G.O.P. Aides Knew in Late '05 of Illicit E-Mail from Republican Congressman to Teen Page

By CARL HULSE and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret.The exchanges began with what Republicans now describe as an “overfriendly” e-mail message from Mr. Foley to the unidentified teenager.

But news reports about the exchanges led to the disclosure of e-mail correspondence with other former pages in which the discussions became more and more sexually explicit. Shortly after he was confronted by ABC News on Friday about the subject, Mr. Foley, who represented a south Florida district, resigned from the House.

Among those who became aware earlier this year of the fall 2005 communications between Mr. Foley and the 16-year-old page, who worked for Representative Rodney Alexander, Republican of Louisiana, were Representative John A. Boehner, the majority leader, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Mr. Reynolds said in a statement Saturday that he had also personally raised the issue with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.

For full article http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/washington/01foley.html?th&emc=th

From Greetings
- Amazingly, if members of congress tried to hide what - for any other ordinary citizen (or Democratic congressperson) - would likely be a crime with immediate charges and/or imprisonment, then who will call for a full investigation? Who will ask for charges for anyone who knowingly was involved in this issue? And who will stop playing politics?