READER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED: Foley's Exchange With Underage Page

ABC News ^ | 10/206 | Brian Ross

[Rb ver. 2.0]

September 29, 2006 — The following is an instant message exchange a former page says he had with Rep. Foley in 2003. Warning: sexually explicit language, reader discretion is advised:

Go to article link and read the messages, there's nine pages worth.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Because it's a function of the File tab? I have no doubt that this kid knew he was talking with a politico and saved the messages. I have no doubt that he probably showed them to his friends and kept Foly on the hook by playing along.

Why? Because that's the sad state of today's youth.

[jennyjenny]

Nah, I think he probably did it. Doesn't mean someone wasn't helping it along, though.

[Kleon]

He asked for a picture, which, as others have explained, is routine.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Here's what an instant messenger looks like:

[Bigh4u2]

Instant messages in Yahoo, and I think AOL, are automatically archived, unless you specify it not to save them.

[erikm88]

There are quite a few of unanswered questions here. Mostly because it cannot be confirmed that "Maf54" is former Congressman Foley. ABCNews posting a "transcript" of an instant message session does not prove anything really. There are quite a few more technical details that would need to be performed to authenticate that the Instant Message (IM) log file is authentic and did indeed originate from Foley's or the Underage Page's computer.

I am not in any shape or fashion defending the former Congressman, but, this IM "transcript" or what have you is fairly dubious. Some instant messenger programs allow auto-login, so, what if someone used either machine and logged into the IM server automatically and started such a dialogue with a cohort in order to make the Congressman look bad.

Too many unanswered questions to actually make a judgement on this type of evidence...

[Kleon]

Foley stepped down. That ought to give you the clue you need this is accurate. If it wasn't there would be denials. NONE have come from his quarters. Any person with a hint of moral conscience would be disgusted for being labeled a pedophile and denounce it vehemently, if untrue.

DeLay didn't do anything wrong, yet he stepped down. Sometimes you need to take one for the team. It would have hurt the party even more if he tried to stay and fought this.

[Kleon]

I am not in any shape or fashion defending the former Congressman, but, this IM "transcript" or what have you is fairly dubious

Yeah, it's suspect. It could very well be an impersonator.

[jennyjenny]

I know my kids save some, but not others.

[bicyclerepair]

What do you expect from Palm Beach County? God am I dissapointed. A man who thinks a 16 y/o boy is hot has to be defective in the brain.

[Alter Kaker]

If Foley wasn't the author of the instante messages, why did he resign? Your points may be strong enough to get Foley out of prison, but it's clear at the very minimum that he sexually harassed underage male pages. I'd be surprised if this ended at sexual harassment, however.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Looks like Foley has a good shot at a Liable suit against ABC if this isn't true.

[mlbford2]

Foley is so guilty it stinks. I have already found him to be a scumbag. To suggest otherwise seems kinda DU-ish to me.

Just my 1 cent.

[Don Corleone]

I'm not condoning Foley's behavior, but I want to know why Barney Frank is still in office. His boyfriend was running an escort service out of his (Barney's) home

'Cause he's a liberal democrat that's why. Geez!

[twigs]

IIRC, Frank was never proven to be aware or a part of that. His voters should have taken care of the problem, but they didn't. And Foley has involved underage children. Besides the difference in party, this is the primary difference. And it's a big one. And as others have noted, the two parties have a huge difference in standards. I don't want theirs. I want to clean our party out.

[linda_22003]

I don't know which to dislike the most - the pathetic attempts at 'seduction', or the pathetic attempts at spelling.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Asked and answered in the same reply!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

It's easy to record a log of Instant Messages. AOL makes it easy. Someone once warned me back in the early 1990's that EVERYthing on the internet is traceable in one way or another. It was good advice back then and still is.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

I think he used 'cyberese' to appear "cool" to his targets.

[SteveMcKing]

"I have no doubt that he probably showed them to his friends and kept Foly on the hook by playing along."

It's only smart. He acquired ammunition against a pervert for his own protection, and best of all he probably laughed while doing it.