Foley is a sick deviant and, by blaming alcohol, is demeaning alcoholics. There is no excuse that will justify his years of perversion and child abuse. Every member of Congress who was aware of his behavior but took no action should be required to resign.

Anyone who is looking at this as an "attack on Republicans" by the 'leftist Democrats' needs to get off the Bush Bandwagon long enough to realize that this is about PEDOPHELIA and not politics! As a Dad I am horrified by this predator using his elected office to virtually shop for teen meat. It is sick. It is unforgivable. Anyone in Congress who knew of this and did nothing is equally guilty. Foley resigning should just be the beginning.

As a mother and grandmother, I am outraged that Hastert et al aren't in jail. If this was me or you , they'd lock us up and throw away the key. It's sickening that they knew and let it go on. Anything for politics. They'd throw their mothers to the wolves. I am crazy with anger.

That's extraordinary. And disgusting.

But why do you say Foley "interrupted a vote on the floor of the House"?
What is the specific evidence for that assertion? Do you know where he was when he sent the messages? Could it have been from a portable device? If you're implying he was in his office, isn't it permissible for a Rep. to come and go from the House floor, even during a vote?
It seems to me that a lot more details and context are needed here.

Sick sick sick. He needs to be locked up, along with those who knew it was happening and failed to act to stop it.

OK you doubters out there, this is predation at its worst. Anyone who swept it under the rug needs to go right along with Foley!

Was he drunk before the house vote? He entered rehab to make this all go away didn't he. So was he hammered moments before voting on legislation?

52 seperate instant message exchanges... I think ABC News better start verifying the authenticity of the documents. These are easy to recreate.

The time has come to impeach
the whole greedy, crooked bunch.
Starting with the White House
and all of congress!

Hey how are all you defenders of this jerk feeling now (see blog from Oct. 1st)? Still think its an attempt by the Democrats to smear this guy? Had Hastert taken care of it when it first came to light, the Republicans wouldn't have to worry about the timing of the elections!
And I agree with what Wanda Sykes said on Leno last night: "Being drunk doesn't make you a pedophile!" Alcohol rehab is not going to change this man! He is a pedophile...

Where's the sweeping under the rug? I agree Foley should be gone, but more evidence that there was truly a cover up will be needed before anyone else should be ousted.

Hastert, Shimkus and the rest of them that KNEW, need to go and I mean NOW.

Foley's behavior is disgusting enough, but to think that a number of high-ranking Republicans knew what he was doing and failed to act is beyond belief. Each one of them should forfeit their jobs. Ironically, Foley may be prosecuted under the same law he helped write. As a psychotherapist who specialized in adult survivors of abuse, I think everyone should take a good look at what politicians so vehemenly protest and question what they may be trying to repress.

Would someone, maybe Brian Ross tell us when and who gave up these im's. The man is sick of course, but who sat on these e-mails.

Mark Foley needs help and I would say more than alcholic counseling will provide.

EWWW...and dumb.

How stupid to go after one of the pages.

I want to see a full investigation into this and do not want to blame anyone (Hastert or whoever) until we know who knew what when. But in any event, I have to say that I am ashamed of my party today (yes, I am a Republican). At worst, they knew about this, and at best, they had enough clues to investigation. That anyone would have an inkling of this and do nothing is just disheartening. I think I am sitting this next election out. I won't vote for democrats, but can't vote for republicans right now. Gross.

Any Republican who isn't demanding the immediate resignations of Reps. Hastert, Shimkus, and Reynolds -- each of whom knew about this sicko but covered it up to protect themselves politically -- should be condemned and voted out next month.

I am having a great deal of diffulty believing something this blatant was only known and hidden by the GOP. I agree that everyone who knew and didn't take action should resign or be forced to resign and that includes anyone who was sandbagging this information in order to use it as an October surprise.

This is about a sexual deviant who was put in a position of power and he abused that power and should prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

It's unfortunate the left is going to take this and politicize it just as the right would do if the tables were turned.

I just hope we take advantage of this situation and set presidence so this never happens again!

wishful thinking huh..lol

This is not just a republican thing, and it should not be made political. This is about sick perverts that need to be run out of town. Before this is all over, there will be blood on both sides of the isle.......

