Back to day one. From WaPo …
In 1995, male House pages were warned to steer clear of a freshman Republican from Florida, who was already learning the names of the teenagers, dashing off notes, letters and e-mails to them, and asking them to join him for ice cream, according to a former page.
Mark Beck-Heyman, now a graduate student in clinical psychology at George Washington University, and more than a dozen other former House pages said in interviews and via e-mail that Rep. Mark Foley was known to be extraordinarily friendly in a way that made some of them uncomfortable.
And then from the Times …
Federal investigators who have interviewed several former pages have unearthed instances of conduct by Mr. Foley that will almost certainly lead to a full criminal investigation, including grand jury testimony, to determine whether the former lawmaker violated federal sex crime laws, government officials briefed on the matter said Tuesday. They spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing details of an investigation.
Prosecutors have yet to issue subpoenas or search warrants but have discussed ways to safeguard evidence in the case, the officials said, possibly issuing what are known as preservation letters, directing government agencies or private entities, like Internet providers, not to destroy any electronic data that might be relevant.
And so on …
The old days (Miami Herald, July 7th, 2003) …
In his quest for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Rep. Mark Foley has rankled a group that is barely covered in most elections: nudists.
Foley, of West Palm Beach, has hit the national TV and radio talk-show circuit in recent weeks to bash a Tampa-area summer camp not unlike most camps – except that the boys and girls, ages 11-18, are naked.
Foley, a Republican hoping to replace Sen. Bob Graham, says that letting naked teenagers play together is immoral and potentially dangerous.
The article concludes by noting that “The naturists plan to invite Foley to visit the camp and judge it for himself” but that it was “an invitation Foley said he plans to refuse.”
I was just reading this post at the Chicago Trib’s blog about John Boehner’s latest flip-flop on Denny Hastert. (Atrios has this thing of naming intervals of time after certain individuals based on their predictions about Iraq. At this point, a ‘Boehner’ should be about 10 hours.) And I note that now Boehner too — in an apparent effort to distract attention to his nine different recollections of what he told Hastert — is now trying to say Foleygate is all the product of a grand nefarious dirty trick.
From everything I’ve learned from our reporting on this, I don’t think there’s anything to the charge. But what strikes me is what the charge would even mean. Is this really a winning argument or is it, as it seems to me, a sign that the House GOP leadership is currently exploring the outer reaches of the galaxy of desperation?
I mean, is it a diabolical plot to reveal that one of members of the House leadership (Foley was a deputy whip) spent the last decade hitting on teenage pages and passed the time between votes having cybersex with them?
Is he like a plant? A pervy Manchurian candidate hived into the 1994 Republican Revolution by the Dems?
I just don’t see how this one plays.
It looks like the FBI is heading towards opening a full-blown investigation into the Foley scandal. Where will it lead? That and other news of the day in today’s Daily Muck.
Top Ten Foleygate Silver Linings for GOP …
1. Gets George Allen out of the News.
2. Can Potentially Be Spun As Outreach to Young Voters.
3. New Hook for Discussing Monica.
We need seven more. Anyone got any ideas?
From readers (with some editing) …
4. Foley May Share Some Credit with Gore for Inventing Internet. (TPMR CG).
5. Katherine Harris No Longer FLA GOP’s Most Embarrassing Pol. (TPMR DP)
6. GOTV Money for Values Voters Now Freed Up for Other Purposes. (TPMR SR)
This deserves more attention. A man walking with his young son goes up to the Vice President at a public appearance and tells him his Iraq policy is “reprehensible.” He’s later arrested for “assaulting” VP Cheney. Now he’s suing. The guy’s name is Steve Howard.
Here’s a snippet from the Rocky Mountain News …
Attorney David Lane said that on June 16, Steve Howards was walking his 7-year-old son to a piano practice, when he saw Cheney surrounded by a group of people in an outdoor mall area, shaking hands and posing for pictures with several people.
According to the lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Denver, Howards and his son walked to about two-to-three feet from where Cheney was standing, and said to the vice president, “I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible,” or words to that effect, then walked on.
Ten minutes later, according to Howards’ lawsuit, he and his son were walking back through the same area, when they were approached by Secret Service agent Virgil D. “Gus” Reichle Jr., who asked Howards if he had “assaulted” the vice president. Howards denied doing so, but was nonetheless placed in handcuffs and taken to the Eagle County Jail.
Can we find out more about this incident?
Pre-dropping like flies: CQ moves CA-11, the Pombo race from Republican Favored to Leans Republican.
Good Old Associated Press …
[Dobson] touched on the uproar over former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, D-Florida, who resigned Friday in a scandal over electronic messages he sent to former teenage male congressional pages.
The party affiliation that dare not speak its name.
Late Update: As of about 12:18 PM, the version of the AP story I linked to at the San Jose Mercury News has been corrected. But it must have been what the AP sent out over the wire. So I’m sure there are million more examples of it still out there.