WASHINGTON — House Republicans knew for months that Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) was exchanging what were described as "over-friendly" e-mails with a 16-year-old former House page, they acknowledged Saturday.
Foley resigned Friday after news reports revealed that he had sent another male teenage former House page messages that were explicitly sexual. House leaders said they had not been aware of those messages.
With midterm elections weeks away -- and Democrats trying to capture the House from Republican control -- GOP leaders went out of their way to condemn Foley's behavior.
"The improper communications between Rep. Mark Foley and former House congressional pages is unacceptable and abhorrent," House Republican leaders said in a statement issued late Saturday. "It is an obscene breach of trust. His immediate resignation must now be followed by the full weight of the criminal justice system."
Top House officials conceded that they had been alerted as early as last fall to concerns about Foley and his contacts with a 16-year-old former House page, but said they had discussed it with the congressman and were told that his relationship with the page was that of a mentor. They told him to cease his contacts with the page.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) reported that he was unaware that Foley had been sending sexually explicit messages until some messages to pages were leaked to the media last week. "No one was ever made aware of any sexually explicit e-mail or text messages at any time," Hastert's office said Saturday in releasing what it described as a preliminary report on his contacts in the matter.
ABC News reported Friday that it had obtained copies of instant messages to current and former male pages in which Foley made numerous explicit sexual references.
In one exchange Foley asked: "You in your boxers, too? .... Well strip down and get relaxed."
Foley resigned his seat within hours of being asked about the messages. The six-term representative, chairman of a congressional caucus on crimes against children, was the author of legislation to strengthen penalties against pedophiles and child pornographers. He was considered a lock for reelection. Now Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement candidate.
Democrats were quick to criticize the GOP leadership, with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) demanding an Ethics Committee investigation, which the leadership agreed to.