This is a SETUP! Who ever saves instant message?

Regardless of any political affiliation if what the former pages are saying is true, just about any member of congress should have known about this. Throw them all out!

If he's blaming alcohol, that means he was drunk AND having virtual sex while he was supposed to be voting in congress! This is beyond sick. Shame on anyone who is trying to change the subject and blame Clinton for this (believe it or not, Sean Hannity and Brit Hume both did). And shame on those who tried to cover this disgusting offense up.

We'll never know who knew what, or when, but as the father of a teen, and a conservative, I'd like to see our side "clean house" on this predatory issue. There's no place for it in our Congress or society and we voters need to take a good look at who we're sending to DC to represent us. Foley and his ilk certainly do not represent me.

Why is all this information coming out now?

Foley deserves to be locked up.

But the timing reeks of politics.

Why is ABC News, and Brian Ross specifically, drip drip dripping these IMs so slowly? This is why people think this is more about politics than the public's need to know. These are all IMs between Foley and the same 2 pages but, for some reason, it has taken 5 days, so far, for ABC News to leak this out? Why not release it ALL at once? Why is ABC intentionally dragging it out so that they have a BREAKING NEWS headline everyday? JUST RELEASE IT ALL! Or is this all simply for ratings??

JCJC makes a good point, if his excuse was that he was an alcoholic and that these episodes occured when he was drunk, then he has to have by his own admission been drunk while voting on legislation.

This is a serious issue and has been dealt with as Rep. Foley has resigned. Now comes the politicization of the whole affair. If there was so much of a concern for the kid involved this would have reported a long time ago, especially since ABC and other news outlets have been sitting on this for awhile now. Wow, what a political hit job. Lets now get on with what affect our lives- the war,economy, etc.

How convenient that ABC news trickles this out over a period of days. How long will you be able to get ratings over this perversion? How long was ABC a party to this? Ratings over children - typical American media. Foley isn't the only party that is disgusting.

I don't remember "stop propositioning underage children" being listed in the twelve steps . . . and the issue isn't Foley, it is leadership, coverup, and decisionmaking.

I hear rumors that the FBI knew about some of these e-mails months ago. This is all too sicko for me. Its time for regime change. And since power corrupts so thoroughly, we ought to legalize term limits - and throw Foley and a few other folks in jail. Show the world that the "I'm an alcoholic" excuse is no excuse.

So What does this do for profiling preditors? is anybody safe anymore.?

I remember how angry the speaker was when the FBI dared to approach their hallowed offices. Im a life-long conservative but it's time for all incumbents to leave Washington. The speaker is a hyrocrite as he makes himself a wealthy man. Doesn't any resign anymore?

I am appalled at those of you who are calling for the Republican leadship to resign or to be put in jail before having seen any facts to implicate them. We have a system of Justice that should be followed. You may find that it is the other side of the house that actually knew about this.

I think they should take away any pension that he had coming and use it for the counciling sessions that the pages need. If this is what goes on in Congress, no wonder the world is in the shape it is in. This is disgusting!!!!

What a twisted, sick man! You don't do this with kids! What a shame.

This is so unreal. He is a sick man to even be typing this to a child! But this also reads like someone is telling him what to type. Is this whole thing a set-up for political gain? It makes me wonder???? The answers this child comes back with almost sounds coached?

i am wondering who has also endangered these kids. Ross is saying he had the emails back in AUGUST! Several FL newspapers had the bad on Foley as well back then. Foley is not to be excused one bit, but looks like this was also a nicely conducted Oct political surprise that was surpressed! what about that, aren't these people also endangering kids if they knew earlier as well? My guess dems/liberals are giddy as a school boy page over this now! Politics have been played over this at the expense of getting FOley out and away from male pages by all parties! Brian Ross said he was too busy to look at the emails, HaHa..LOL too.

This is one sick puppy. More of 'em got to go.

Where did Ross get these iMs?
Why did that source not do something about Foley in a timely fashion?
Their decision to do nothing - yet hodl onto the info and release it to Ross at this late date - only increased Foley's opprotunity to to hurt kids.
Who was the source?
Disgraceful.

