happens to him. But if he is innocent?
According to Florida election laws, yes he does.
He's supposedly had other emails that have sexual overtones. If so, he's a total idiot to think it wouldn't eventually get out.
I'm just going by Drudge.
Exactly.....if there was any kind of a crime involved here, such as he actually engaged in sexual activity with his pages...he deserves to go to jail...
The old shoo-in unless I'm caught with a dead girl or live boy. The former kept Teddy out of the White House.
For the morbidly curious.. and those with a strong stomach (that's a warning):
http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/02-02-03b.pdf
See the guy that brought his 3 yr old along. What a sick bastard.
Who are they??
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1710885/posts
Link to the thread discussing the IMs.
Never mind .. I figured out who they are
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
http://blog.citizensforethics.org/node
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_Responsibility_and_Ethics_in_Washington
CREW was founded in 2001 by Melanie Sloan, a former aide to Representative John Conyers and Senator Charles Schumer. She is now the organization's Executive Director. CREW also runs the website JackInTheHouse, focusing on Jack Abramoff.
Oh boy. Someone who worked for Conyers and Schumer is going to lecture people on ETHICS?!?!
What a world.
Wow...thanks for the link.
What a day.
"Seligman suggested her group is the progressive counterweight to Judicial Watch, a group from the right that calls itself "a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to fighting government corruption." Judicial Watch was a key player in the push for President Clinton's impeachment. [3]"
Oh great, a counterweight to Judicial Watch.
Well, we are on our own. We have to fight for this election tooth and nail.
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