Posted on 10/03/2006 2:22:38 PM PDT by kristinn
(CBS4 News) MIAMI Mark Foles attorney, David Roth attests that Foley is not a pedophile and "never ever" had sexual contact with minors.
Instead, Roth, a prominent criminal defense attorney with offices in West Palm Beach, portrayed the 52-year-old Foley as a troubled alcoholic who has suffered from mental illness much of his adult life. "Mark is an alcoholic. He drank in secret. He did not drink in public," Roth said. "He had two lives with regard to his alcohol consumption. In public, and in public service, he was sober. When he was alone, he was not sober. He is an acknowledged alcoholic."
Foley is now in treatment for alcoholism and mental illness at an undisclosed center, where he is expected to remain for at least 30 days, Roth said. Roth said he was contacted by Foley on Friday, minutes after the Fort Pierce Republican resigned from Congress after being confronted with sexually explicit Internet messages he exchanged with a teenage boy.
When asked whether or not Foley had sexual contact with the minors he was conversing with, Roth said, "Based on all the information that I have, Mark Foley has never ever had an inappropriate sexual contact with a minor in his life."
Roth described the former Congressman as "contrite, remorseful and devastated by the harm that his actions have caused.... He blames no one but himself."
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other leaders were moving quickly and vigorously to distance themselves from Foley. Hastert said Monday that House Republican leaders were unaware of the "vile and repulsive" sexually explicit messages Foley had sent to a former page.
"Congressman Foley duped a lot of people," Hastert said at a news conference. "He deceived the good men and women in organizations around this country with whom he worked to strengthen our child predator laws. I have known him for all the years he served in this House. He deceived me, too."
Foley's name was removed from the wall outside his office early Monday. Later in the morning, a congressional employee posted a new sign reading, "Office of the 16th Congressional District of Florida."
His staff now works for the House clerk's office, which also took over his congressional Web site. The staff was warned early Monday not to talk to the media, one staffer said.
Foley's name will remain on the ballot.
House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a radio interview with Sean Hannity that Negron is virtually doomed because "to vote for this candidate, you have to vote for Mark Foley. How many people are going to hold their nose to do that?"
The GOP leaders' handling of the matter prompted criticism even from some Republicans who said they should have acted more forcefully.
"If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.
Republican leaders are concerned the aftermath of Foley's exit could hurt other GOP candidates in November.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said there is "a real chance" the episode could threaten the GOP's majority status.
"I think the next 48 hours are critical in how this is handled," he said. "When a party holds itself out as the guardian of values, this is not helpful."
Democrats were quick to accuse Republicans of not doing enough to protect the congressional pages who live in dorms near the Capitol.
"Republican leaders admitted to knowing about Mr. Foley's abhorrent behavior for six months to a year and failed to protect the children in their trust," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Republican leaders must be investigated by the ethics committee and immediately questioned under oath."
The White House was even brought into the firestorm. Spokesman Tony Snow attempted to deflect the political repercussions. "The House has to clean up the mess, to the extent there is a mess," he said. "This does not affect every Republican in the United States of America, just as bad behavior on Democrats' part is not a reflection on the entire party."
The Justice Department sent Hastert a brief letter that said the FBI was "conducting a preliminary investigation into this matter and will work closely with the department's prosecutors to determine whether any violations of federal law have occurred." The Washington Post reported that a former chief of staff for Foley made one last effort to keep the most damaging messages from going public.
According to media reporter Howard Kurtz, the unnamed chief of staff contacted ABC's Brian Ross, offering to give the network an exclusive about Foley's resignation if Ross agreed "not to publish the raw, sexually explicit messages." Foley resigned after ABC confronted him with those messages.
Yeah, like Clinton, he's devastated he got caught. Good riddance to bad rubbish...
I guess we'll just agree to disagree on this point. For me, under 18 = boy/girl, over 18 = woman/man. That's the reason I never refer to our "boys" in Iraq. In my opinion, any guy who has an eye for the fey looks of a slim, underdeveloped teenage boy is a pedophile.
Prior to last Friday, what exactly was the proof that Foley was "screwing" around with young people? IN fact, the IMS showed someone willing to play along with Foley, not that it makes it right, but it seems the other person wasn't complaining about the nature of the chat.
Bipolar disorder would be my guess.
... portrayed the 52-year-old Foley as a troubled alcoholic who has suffered from mental illness much of his adult life.
Sounds like he was in the right place.
Now they're going let him loose with general public.
Dang, you said it better than me. I tend to get too long-winded.
If the e-mails and IM are from before 2005, and nothing has happened since, it would seem that Foley did clean up his act.
If Foley has kept himself clean, it would explain why Hastert took no further action.
Foley's another in the Packwood mold. He's a drunk idiot. I presume we keep alcohol legal in this country so as to allow people to destroy themselves.
What "mental illness" would it be, exactly?
Bipolar disorder most likely. Often dually diagnosed with alcohol abuse becasue the patient is not aware of the manic cycle but is self medicating the symptoms.
In Bipolar disorder people in manic states are diagnosed because of their sleepless states, their poor judgement, their hypersexuality, their rapid speech, grandiosity, their flights of ideas, sometimes paranoia, sometimes auditory and visual hallucinations. It is a tragic state that hurts many people because of the jepordy that family memebers, employees and other citizens experience the fallout.
Manics lose their homes, families and jobs.
Tragic.
It is the same as the "pedophile" priest phenomenon. It isn't little boys or little girls they are after, but young men, because they are gay men, and desire for teenage boys is a big part of the gay psyche, something they want hidden. Once you understand that, the facade of "just another lifestyle" is torn away.
The IMs are supposedly from 2001-2003. The email is supposedly from 2005. Nothing later has been alleged, as of now.
No he's an ephebephile, like R Kelly.
If your name is Kennedy, you don't need a defense.
"Mark is an alcoholic. He drank in secret. He did not drink in public,"
Oh well then, now that we know WHY he was the way he was we can be UNDERSTANDING about this self-centered dip-s**t that has now greatly damaged the Republican Party. There isn't a planet far enough away for this scumbag IMHO.
What "mental illness" would it be, exactly?
That's a tricky and tough question. Let's see, based on years of experience and study, I would say it is most likely LACK OF SELF CONTROL OR DISCIPLINE. Complex diagnosis.
Wow, that statement is so incorrect it's not even wrong.
No, that's the point we drum into the voters. The Democrats re-elect their deviants. The Republican party makes them resign.
Could it be all the "freaks in Florida" were only aware that Foley might be gay. Shall the Government pass a law that no gays can hold public office?
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