So he has checked into a rehab facility...going for the addicted to booze defense??....not much else to hide behind..pathetic!

Some who speak for the "Moral Majority" are apparently telling their right-wing followers that the age of consent in Washington DC is 16, so therefore Foley is innocent!

However Foley used the internet so federal law should apply, not DC's predator-friendly laws?

This guy is seriously sick. Stuff happens though and it is nobody's Fault but his own.I don't feel a bit sorry for him.He knew what he was doing was wrong.He needs to be locked up like the rest of those sick perverts!!!!

How & from whom did ABC receive these copies? Are they ISP records, or are they from the pages' computer files?

Maybe I'm overly sensitive to Republican's stupid arrogant remarks, but the reference to Gay Bashing as the excuse for not pursuing either sexual predator or sexual harrassment charges is ludicrous...

I'm not sure it's fair to say he "posed" as a crusader against internet porn. That's assuming a lot. Without condoning Foley's actions, it is possible that this may be a case where the man was consumed with a battle where his enemy often got the better of him. The battle against online pornography and child pornography is one that needs to be very, very carefully fought so as not to slip into it yourself. Let's be careful to doubt the sincerity with which Foley fought for his cause by calling him a "poser." I can personally attest to the struggle with genuinely hating a sin yet in times of weakness, regrettably, engaging in that sin and mourning over that poor choice. Foley's actions are wrong and he will pay the due penalty for them. My prayer is that Foley hears this as a call from God to repent.

This guy is an animal with two legs. They had to take control of thoses
animal around people.

They talk about clinton being a liar.He's an amatuer comparatively. His lying did'nt get 2700 americans killed. The republican party cant stop lying about the war for oil, what they knew about osama binlaudin, & now a pedifile working for years in there midst. Money makes strange bed fellows. I'm glad I cant spell pedafile.

This is the typical cover-up that the so called "Party of Family Values" usually does. Where does sending sexually explicit material to someone under age, or having IM Chats with them constitue any kind of Family Values? Our Congressmen and Senators are supposed to be upstanding individuals and a parent shouldn't have to worry about there child being subjected to this kind of pedophilia by one of them. I am so appalled by this I want everyone that knew about Senator Mark Foley's behavior to be held accountable, as far back as this goes which may be 5 years. They need to RESIGN! An should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for their part in the cover-up. I say to all of them - YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO OUR COUNTRY, GET OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT NOW!

I feel like it is the Catholic Church all over again.

Mr. Ross,

I find it extremely hard to rationalize how anyone could expect the leadership of either party to be responsible for the conduct of its members. Some helpful hints, counseling etc. might be in order if anyone knew of such activities. If laws are broken we have police, state, federal and local to handle such matters. In the final analysis, the voters of a Congressman's District are the ultimate decision makers on his political fate, as it should be.

It is unbelievably disturbing that the GOP leadership left this man co-chairing the missing and exploited children caucus when they had even a hint of inappropriate behavior. Even if they didn't know of the true scope (highly unlikely, given the light-speed acceptance of the resignation), not removing Foley from the chairmanship is unforgivable.

I am absolutely convinced that Hastert and others knew exactly what was going on but were covering their butts in anticipation of tough mid-term elections coming up. Too bad the lid got blown off before November 7th! Now, conveniently, they have lost their memories about conversations on this matter. Unbelievable! These conversations would have been highly memorable given the huge ramifications. If these guys truly did forget them, how can we possibly trust 'em to remember enough to run the country???

hummm... Why can't politicans who work to make laws, uphold them? Ethics is just unknown in Washington. I say Term Limits for all!

I am disgusted by this. It embarrasses me to say I proudly serve a country where its leaders do something like this! I love my country and always will, and will always fight for its freedoms. But our leaders have gone too far. Not just the actions but the cover up. Both are equally wrong.

How ironic that those who preach the loudest about family values are often the ones who are lacking in family values...

Sylvester,the cat got caught trying to seduce the canaries! Now, Sylvester the cat is claiming that he was drunk and disorderly, and that he is "sorry! for those salacious e-mails to the Tweetie Birds! Of course he is sorry, not because of what he did, but because he got caught! And, where were those other cats from Illinois, New York, and Ohio, supposedly looking out for the canaries? Eating the congressional ostrich?

just plain sick

Don't you dare to let Hastert express HIS outrage when he covered this up1

What has happened to our incredible, beautiful, courageous country? Is America paying attention? I grew up in the 50's and 60's and I believed all that stuff about America the Beautiful; truth, honesty, courage, speaking out against the wronged. What happened America? All silent from the pulpit of the religious right??? I am not a Bible thumper but I could open the Holy Book at random and find a passage that foretells that this was in the making thanks to the brutal authoritarian powers wounding our Republic.
Mr. Pat Robertson, Mr. Bill Frist, Christian Coalition you are silent? A sheep in wolf's clothing alludes to the fairy tale that our congress has become. We have become a mockery, an evil fairy tale run by the King with no clothes and guarded by child molesters

Mr. Ross,

Do we know if Rep. Foley was assigned to the subcommittee on child abuse and exploitation, or did he request the seat?

