Is Mark Foley Really in Rehab?

It’s a reasonable question. Despite his lawyer’s assertion that he’s checked in to a program for alcoholism, the New York Times today noted that “a former aide and other associates said in interviews that they did not believe Mr. Foley had a drinking problem.”

Foley’s lawyer said that his client kept his drinking “a secret,” but it was what led him to engage in lewd online chats with teenagers. “Mark is an alcoholic. He drank in secret. He did not drink in public,” Roth said yesterday.

There are some problems with that. To begin with, we learned today from ABC that he was having a dirty online chat with a young man while waiting for a House vote. If his lawyer’s statement is accurate, that would mean Foley would have to have been drunk in his office. During a House vote. Don’t you think that would stand out? At the very least, it would make his secret tough to keep.

“I’ve never heard any rumors or stories about any kind of drinking problem or even heavy drinking for Foley,” one in-the-know Hill regular told me. In fact, he said, Foley had a reputation for taking care of himself — working out, dressing neatly. “He was always well turned out.” Not quite hallmarks of a man with a drinking problem. What’s more, it wasn’t uncommon to see Foley out drinking socially, often holding a glass of wine, he noted.

Three Web sites have now reported that someone using Mark Foley’s AOL account — “Maf54” — signed on as recently as 10 a.m. today. Readers familiar with dryout programs have noted that in the vast majority of facilities, after admittance patients aren’t allowed contact with the outside world for a period of several days to a few weeks.

Of course, Foley could have given his login information to a confidant. Who knows. But it’s unusual, nonetheless.

Also, I note that the AP, in its first article on the matter, reported Foley was at a “rehabilitation facility for alcoholism treatment” — the Palm Beach Post today says he’s “in treatment for alcoholism and mental illness.”

That’s a subtle shift, adding “mental illness” to the description, and could mean nothing. But add it to other oddities surrounding the identity of the center, and it makes a person wonder: is everything as Foley’s lawyer claims? Or did they just need to get the guy somewhere that was out of the way of cameras and questions — quickly?