Mark Foley was a popular Republican Representative when, in September 2006, a Congressional page revealed texts that Foley was sending him, they were sexual in nature and inappropriate with Congressional page interns, a form of sexual harassment. He had done this several times and pages had complained and reported in the past, so the scandal spread to Congressional leadership and contributed to the end of Hastert’s term as Speaker of the House. Some pages came forward anonymously to the press and confirmed that Foley slept with the pages who were underage.
He resigned immediately and no criminal charges were ever filed, though the investigators said that was because Foley and Congressional leadership denied them access to evidence. The FBI also failed to file charges, again citing non-cooperation and the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Foley initially blamed drinking and later alleged that he had been abused by a priest when a child. Foley was an anti-gay legislator. After the scandal, he came out as gay. Ironically, Foley was chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.
- Wikipedia: Mark Foley Scandal
- Sun Sentinel: Remember Mark Foley? Disgraced in sexting scandal, but now reinvented and honored by Republicans
- Politico: The Page who took down the GOP
03 Oct 2006
05 October 2006