When you say anybody in congress that new about Foley and his deviant flirtations with Pages, I hope you include Democrats in that. Apparently they have known for several month if not years about this and only now did they come out with it. So much for the protection of our youth by either party.

Tony Snow, Press Secretary for George W. Bush stated today that "it's these type of naughty emails..." Am I missing something? Innocent children are being preyed on here and it seems anything to "stay the course" to win the November election.

Here's a prediction: The Democrats are going to win because the American people have had ENOUGH!

:)

To any other pages, staffers or other House or Senate employees: now is the time to come forward and let the public know, anonymously if you need to, who the offending Members are. Produce evidence if you can, or the names of people who can corroborate your story. This is not something that can be permitted or ignored, and now is the time to stop it.

Thank you in advance for doing the right thing.

Hello! He entered rehab so that he couldn't be reached!

Did Foley actually engage in any physical contact with these underage pages? All I have read about is these e-mails and text messages. This is immoral but is it truly "illegal"?

I mean, Gerry Studds, D-MA, engaged in sexual relations with an underage male page in the 70's. He said it was no one's business and was reelected until his retirement in 1996. This was also immoral but I do not remember the moral indignation that is being expressed by so many today.

While I have no doubt of Foley's guilt (he's basically admitted it), how do we know all these ABCnews IM transcripts are genuine? An instant messaging transcipt, when saved, is nothing more than a simple HTML script (a web page). Any bright gradeschooler can draw one up without any trouble, making up time stamps as they go. I have to assume these transcripts are submitted by pages, because I'd hate to find out that internet providers are logging our instant messaging conversations.
Regarding the overall controversy, it is sick, but I can't say it's unexpected. Congress has always been a mostly corrupt body, though the problem is getting worse.

I'm a Conservative and side with the Republicans most of the time...but this is total crap. Anybody, regardless of political loyalty should be disgusted at this crap. What the democrats need to be careful with is politicizing this, and this would begin with calling for anybody's resignation without letting the investigation take place. Due process is a part of this country...no matter how much we may not like it.

This is sick and he had to go. What I still have not seen is that everyone had hard evidence that he was doing this. Absent an official complaint by a page or e-mails that had the kind of talk in these IMs - just what the heck was anyone to do? Act on rumors? Looks to me like he was doing this by way of IM because he was to stupid to realize that people (in this case the pages) could cut and past from an IM into a perminate form.

As repugnant as it will be for me to do so, for this and many other reasons, I will be doing something this coming election day I have never done before: I will be voting a straight Democratic ticket. That's not because there is a single one of them in whom I place an iota of hope for general improvement of anything, but because the current crop of power-leaders has left me no No NO other choice..

I am still shocked that Republicans dropped the ball on this one - I mean this is an issue that will resonate with every American and not in a good way. This is disgusting - a predator on the loose in the halls of our own government from the party that claims to be all about morality and family values. Having said that, Hastert claims he was informed about the emails asking for a photo but claims he never saw the email nor did he ask to see it, WHY? A red flag would have gone up for anyone else. Was holding onto to Foley's seat more important that the welfare of children??? Haster must resign!!!

It amazes me that in this day and age people think that any email/IM's are confidential. Talking about sexual activities, as far as I know, isn't illegal. It's weird, to be sure. But not illegal. I think for a mature man to want to discuss this with teenagers shows a degree of mental problems. That being said, Providing a minor with Alchol & possibly 'hooking up' is very illegal. We can't persecute someone for bad judgement.

Remind me to use Alcoholism as an excuse if I suddenly turn into a pervert.

Foley is sick. No question.

But rather than focusing on Foley and predatory pedophiles like him, you (ABC and Brian & Ross) have timed this story so as to coincide with and effect a national election in hopes that people will be so disgusted with and by Foley's behavior that they vote against the GOP.

It would be nice if you would set aside your political agenda and just report the news.

Rob

Well, it is about pedophilia and not about politics. Except for the fact that a lot of Right-Wing bloggers and commentaors (Limbaugh, for one) are making extraoridinarily, almost comically self-parodic) comments blaming this on the Democrats and Liberals for fostering an environment of permissiveness. This is about repression, not permissiveness, for one thing. And it's about adults not behaving like adults and protecting kids. Those adults happened to be Republicans (this time) and deserve to be blamed. If Denny Hastert last until election day I will eat my hat.

