FACT CHECK: Excuses About The Foley Cover-Up Debunked
FACT CHECK: Excuses About The Foley Cover-Up Debunked
Some leading conservatives have tried to excuse, justify, or downplay the scandal surrounding Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-FL) predatory behavior towards underage pages. We debunk their claims below:
EXCUSE #1: Foley’s initial e-mails seemed harmless, “over friendly”.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) said he dropped the matter when Foley told them, “When I was a young person, an adult (who) became my mentor inspired me to be a congressman, and that’s all I’m doing.” Foley said if he was guilty of anything, Shimkus said, it was of being “overly friendly.” [St. Louis Tribune, 10/1/06]
“[T]he actual notes were relatively innocuous — there was nothing sexual in those notes.” [Newt Gingrich, Fox News Sunday, 10/1/06]
FACT: At least 11 House members and staff, all Republicans, knew of the inappropriate emails sent by Foley to a page in 2005. In the e-mails, Foley asked the page to “send me a pic of you” and said about another young page, “he’s in really good shape.” The boy told House officials that Foley’s messages “freaked him out” and were “sick, sick, sick, sick, sick.” Dr. Timothy M. Osberg, a psychologist and professor of psychology at Niagara University, said that the e-mail, coupled with the boy’s reaction to it, “should send up red flags.”
……
EXCUSE #2: The parents didn’t want the matter pursued.
Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) said Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA) “told him that he had spoken with the page’s parents. They didn’t want the matter pursued, he said, ’so I thought it had to be pretty well satisfied.’” [Buffalo News, 10/1/06]
FACT: The House leadership had an obligation to protect the dozens of pages who are under their care. At the very least, Foley’s emails should have been passed on law authorities, and the full House page board should have been informed.
……
EXCUSE #3: Democrats are exploiting this issue for political gain right before the November elections.
Reynolds called his critics’ reactions to his negligence in the Foley case “as crass as anything I have seen.” “I’m certainly not going to react to some campaign rhetoric…on a tragic incident of a page,” he said. [Buffalo News, 10/1/06]
“I don’t believe in coincidence, and apparently neither does Hastert. The timing of this revelation has more to do about helping Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats than protecting teenagers with whom Foley was communicating.” [Mark Levin, National Review, 10/1/06]
FACT: The House leadership consistently hid this case from the public for partisan purposes. In late 2005, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), chairman of the House Page Board, “was notified by the then Clerk of the House, who manages the Page Program, that he had been told by Congressman Rodney Alexander (R-LA) about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page.” Shimkus interviewed Foley and told him “to cease all contact with this former house page.” But Shimkus never informed Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), the only Democrat on the House page board. Today, Hastert held a meeting “to review ways to protect pages,” but once again, Kildee was not invited.
……
EXCUSE #4: Former President Bill Clinton wasn’t harshly penalized for his relations with Monica Lewinsky.
“Nor did inappropriate behavior toward a subordinate even cost Bill Clinton his standing within the Democratic Party, even though indirectly he was impeached for it.” [Fox News host Brit Hume, 10/1/06]
FACT: Foley made unwanted advances toward underage boys, which one page described as “sick” and reported to authorities. Clinton had a consensual relationship with an adult. The fact that it was an extramarital affair was virtually unanimously condemned by members of both parties.
……
EXCUSE #5: This scandal is minor compared to other scandals on Capitol Hill.
“I hate to tell you, but it’s not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.” [White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 10/2/06]
FACT: The emails were not “simply naughty.” They were predatory, extremely inappropriate, and potentially in violation of federal law.
……
EXCUSE #6: House leaders would have been accused of “gay bashing” if they had pursued the case.
“Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round, they would have also been accused of gay bashing.” [Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 10/1/06]
FACT: The issue here is not homosexuality. The issue is sexual harrassment of minors.
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33 Responses to “FACT CHECK: Excuses About The Foley Cover-Up Debunked”
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keith olbermann has a report on foley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_-fwW2Vz4
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:48 pmRepublicans are trying any and every tactic to “spin” the news to diminish the political fallout prior to the election. All the republicans care about is getting elected and retaining the majority. They don’t care at all about the fact that it was one of their own trying to meet with a 16 year old boy.
How can anyone question the real reason Rep. Foley wanted to meet with the boy outside of work hours? All you have to do is read the IM messages and you KNOW what he wanted to do.
Republicans that hid the actions of Rep. Foley in the past should be hounded out of office.
If you hanve children, would you want your child getting IM’s of this nature from ANYONE, much less a Republican representative?
