GOP going after dems on Foley case

[6SpeedTA95]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Faced with fending off the backlash from the Mark Foley scandal, House Republicans took the offensive Friday, asking Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats to testify about whether they engaged in partisan trickery by releasing Foley's messages weeks before the midterm elections.

Top GOP leaders -- including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, of Illinois, and Majority Leader John Boehner, of Ohio -- have accused the Democrats of knowing about Foley's correspondences with teen pages, and waiting to release them until it was politically advantageous.

Foley, a Republican who represented a Florida district for six terms, resigned abruptly September 29 as allegations surfaced that he exchanged inappropriate e-mails and lurid text messages with underage pages. (Watch how the Foley scandal could 'chill' the GOP base -- 2:16 )

Democratic candidates are using the scandal as fodder in their campaign ads. Candidate Baron Hill, of Indiana, criticized Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Indiana, for refusing to return contributions "from the House leadership who knew about but did nothing to stop sexual predator Congressman Foley." (Full story)

Foley's attorney said this week that his client acknowledges inappropriate exchanges with teen pages, but he "never, ever had an inappropriate sexual contact with a minor in his life."

Candidate Patty Wetterling, of Minnesota, who is in a tight race against Republican Michelle Bachmann, also focused on an alleged cover-up, according to a radio address she released to Reuters.

In it, she said, "In Washington we must hold accountable all those complicit in allowing this victimization to happen," according to Reuters.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, also lobbed the accusation Thursday, saying, "Those who covered up Mark Foley's behavior must be held accountable," Reuters reported.

Suspicion of a cover-up is common across the nation. In a Time magazine poll of 1,002 voting-age adults this week, 80 percent were aware of the scandal. Of those, two-thirds suspected a cover-up by GOP leaders, and only 16 percent approved of how Republicans handled the scandal. (Full story)

In a letter to Pelosi, which also was sent to Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Georgia, asked them to disclose whether Democrats played a role in publicizing Foley's correspondences.

"Just as it must be determined whether any Republican members or political operatives were aware of and attempted to conceal Mr. Foley's activities, it must also be determined whether any Democrat members or political operatives were aware of and attempted to conceal these same activities," Kingston wrote in a letter signed by 10 other GOP lawmakers.

Hastert has been on the front line of the fallout since he and other top Republicans were accused of knowing before 2005 about an "overly friendly" e-mail Foley sent to a teenage page. A conservative Washington newspaper even called for the speaker's resignation, a demand Hastert rebuffed.

In a speech Thursday in Batavia, Illinois, Hastert said he had "done nothing wrong" and refused to step down. He also suggested the timing of the release of the messages was a Democratic ploy to get the upper hand in November elections.

"Our friends on the other side of the aisle really don't have a story to tell, and maybe they're resolving to another way, to another political tactic," he said.

Hastert has asked the FBI to investigate, and the House Ethics Committee launched its own probe Thursday and authorized four dozen subpoenas. (Watch how the Foley scandal has changed the political landscape -- 2:10 )

Top GOP leaders, including Boehner and Majority Whip Roy Blunt, of Missouri, have rushed to Hastert's defense. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, wrote a letter supporting Hastert, saying it was inappropriate to ask for the speaker's resignation when similar scandals in the 1980s prompted a "dramatically different standard."

Barton was referring to Democratic Reps. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts and Dan Crane of Illinois, both of whom were censured after having sexual relationships with 17-year-old pages. Crane lost his re-election bid, while Studds survived the scandal.

"No Democrat demanded prescience from Speaker Tip O'Neill, and no Democrat shouted for his resignation. Neither did any Republican," Barton wrote. "The focus was on the members who created the problem, as it should have been and as it should be now."

In a statement accompanying his letter to Pelosi, Kingston wrote that the Foley matter "should not be a partisan issue."

"All members of the House, our staff, and members of the public regardless of political party should come forward and provide whatever information they know," he wrote.