In this case, I'm not sure I agree that the cover-up is equally wrong (compared to the sex crime). A pedophile is mentally ill. By trying to sweep the controversy under the rug, the supposedly mentally sound House leaders negligently allowed a pedophile to continue stalking teens. Therefore, the lust for power may actually harm more people than the lust for children. Now that's stomach-churningly creepy.

RE "term limits" proposed by skidog.

We have term limits already. It's called an election. There's one in 36 days. If you don't like the way things have been going, vote accordingly.

When will people wake up and realize that almost everybody in power is full of crap??? From "religious leaders" to "politicians." This news is not shocking in any way, shape or form. Keep on believing in your leaders America.

Good work, ABC! Today we see old Hastert insisting that he and his cronies never knew how bad Foley's
correspondence was...is he kidding?
The big question is: Did they know the IMs in addition to the e-mails? All reports are that there is panic in the ranks of the GOP and understandably so. I have the feeling that there's much, much more to come? Don't you?

Another reason why, after the last six years, if you're still a Republican, you haven't been paying attention.

About 10 yrs. ago, I had the unfortunate experience of meeting Foley at a Republican rally in Florida. I remember that he was workin the room with a beautiful model hanging onto his arm and introduced her to everyone as his financee. He put up a good front for family values & tried to fool the public. We all need to get out & vote this next election & get rid of his cronies that covered up this this terrible situation. Alcholism is no excuse for his horrible behavior.

Thank you ABC and Brian Ross, et al. for this HUGE story. The fact is you may have saved some lives by breaking this story.

Often young victims go on to attempt suicide and have other acting out behavior related to their victimization, including creating other victims.

This may not be classic pedophilia, given the age of the victims, but reprehensible, nonetheless. It is the POWER inequity that causes the problems for the victims. They felt powerless and that is part of the attraction for Foley. He is a classic power rapist.

ABC, please stay on this until all the cover-ups are exposed. Hastert has to go!

Politicians cover up for pedophilic colleagues in the interest of holding more representational seats for their party. Question: Deep within these people we elevate to such heights, is politics a mere game complete with a scoring system? Or worse, do our leaders, so evidently corpulent with self-importance, view the advancement of their personal ideologies as so powerfully critical that the ends justify any means? Would we be naïve to assume that we are witnessing in this latest scandal the ultimate in consequences of our extremist national polarity; can we safely bet that the worst to come out of the deep and wide ideological chasm that has dominated national political life is the mere shaming of one Congressman? Or, is the "house" that is so radically divided just beginning to fall?

The power to exploit is at the heart of the Foley matter. His party has mastered the art of exploitation and abuse of power; on a personal, national and international level. He is a poster boy for his corrupt party and colleagues Their insatiable lust for domination is exceeded only by their conviction that nobody will notice.

Don't we as a country deserve better than a sexual predator co-chairing a committee on exploited children? This situation has nothing to do with his being gay, his "alcoholism," and it certainly has nothing to do with Bill Clinton. What this has to do with is a miscreant who was preying on underage boys and the leadership of his political party that hid it to save their hold on power.

These people are showing you their true colors...vote accordingly, America.

this is the saddest thing ive ever heard, and the local media is covering breast cancer, and petty crimes. This is why we have congressmen raping our children. So what new excuse will this pervert comeup with next? And when did bushs endorsement mean anything anyway, hes the biggest liar of them all. If only your immagination was so wharped could you know whats going in the the bedrooms of the other congressmen.

There are so many disgusting aspects of this story. Obviously Foley's conduct heads the list, particularly with his "non-excuse" excuse issued today by his lawyer re his previous abuse. Equally disgusting is the is the lack of concern for the pages demonstrated by the House leadership, apparently because of their concern regarding the political fallout. It took ABC about 24 hours to uncover the most egregious e mails after learning of the "overly-friendly" e mail the house leadership was aware of months ago. It appears that all ABC had to do was ask other pages and the information became readily available. Not only did the House leadership not see fit to inquire as ABC did, they also kept the information from the Democratic member of the Page Board. The FBI was aware of the information this summer and did nothing so much as inquire of other pages. The final absurd aspect is Hastert's suggestion that this was "sprung" by the Democrats, yet another pathetic attempt by Republicans to blame everything and everyone that dares to question their authority and competence.

It is pathetic. I would like to know if the rule allows pedophiles to give a reason like previous abuses, or drug or alocohol and check into luxury rehab centres and avoid prosecution, gain time for defense and if possible destroy evidence etc?

It is a disgrace to our democracy that people at the top who made laws on abuse of children are doing the same. When lawmakers become lawbreakers and the rest of the lawmaker crowd join to hus up things, sound action is what we need. They should prosecute the members who kept silent, for endangering the safety and helath of our children. I think Foley's escapades is only the tip of the iceberg.

im sure what we have heard so far is just the tip of the iceburg.
can anyone honestly think all he did was im and email these young men. hastert should step down, so should anyone who was involved with the cover up.

I haven't been up to anything. My mind is like an empty room, but such is life. Maybe tomorrow. Today was a loss, but eh.