I believe where there is smoke, there is fire. If this young man sniffed out that something was wrong, then he was probably correct. Shame on the congressman.

Brian:
First you hide manure in the capitol...now you fling it around...shame on you and ABC for this garbage

This email has all the classic signs of a pedophile beginning to reel in a victim. The classic pedophile approach is to befriend the victim with innocuous chatter, then to ramp it up to more personal and sexual contact.

Foley's claims of innocence don't wash. Why did he use a private AOL account? Why didn't a staffer ask for the photograph?

People who think this is "innocent" have their heads in the sand. Foley is 52 according to his website. The kid is 16. This is total inappropriate and warrants criminal investigation. (I happen to be a lifetime Republican, if anyone cares.)

As a former page myself, and one who requested recommendations, this one leaves me pondering. I was never asked for a photo or my age. In general pages are 16-17 years of age, something any Member of Congress should know.

That aside, I know Members of Congress go out of their way to be friendly with Congressional Pages, as these young pages are subject to long hours in a business environment away from family for months on end. But again, this happened after the page left the page program and some of the questions are a little odd.

It does have the ring of inappropriateness behind it.

And the U.S. national media wonders why they are accused of being biased against Republicans? This is a transparent attempt by ABC to unfairly label a Congressman as a pedophile. Have you no shame?

Innocent? Are any of you parents? If an old man sent emails like this to my kids, that sicko would be investigated.

To say nothing of his inability to write the English language -- in 12 years of school, he couldn't learn the different between YOUR and YOU'RE?

Why do you even write this crap is there no news out there???

Would you still be skeptical if you knew his sexual preference?

I'm not sure there's proof of anything happening or not happening. But I agree with the young man, it sure looked strange. However I found it facinating that within an hour or so of the story first being postes. Five people wrote in within 30 minutes or each other ( in one case seconds) with totally pro-Foley case. Good staff work is always to be admired.

this is ridiculous...there is not even a story here... even a democrat knows that this is an absurd report about a 16 year old who just wants to get his name in the papers. just by even suggesting that a republican is doing something "sick" will get anyone publicity..

this is creeepppppyyyyy

It has been widely reported in the press that Foley is gay and he refuses to deny it, stating only "my sexual orientation is unimportant." He withdrew from the race for Florida's senate seat, now held by Mel Martinez, because the press reported he lived with and was involved in a longterm relationship with a man. Foley always breaks ranks and votes pro-gay and against the GOP's "marriage protection" platform. So it's pretty clear he has an affinity for males. There's something here, and thank goodness ABC has the guts to report it.

WHY WASTE SPACE WITH THIS DISCUSSION? IF YOU THINK THIS IS MORE THAN A PERSON TRYING TO BE NICE TO ANOTHER THEN YOU ARE THE SICK,SICK,SICK,PERSON.

I absolutely agree with each and every comment.This young man is merely confused (I understand I am repeating the same thoughts as others but I wanted to be opinionated myself),and with previous accusations of other highly important figures (priests,fathers,and even pop icon michael jackson),I am surprised (not entirely),that this young man would take it to this level.Republican or Democrat,this incident SHOULD NOT,at all,give Mark Foley a negative image or reputation...

Foley is yet another example of hypocrisy from the Republicans, the self-proclaimed party of morality. Wake up, folks, and stop making excuses. Foley was getting a little too cozy with a 16 year-old, plain and simple, and his conduct is inexcusable. He needs to come out of the closet, admit his mistake, resign his seat in Congress, and move on with his life.

just further proof of how low the media must go,always looking for the lurid headline, with no substance behind it...ABC should be ashamed at this kind of blatant "tabloid" garbage.

Obviously the recipient of the e-mail was disturbed at the 'tone' of the Representative's behavior (non-consenting). Being a Representative in office requires some tact that apparently this Representative lacks. Personally, I think the Representative's apparent behavior is a bit too personal for comfort.

Perhaps these Republicans should reconsider their mantra of 'FAMILY VALUES' and 'MORALITY' and focus on the sensitivity of the governed. Every electorate deserves to be treated with respect; and down-talking to a former staffer with a patriarchial air is insulting.

LOL, as soon as I saw it was an ABC site I knew it had to be about a Republican. Why all the hate?

Weird. This sounds like Foley is trolling for underage gay sex. Another corked up Republican coming out of the closet. It makes no sense that Foley would send these messages from his personal email.

Just take a look at his internet logs to see what kind of man he is. With the white houses take on privacy I am sure you woun't need a court order to get them.