CNN.com - GOP prods Democrats over Foley scandal - Oct 7, 2006

This out to be interesting as there is some evidence that the democrats knew about this and decided to sit on it. CNN radio said yesterday that the predatory behavior MIGHT have been towards those 18 and older. They went onto say that Democrats may have been aware of this for well over a year.

[JaJae]

I called this and said it was gonna end bad for the Dems. They need to know when to stop pushing buttons before it explodes in their faces. They do this all the time. Rather than going after the GOP with irrelevent claims they should have stuck to the facts and hit the GOP over and over with them. Their exaggerations and blame game ideology is gonna bite them in the butt... again.

[thatguyoverthere]

So you think the voters are going to look past Foley and the Republican leadership, and decide that the Democrats are the real bad guys here? I think the polls have already proven you wrong on that point, unfortunately.

If Foley was a Democrat and the Democratic leadership covered up for him, and the Republicans held onto the information to release it as an October surprise, I would still be madder at the Democrats for giving them the sword. I expect the opposition to attack, I don't expect my side to give them the weapon. I would be furious that they would do such a stupid thing and risk hurting the whole party.

I guess there's no scandal too Republican that some people can't try and find a Democratic villian in there somewhere.

[KatKanPlay]

Im so sick of the distraction this thing has created it makes me want to puke. In fact I think I will..

My mother always said, Give a person/party enough rope and they will hang themselves. This may be the case here.

[thatguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by JaJae

Their exaggerations and blame game ideology...

Pot, meet kettle. First some people exaggerating about Democrats on this forum defending Ted Kennedy, then playing the blame game as if it were the playoffs. (Which, since the election is coming, I guess it is.) I can't decide which is funnier, that or shriveled's screen name!

I hate to keep calling y'all out on this, but outrage at the Democrats hypocracy doesn't hold any water any more, and it seems the majority of people know it. The Foley is a Republican scandal. Spin as much as you can, but blame can't be shifted on this one. We'll see how it plays out in November.

But just for fun, let's play the blame game!

Democrats sin: Possibly holding onto a politically damaging story and releasing it at the most politically damaging time.

Republicans sin: Possibly covering up for a pedophile.

BZZTT! Republicans lose!

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by thatguyoverthere

Pot, meet kettle. First some people exaggerating about Democrats on this forum defending Ted Kennedy, then playing the blame game as if it were the playoffs. (Which, since the election is coming, I guess it is.) I can't decide which is funnier, that or shriveled's screen name!

I hate to keep calling y'all out on this, but outrage at the Democrats hypocracy doesn't hold any water any more, and it seems the majority of people know it. The Foley is a Republican scandal. Spin as much as you can, but blame can't be shifted on this one. We'll see how it plays out in November.

But just for fun, let's play the blame game!

Democrats sin: Possibly holding onto a politically damaging story and releasing it at the most politically damaging time.

Republicans sin: Possibly covering up for a pedophile.

BZZTT! Republicans lose!

If the Democrats had information for a long time before releasing it that means they were covering for a pedo as well. It's just they were hoping to gain from a Pedo's actions, you know, that whole "what's bad for America is great for Democrats" ting. (that being said, it looks like he wasn't a Pedo. But we'll find out more as time goes on).

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by shriveled_ballz2wallz

Propositioning underage children and asking about their genitalia isn't pedophilia, it's being overly friendly.. stupid dems

16 is legal age in DC. The more explicit IM was done when the kid was 18 and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He was going along with it.


Oh, and ban for AE.

[Scrum]

I have yet to see one single shread of evidence showing the Democratic party knew anything about this.

I have seen evidence that Hastert was told and did nothing.

This is a sad attempt to turn a scandle on to the Democrats, and I don't think the voters are going to buy it.

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

16 is legal age in DC. The more explicit IM was done when the kid was 18 and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He was going along with it.

Most states where 16 is the legal age, you have to within 4 years of the person up until age 18.

