This is being reported by Drudge right now!
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU OCT 5 2006 2:53:48 ET XXXXX
CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRY
**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**
According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.
According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats. This source, an ally of Edmund, also adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund.
The news come on the heels that former FBI Chief Louis Freeh has been named to investigate the mess.
Developing…
The kid that was outted last night had hired a criminal defence attorney yesterday!
Sorry, but this just reeks of damage comtrol. Goaded or not, if Foley said what he said on those IM’s he is IMO morally wrong.
It would be damage control on the part of the pages. I do believe that Foley said those things..no doubt about it and no matter what, he is wrong for doing it. It is quite possible that these kids were having fun with him..not my idea of fun, but he was the adult and never should have engaged them!
If Foley said those things, then you can not deny that this is damage control on the part of the Republicans. Sure, somewhat for the pages also, but that is minor in scope.
It is deflection.
Ted, I don’t see this as damage control. I really don’t. The time for that was on Friday,Saturday and Sunday, with a solution on Monday. This is where I am at right now…I think Foley was a pig and these kids had fun with him but the pig, imo, broke some laws(how about sexual harrassment?)..anyway, I think that as this unfolds, we will see just who instigated this, and I will put money on AmericaBlog owner being involved. I think these kids went along with middleman x, but i really don’t think that they thought it would go to this extreme…
“The time for that was on Friday,Saturday and Sunday, with a solution on Monday.”
I disagree. The tide of public opinion can be effectively turned gradually. Usually, it is a more effective tactic- just look at what the Dems regarding the Iraq War. It took them three years, but they turned public opinion through overt lies and propaganda, but turned it none the less.
“This is where I am at right now:I think Foley was a pig and these kids had fun with him but the pig, imo, broke some laws(how about sexual harrassment?)..anyway, I think that as this unfolds, we will see just who instigated this, and I will put money on AmericaBlog owner being involved. I think these kids went along with middleman x, but i really don’t think that they thought it would go to this extreme:”
Sure- more than likely an accurate description. No offense Peejz though, it is irrelevant. It will/is being as a damage control tool. To the parties, that is ALL that is important here.
What do you know. Three more “pranksters” have come forward.
Boy that page program is a regular animal house eh? Whaddya think should be done with these three “pranksters”? All three are old enough more military service. Perhaps we should let them in on our little practical joke in Iraq?
You guys are beyond desperate.
“I was seventeen years old and just returned to [my home state] when Foley began to e-mail me, asking if I had ever seen my page roommates naked and how big their penises were,” said the page in the 2002 class.
The former page also said Foley told him that if he happened to be in Washington, D.C., he could stay at Foley’s home if he “would engage in oral sex” with Foley.
These crazy kids…
Dave- it looks like Brian Ross came up with a way to write a story…there are no e-mails to back it up. Anything else?
the guy likes 17 years old guys, how sad and what a joke on this once great nation.
From Gen.Washington to guys like Foley, how sad can you get:roll:
But when the time come’s, “and it will people” people will have to do the right thing and that will not be nice:wink:
so whats bin laden doing with this bull:idea: think medieval on Foley butt.:oops:
This is getting really sick guys. I don’t care if the kids were baiting Foley, *IT’S IRRELEVANT*. Even talking about it this close to the incident gives the appearance of not placing blame squarely where it belongs.
Besides, when did any of the Republican “values candidates” make mention of Monica’s silly girlish pranks? The double standard is sooooo transparent here.
It’s disappointing to see RV sink to this level.
..Chuck..
Well Chuck I disagree. As I have said, there is more to this than just Foley. And we should be allowed to talk about it. I have stated that Foley is wrong and there is no excuse for this..Not much more I can add to that…But at the present time, there is a call going out for the Speaker of The House to step down and or resign for what he knew and how he reacted. That is where the discussion is at as we speak. The parents of page who received the e-mails had this to say: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.
We would like to express our support for our congressman, Rodney Alexander, whose office sponsored our son’s position as a House page. As far as we know, Congressman Alexander’s conduct in this matter has been beyond reproach. He has tried his best to do what we have asked him to do from the very beginning: Namely, to protect the privacy of our son and family from the intense media scrutiny we are now having to endure.
In the fall of 2005, as soon as Congressman Alexander became aware of the e-mails received by our son, he called us. He explained that his office had been made aware of these e-mails by our son and that while he thought the e-mails were overly friendly, he did not think, nor did we think, that they were offensive enough to warrant an investigation.
Rather, we asked him to see that Congressman Foley stop e-mailing or contacting our son and to otherwise drop the matter in order to avoid a media frenzy. He did so. If we had any other knowledge or evidence of potential impropriety, we would have asked for the matter to be treated differently. For instance, we were not aware of the instant messages that have come to light in the past few days.
These instant messages, which have only recently surfaced as a result of the news of the ambiguous e-mails received by our son, are separate matters.
It appears that Hastert is telling the truth and acted based on the emails that the parents had brought to his attention. Somehow, and I don’t believe by their son, the emails got into the hands of some far left-wing gays that are hell bent on outting gay Republicans..Because of their hate filled agenda, they managed to drag a kid into this that was first the victim of Foley and now is their victim. The mistake they made is leaving a paper trail. That paper trail is beginning to lead to some high ranking Democrats.
Pelosi wants people to testify under oath, but is refusing to do so herself? Why? And why wouldn’t she want the Page system overhauled? Do you really think this is the only problem in the Page system? Based on the history of the past 30 years, sexual harrassment and or acts, seems to be an ongoing problem.
12-Where did you get that anyone said that Foley was pulling a prank? Again, try reading, it helps when trying to figure out what people are talking about!
No, try again shiloh. Foley was sending disgusting transmissions and the kids strung the jackass along. The kids responded as a joke, but Foley should have known better and should never have gotten himself into the position in the 1st place! Is that clear enough for you?
Read the posts about Hastert to find out!
17- There is plenty of proof that 2 bloggers and CREW are behind it. Given that you don’t read, I can see how you missed that.
We are all aware of the e-mails from Aug of 05′. There is nothing to charge the man with nor are they that extreme. It is the im’s that are the most alarming…
IMO–who cares if the pages were playing a prank? Does that make the things Foley said any less wrong?
I’m not commenting here on Republicans or Democrats…just commenting that regardless of how it started, Foley is in the wrong.
Nice!