I think the system is all screwed up. They are all a bunch of hypocrites. Perverts.

I think this is unacceptable. He should resign, then sent to a hospital and treated if that is possible for his addiction. Obviously this man is sick and needs to be treated. Then he needs to go to jail for this incident that he got busted for and for all the other ones that he got away with, because I know this is not the first incident. This is just the first one in which he got caught in the act.

I am a conservative Republican and a Mom.
Foley and Hastert need to be jobless and investigated.
This is not politics, it is criminal and criminal cover-up if ignored.
If Foley were the guy next door he would be arrested by now and on his way to the sex offender registry.
It is a total ruse he is in rehab.
As a voting Republican I will be watching how my party handles this.
A cover up hurts all Republicans. It makes those of us who despise underage sex as crime look like we are advocates of it.
I am not. I have children and expect that any policy maker voting to protect them needs to abide by his own damn laws.

What Foley did was disgusting and as a Dad, I would have trouble holding back my anger.

However, I am equally angered if anyone knew about the explict messages and did not report it. THis applies to Republicans and liberal.

If you are going to be angry at Republicans, you need to hold liberals accountable for thinking more about how this will help them than the teens. Think a bit about this...it is not a Republican vs liberal issue. This is about the person and his actions.

I hate that fact that important issues such as this are politicized in an election year. Both parties are at fault. The Republicans should have done more to stop it based on what they knew, and the Democrats should have released the information right away instead of holding onto it to use as an election-year October curve-ball. I do have to say that the Republicans are doing the right thing by not backing him. I was disapointed by a similar but more severe circumstance about 20 years ago that involved a certain Democrat who was backed by his party and received only a censure as punishment. I have to hand it to the Republicans for not "circling the wagons" on this one and agreeing to call a spade a spade.

Once again this has nothing to do with politics other than the complete hypocrisy of politicians. Someone is always lying. If the democrats say white the republicans say no it is black. If the democrats say yes, the republicans say now. If someone says he did it, the other says I did not. It goes on and on and no matter what, someone is lying. Now the leadership of the house is scrambling to find some way to spin this disgusting chapter into something it is not. As always noone is accountable for anything, whether it be the war in Iraq to pedophiles in congress. In a world where there are no secrets, and we all know there are none on Capital Hill, now can these lying liars like Hastert expect us to believe the this is all some kind of surprise that nobody knew about. But, sadly for all of us, they are right about one thing. The American people are totally ignorant, gullible and pathetic (after all they elected GWB two times), so they will likely let this one go as well.

I am a very conservative Republican who is extremely upset with Foley and the leadership in Congress. I hope Hastert resigns, and the party (in the last few weeks before the election) cleans house. I would suggest the House GOP caucus name new leaders in advance of the election...people who are thoroughly vetted for ANY improprieties!

What kind of idiot would think other members of congress would have access to another person's IMs and emails? Are you all stupid? How would the House leadership know...NSA spy program that intercepts IMs from members of congress and immediately reports them to leadership??? Come on, this was one very sick pervert that should be in jail...not the whole Republican party.

I've noticed that some news outlets, notably NBC News and Fox are reporting the rumor that the Democrats knew of these emails and withheld the information until right before the election.

What does ABC News have to say?

I hope they make an example out of the moron pedophile! For one it's just plain disgusting, and secondly to think someone like him is representing the people of this great land is just as disgusting and finally how stupid do you have to be to have any communication that can be validated like this. I hope they fry him.

Drinking?!? Alcoholism is not responsible for this perversion.
This man needs jail time! Where is Dateline NBC when you need them?
It breaks my heart that he is a member of my party. I most heartily agree that Foley and ALL those who knew about his perversion be removed from office and server time in prison!
That is what would happen to any regular citizen.

This is not about politics nor is it a referendum on whatever party this guy belongs to; it's about inexcuseable behavior and he needs to be punished.

