[Positive]

"It is my guess that, if it is true that this was a hoax, Foley did not know it and responded with salacious e-mail. So he had to resign because of what he wrote, not what he received.

My understanding of the time is this: 1 - There is a report that Foley exchanged emails with an underage former page...EMAIL that seemed a little too friendly.

2 - Foley almost immediately resigned...then checked into alcoholic rehab.

3 - LATER ABC reports AIM messages which are somewhat more explicit. AIM stands for AOL Instant Message...these are different from EMAIL.

4 - Now it seems that the AIMs were a prank and that the former page Jordon Edmonds was over 18 at the time the AIMs supposedly occurred and they were actually a prank to goad Foley into typing something explicit...

Point is Foley resigned due to #1, the reasonably innoquous emails...not the post resignation apparently more explicit AIMs AND the now apparently NOT UNDERAGE correspondent.

Why did he resign...shame, embarrassment AND/OR yet to break info.

[FOXFANVOX]

To clarify further, the e-mails in question were older (earlier than 2006) e-mails and Foley was reprimanded and promised to cease. When Foley was confronted about the instant messages (IMs) (apparently written much more recently) he resigned.

While the e-mail was friendly, the IMs were explicit and salacious and they are what led to Foley's resignation.

If Drudge is correct, it is the pages involved and the democratic "operatives" who mistakenly publicized a sick prank that will be at risk. Remember the execs at HP are about to be prosecuted for invading private communications!