Now, of course, the neo-cons are trying to spin the news by claiming it’s as bad as Fmr. Pres. Clinton having sex with an adult woman. Or Rep. Frank having a relationship with a consenting adult. Don’t be blinded by the right-whiner spinning!
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:56 pmThis might have been the reason this administration allowed Jeff Gannon into the White House all those times, including all those press conferences. There are probably a lot more under those sheets than we have been told.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:56 pmJust because these a-holes are in a position of power, it gets ignored for so long. If the local janitor was acting this way, he’d been jailed 5 years ago. It is cool that the Repubs have to spend their time and energy defending this crap, instead of doing campaign work.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:56 pmLamar Alexander had nothing to do with this… except for being a Republican. Lamar is from Tennessee and not Louisiana.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:57 pmExcellent work. Take their crap and answer it word-for-word. They hate when we use things like reason against them. After all, we are unhinged.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:57 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
Anyone who knew about the original emails should resign. No questions. And start the criminal proceedings.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:57 pmIt depends on what your definition of “sick” is. Which reminds me, the Bush administration has done more to combat bird flu than any administration in the history of the world.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:59 pmThey just don’t get it, do they?
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:59 pmMorals, ethics - they are just not part of their lexicon.
It’s Rodney Alexander, not Lamar Alexander.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:02 pmHastert & the repubs are trying to spin so as to CYA. I hope that between Bush plague, the NIE on Iraq, and this that the repubs are toast. Both chambers of Capitol Hill goes Dem in a landslide, and put a screeching halt to the tyranny of Bush.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:02 pmFACT #5: SOUTH PARK was RIGHT about Tom Cruise and the Super Adventure Club.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001666.php
Is Foley at a Scientology Center?
By Justin Rood - October 2, 2006, 4:12 PM
Wonkette asks the question. In short: Foley had a relationship with the Scientology community in Florida; the Scientologists have a detox center in Clearwater, Fla.; Foley’s attorney David Roth faxed news of his client’s treatment to a Florida TV station from a fax machine in Clearwater, Fla.; Roth’s office, however, isn’t in Clearwater.
Clearwater is known as the town Scientology built … or at least the town Scientology almost completely redeveloped. Clearwater is also home to Narconon, L. Ron Hubbard’s homemade rehab program.
And it turns out Foley was no stranger in Clearwater.
At a 2003 Scientology meeting, Foley gave a speech and was photographed happily accepting “leatherbound copies of Dianetics and The Way to Happiness.â€
In 1999, Foley joined three other Scientology-friendly politicians in condemning Germany for outlawing Scientology — German law is very strict about cults, because of previous problems.
The Clearwater Scientologists also held a fund-raiser for Foley’s aborted Senate run; he dropped out after the gay thing was mentioned.
And on Friday, the Creative Loafing blog in Tampa reported that Foley attended a Scientology gala in Los Angeles five years ago.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:03 pmre: excuse #2 ~ the parents didn’t want it pursued. Alexander spoke with the boy’s parents. about what? what is it? if it amounted to a bunch of nothing, there would have been nothing to pursue, but it being nothing stands contrary to the facts. obviously, it amounted to something, as the parents declined to pursue it. if it was worthy of a call from a member of the House of Representatives, it was hardly innocuous. Not only is Amanda’s factual rebuttal correct, but Reynolds is (yah, go figure) considerably disingenuous.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:07 pmJust saw Hastert looking like a bumbling imbecile on the tail end of CNN - he’s coming apart at the seams, that’s certain. He was lying his fool butt off and is not a very good liar. I could just see the wheels spinning while being asked the questions…..wondering simultaneously…..whether they have any other “goods” on me from my past?? Pretty certain there’s plenty there if one continues to look hard enough. Aiding and abetting, aka “enabling a known predator” will have a pretty heavty penalty - both personally for Hastert and for his party. They’re clearly “hoist on their own pitard” and can’t use DARVO tactics to reverse this one since it involves a minor. I’m ROFL this time!
Hastert is beginning to look like a characature of his former self - I believe his resignation will be forthcoming in the next day or two in order to salvage any remnant of a rep he might have. He surely doesn’t want his personal dirty laundry and past wrongdoing to come out and be dissected.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:14 pmone teen’s parents should not speak for all the other page’s families. The leadership owed them the same discussion. Those families trust their children to this program and at the first hint of any problem with a Congressman, the leadership should have addressed it swiftly by investigating and expelling a member that was found to have improper conduct. Instead, they think of their party first, not what is right or wrong.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:14 pmBesides, why would anyone speak to the “parents of the kid” unless they knew something inappropriate had occurred?
