Foley Scandal: Enter the ScientologistsHere’s a twist: disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) had a more-than-passing acquaintance with the Church of Scientology, reports Wayne Garcia, political editor for the Tampa, Fla. alt-weekly, Creative Loafing.
Four or five years ago, Garcia found himself at a party at the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, Calif.
“There that night were Beck, Giovanni Ribisi, Doug E. Fresh, Mark Isham, Danny Masterson, and Erika Christensen, among others,” Garcia wrote in Blurbex.com, a blog by the Creative Loafing Tampa staff:
Milling in the crowd before the gala began, however, I literally ran into Congressman Foley, who I recognized from some political consulting I had done down in West Palm Beach. I didn’t get a chance to chat with him or ask what he was doing there before being swept away in a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.
“One thing I can say,” Garcia said: “he was not escorted by a young boy.”
In 2003, the Scientologists threw Foley a fundraiser in support of his short-lived Senate bid, Garcia noted. (You can see a pic and a blurb here.) They presented him with “leatherbound copies of Dianetics and The Way to Happiness,” according to the group’s newsletter.