Not to mention that the kid was 16 and 17 when all this was happening. Not 18. THat was a bullshit report.

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

I have yet to see one single shread of evidence showing the Democratic party knew anything about this.

I have seen evidence that Hastert was told and did nothing.

This is a sad attempt to turn a scandle on to the Democrats, and I don't think the voters are going to buy it.

That may be. More democrat supporters doing it probably. But we'll see I guess.

[KatKanPlay]

Now it is pure partisanship. Could it be the Dems played it exactly right? Could it be the Dems didnt know for sure he was a pedo and therefore the only thing they could have done was point a finger and make fools of themselves by saying "look they have a faggot on their team". Attempting to shift this thing and blame the Democrats is only going to hurt the Republicans even more and further convince the American people that not only this administration but Republicans as a whole cant seem to take the blame for anything they do wrong. It is always someone else's fault.....

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by KatKanPlay

Now it is pure partisanship. Could it be the Dems played it exactly right? Could it be the Dems didnt know for sure he was a pedo and therefore the only thing they could have done was point a finger and make fools of themselves by saying "look they have a faggot on their team". Attempting to shift this thing and blame the Democrats is only going to hurt the Republicans even more and further convince the American people that not only this administration but Republicans as a whole cant seem to take the blame for anything they do wrong. It is always someone else's fault.....

It's no ones fault but Foley. He resigned and is gone, so he is a non-issue. Now the news is who knew it and for how long.

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by shriveled_ballz2wallz

But Drudge and Rush say the pages are the victims here.. After all, this is a prank planned by george sorros

GOP going after dems on Foley case

[Thorgrim]

What a ridiculous analysis being made here

Republicans staffers were telling people to watch out for Foley for years, FOX NEWS itself had the emails for over a year and didn't report on them, they could have broke the story early, so could have Republicans, they didn't want to because Foley was a major cash contributor

One of the pages, after being subjected to sexual advances to Foley as a minor, turned 18 eventually and continued to be IMed by Foley, that somehow changes his accusations and the accusations of at least 5 minors.

What did the hard right media do? Claim there was a huge story of a Democratic move to to surpress the emails from the FBI and the IMs were by some democratic page who was trying to get blackmail on Foley

Nice job, right wing bloggers, turns out the FBI acknowledged they did recieve the emails MONTHS ago, so did FOX NEWS, the IMs were saved and kept by a current REPUBLICAN staffer from Oklahoma.

On Scarborough this week he has been talking about information he recieves is that REPUBLICAN staffers and aides were involved in leaking the initial email (which was already leaked to FOX) (which by the way, is by someone who is still a minor, not a democratic 30 year old like some of you would like to believe) and the IMs from the kid were from fellow Republicans he naturally made friends with as a Republican staffer

On top of this, you have at least 3 more pages who came forward AFTER all of this, how do you account for them?

We have a first hand account directly from the chief of staff to the RSCC chairman that Hasterts office knew about Foley's problems for THREE YEARS

All of this clearly falls on the REPUBLICANS to deal with, they run the house, they run every part, and the one democrat who could really do something was kept out of the loop.

For a general wrap up of the information, check out all the posts at ABC: The Blotter: October 2006

So where are we now? Republicans are claiming that Fox News held back the emails for political reasons to hurt Republicans, that the IMs leaked by Republican staffers were again a liberal conspiracy, and the additional pages that came forward and described near identical patterns that were unreported were also apparently democratic operatives

How fucking insane can someone be to believe that line of bullshit?