I completely agree with and would like to echo the remark by Ms. Benson. Had Foley been playing his online games with an ADULT while delaying a vote, that would be scandalous enough on its own terms. The fact that we're talking about pedophilia pushes his transgressions so far into the realm of sheer depravity and criminality that ANYONE in that building who knew about it -- regardless of title or party affiliation -- ought to resign, or be outed by the press. Drain the swamp, I say!

The focus should be on sick this man is not the party he is with. Pedophiles are everywhere no matter what party they are signed on to.

Does anyone actually think that it was only the republican leadership that knew what was going on. There are democrats that knew just as well. The bottom line, however is that as much as republicans or democrats may have known that Foley was a little odd and a little too friendly with these pages, there was no one who had ever come forth with any evidence at the time that indicated that his behavior was anything more than a little too friendly. Now that someone has come forth with info to indicate otherwise, all concerned have called for a full investigation. So for anyoe to call on the republican leadership to resign, perhaps you should rethink, and also consider the fact that it was no secret for democrats either. So should they resign as well.

This is wrong on so manu levels, however what is worse is that it is not used to protect the people it was held until political gain could be achieved. Who ever knew about this also be eliminated and trown in jail for not doing something to protect people from monsters like this.

As a fifteen-year-old girl, I feel that this man should be put behind bars. Who knows how many other minors he might target? I don't think that men like these deserve to hold any political position and I am absolutely disgusted by the doings of men like him.

I like how 'along' takes exception to the article saying that the vote was interupted. WHO CARES. The guy was abusing a child - does it matter whether he had to leave the public forum to do it, or was able to do it with a portable device?

This is strong evidence that our government has fallen to it's lowest moral standing ever. It's hard not to ultimately feel despair when some of our highest ranking elected officials are found guilty of the most repugnant offenses imaginable. What could one in such a position do that could possibly be more damaging to our society as a whole?

I fought for this? This is sick and everyone involved should be investigated and sent to prison. I cant belive this is what our gov. has come to. It makes me not want to tell anyon that I served in the armed forces for this sick gov. if the rumers of others doing the sme thing with highschool females and males tnan the entire federal gov. should be locked up. maybe we should revolt... or just vote them ALL OUT!

Uh VA Resident before you get to high up on that high horse the democratic leadership knew of this too and were waiting for the right time to let it lose, also large newspapers were burying this as well. So if we are cleaning house lets clean it all.

Foley should pay for his actions, no doubt. But condemning all republicans? Can you democrats guarantee you don't and won't have a Foley among you?

We are all looking forward to ABC outing the other two members of Congress mentioned. Good job!

Apparently the rule has been that if you are Republican then whatever else you may do is excusable in the eyes of other party members, unless you are caught of course. After that you can only count on the support of dope-addled pundits like Limbaugh.

I think if investigators dig deeper they will find that Foley actually had sex with a minor. How could he not act on his urges?

This incident, and particularly the Republicans' response to it, is symptomatic of a bigger problem with their control over Congress.
Republicans will do anything to stay in power. We've seen how they have sold their principles on things like the deficit just to keep the bread and circuses operating. Now we see that they would sell their own children -- correction, YOUR children -- to keep the reigns.
Hopefully, the voters, if not entirely aware of this, have at least the vague sense that there's something rotten in Congress and a great need for wholesale changes.

This is beyond pale. Foley should be sent to prison and have to post bail. His DWI Clinic stuff is just a ploy. Finally Speaker Hastert should resign as he has demonstrated an unprecedented level of Congressional House Management incompetence in this utterly embarassing scandal.

The thing that REALLY gets me is no one is calling Hastert on the basis of his statement. He keeps saying that he knew about the "overly-friendly" emails, but not the IM's. That is EXACTLY why there should have been a TRUE investigation when the emails came to light. By inaction, heck, NOT EVEN telling EITHER of the other two members of the Page Committee (one Dem, one female Rep), no one bothered to check with other pages if they had inappropriate contact, etc. Hastert can NOT claim to have vigilence and care regarding the minors in his care when he didn't do ANY follow through.

I agree that any Republican who knew about this and did nothing should resign. Also, any DEMOCRAT who knew about this and did nothing should ALSO resign. Fair?