Former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) interrupted a vote on the floor of the House in 2003 to engage in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page, according to new Internet instant messages provided to ABC News by former pages.
ABC News now has obtained 52 separate instant message exchanges, which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys under the age of 18.
This message was dated April 2003, at approximately 7 p.m., according to the message time stamp.
Maf54: I miss you
Teen: ya me too
Maf54: we are still voting
Maf54: you miss me too
The exchange continues in which Foley and the teen both appear to describe having sexual orgasms.
Maf54: ok..i better go vote..did you know you would have this effect on me
Teen: lol I guessed
Teen: ya go vote…I don’t want to keep you from doing our job
Maf54: can I have a good kiss goodnight
Teen: :-*
Teen: [kiss]
The House voted that evening on HR 1559, Emergency War Time supplemental appropriations.
IN RELATED NEWS: Over at Political Wire, Taegan Goddard notes that: “House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), “under fire for his handling of the Foley page scandal, may have just one or two days to turn the affair around — or quiet it — or face being forced to step aside,” Republican officials tell U.S. News and World Report.
“Hastert aides and the speaker himself have shrugged off the calls to quit, noting that now is the worst time possible for the House Republican Caucus to face a leadership race. But if that were to happen, it is likely that Majority Leader John Boehner would move up a notch. He has gone out of his way to distance himself from the Foley page affair.”
In fact, Roll Call notes Boehner “reversed course” and today dumped blame for the scandal in Hastert’s lap. Boehner says he told Hastert about Foley’s problem “and he told me it had been taken care of.”