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:15 pmI believe that Fraud Foley will disappear into the woodwork; goodness knows he needs a new identity at this point. If he is prosecuted and does jail time, it wouldn’t be a very pretty picture.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:16 pmAnd it doesn’t matter if the parents didn’t want the matter pursued. Our government still has the responsibility to pursue it. I can’t believe that Republicans are blaming the parents for their party’s inaction and irresponsibility.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:17 pmI can’t believe that Republicans are blaming the parents for their party’s inaction and irresponsibility.
Comment by Republicans Are The Fear And Smear Party
Sure you can! :-)
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:27 pm#13 Does this mean we will be asking “What is the the definition of it”?
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:33 pmEXCUSE #5: This scandal is minor compared to other scandals on Capitol Hill.
Hmmmm…..I don’t know, it might depend on the “eye of the beholderâ€â€¦â€¦.soliciting a minor vs. say……war crimes……hmmmmm….there’s a part of me that might agree with that statement…..but, as we all know, snowjob had something else in mind….
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:40 pmThe parents of this page deserve nothing but our greatest sympathy and support. The House leadership could have pursued this matter without putting the child and his familiy through any more grief.
“The House leadership had an obligation to protect the dozens of pages who are under their care. At the very least, Foley’s emails should have been passed on law authorities, and the full House page board should have been informed.”
Exactly.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:41 pmThe Republican House leadership has a major problem on their hands. There were all kinds of red flags dripping from the e-mail’s they had. It only took ABC one day to dig up the other stuff. Why, because ABC saw the same red flags any normal person would have seen and went digging. And it wasn’t very hard to find.
An act of omission in a case like this is every bit as bad as an act of comission without follow-up. The rule to apply is what a prudent person would have done given the information that the Republican leadership had.
This also exposed the religious zealots for what they are. Cowards that hide behind the superiority cover of religion. Those snakes cannot be allowed to hide in that grass.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:49 pmDon’t bother with that “Keith has a report”. It’s a lame UTUBE thing.
October 2nd, 2006 at 6:37 pmNothing to see here. Let’s move on. Turn another page.
October 2nd, 2006 at 7:19 pmC. Rove
THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A LOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG TIMEhttp://www.thelawparty.com/FranklinCoverup/franklin.htm
October 2nd, 2006 at 7:46 pmGood list. Another thing Tony Snow said was something to the effect that we need to investigate and learn all the facts before we rush to judgement. I guess that means that Foley isn’t going to be branded an enemy combatant. If so, we wouldn’t get any investigation.
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:28 pmSorry, I hit ‘Post’ too soon. The comment was on CNN with Soledad O’Brien. Another irony is that Snow says that we need to investigate first, but on Sunday Bartlett said that the White House opposes an investigation.
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:34 pmTHIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A LOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG TIME
http://www.thelawparty.com/FranklinCoverup/franklin.htm
October 2nd, 2006 at 9:32 pmWell with Reynolds getting a $100,000 bribe from Foley I guess you can see where Reynolds loyalty resides. Reynolds had to protect his contributor. At ALL Cost.
The children are not very well funded to make that kind of contribution for his protection.
As for Hastert he knew and still did nothing. Now he wants to investigate who the leakers are and how they got their information.
And yes, Tony Yellow Snow Job, there are a Katrina of Scandals that need to be investigated, that has been brought about by the Mad king Boy George, Side Kick Dick, Condislezza Rice, Donald Dr.Stranglove Rumsfailed, Karl Turd Blossom Rove, and the rest of the Regime/Cartel/Cabal….
For once I agree with you about the amount of scandals that haven’t been investigated…..
http://comlogic.blogspot.com/
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:01 amUnequivocal evidence that republicans are baby raping bastards.
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:18 am[…] Hastert is part of a major Congressional cover up - an organized campaign to protect a known pedophile in the GOP ranks. […]
October 4th, 2006 at 9:55 amthe crime in itself isn’t exactly the worst, and those pages can take care of themselves, but what makes this scandal so outrageous is that the Republicans portray themselves as the holier-than-thou-Christians, who would have crucified any Democrat doing the same thing as what Foley did.
October 15th, 2006 at 6:22 pmDoes anyone really believe that Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Hastert, Delay and yes, GWB are sincere Christians? What a bunch of lying, cheating, stealing hypocrites, who never served in the armed forces, but sent others to die for their wars. Who elects these people?