Look at what the GOP leadership had access to:
The Blotter: Congressman Foley Internet Scandal
read the first post and the first two links to the two email exchanges (one between foley and 16yo kid, next between 16yo kid and GOP person in charge)

They ALL saw that for AT LEAST A YEAR, and they did NOTHING

A 16 year old boy comes to them, shows them emails about Foley asking the kid how old is he, what he wants for his birthday, how great in shape another male page was, and then asks for a picture

Now for you people who have your right wing goggles on, take them off for a second, the leadership people who read, knew Foley was gay, so imagine if a 52 year old straight man emailed a 16 year old girl after she had left the house, talked about how "in shape" another girl was, and asked her what she wanted for her birthday and that he wanted a picture...ON HIS PRIVATE AOL EMAIL ACCOUNT not his house email...and this was after he basically pressed the kid for this email address...and remember the page and Foley weren't friends

The GOP House knew ALL OF THIS FOR A YEAR, and THEY are saying its an issue of timing? You are damn right it is, its called a coverup

How anyone can not get these basic facts is beyond me, but go ahead, I really hope the pundits start running with the "oh look at Studds did a couple decades ago" you know what any decent hard right christian is going to say? "Yeah, but we voted those guys out because they WEREN'T the party of our morality, now you are saying we should work our asses off for you because you are just as bad as they are?"

Keep digging, you are going to find more evidence of Republicans involved in the leak, and leadership Republicans involved in the coverup

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

What a ridiculous analysis being made here

Republicans staffers were telling people to watch out for Foley for years, FOX NEWS itself had the emails for over a year and didn't report on them, they could have broke the story early, so could have Republicans, they didn't want to because Foley was a major cash contributor

Since your first paragraph is misleading I'm just going to talk about that.

The staffer that "warned" the pages wasn't warning them that he was a Pedo, just that he was strange. He has made public statements to that fact which I'm sure you are ignoring.

The things the press got a year ago had nothing sexual in them. They might be overly friendly, but not very news worthy, same with what was given to the Republicans.

[Thorgrim]

1) If he was strange, thats the Republicans problems to deal with, you don't just wait...how would you feel if one of your sons had a teacher who was "strange" in a friendly homosexual way...would you be ok with that?

2) That's just dead wrong about what Fox News and House Leadership got:
Look at what the GOP leadership had access to:
http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/fol...ed_group2c.pdf
http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/fol...red_group1.pdf

They ALL saw that for AT LEAST A YEAR, and they did NOTHING

A 16 year old boy comes to them, shows them emails about Foley asking the kid how old is he, what he wants for his birthday, how great in shape another male page was, and then asks for a picture

Now for you people who have your right wing goggles on, take them off for a second, the leadership people who read, knew Foley was gay, so imagine if a 52 year old straight man emailed a 16 year old girl after she had left the house, talked about how "in shape" another girl was, and asked her what she wanted for her birthday and that he wanted a picture...ON HIS PRIVATE AOL EMAIL ACCOUNT not his house email...and this was after he basically pressed the kid for this email address...and remember the page and Foley weren't friends

and afterwards, the page thought it was "sick sick sick"

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

1) If he was strange, thats the Republicans problems to deal with, you don't just wait...how would you feel if one of your sons had a teacher who was "strange" in a friendly homosexual way...would you be ok with that?

http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/fol...ed_group2c.pdf

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http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/fol...red_group1.pdf

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From the parents of one of the pages

There has been much media inquiry regarding our son and his time as a house page. Although our son bravely came forward with information regarding Congressman Foley, his experience as a House page was not marred by the kind of wrongdoing that appears to have occurred with respect to other House pages and Congressman Foley.

In fact, we are pleased that he had the opportunity to serve as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives and if given the opportunity, he would serve as a page again.

[Thorgrim]

Again, so because the kid wasn't scarred for life, everything is ok? If a drunken soldier shoots and misses a kid, its ok because the kid wasn't killed or scarred for life?

Shouldn't his LEADERS take care of such behavior?

The kid was obviously moved enough to REPORT the emails, ofcourse his parents don't want a huge story, I wouldn't want my son to have his name all over the papers as "The kid Mark Foley tried to hit on", would you?

The Blotter: Congressman Foley Internet Scandal

read the first post and the first two links to the two email exchanges (one between foley and 16yo kid, next between 16yo kid and GOP person in charge)

anyway, read those, then re-read my post