Clearwatergate : US politics and Scientology

• News from «The House International Relations Committee» (October 21, 1999) 
 

Republican Mark Foley submits resignation to Congress

Florida Republican Mark Foley has submitted his resignation after the disclosure of five e-mails he had sent to the boy, who was 16 at the time he received them while working as a congressional page last year.

Democrats See Chance in Foley's District (www.npr.org - October 1, 2006)

Foley Resigns; E-mails to Male Page Questioned (www.npr.org -September 29, 2006)

• Florida Republican Mark Foley has submitted his resignation (AP, September 29, 2006)

• CREW calls for House to appoint outside Counsel to investigate Foley page scandal (citizensforethics.org - September 30, 2006)

• The scandal alone offered plenty of headline fodder, but reaction intensified when the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics posted a PDF file of the e-mails. (citizensforethics.org - September 29, 2006)

Mary Story from the Church of Scientology and Brett Miller from the Clearwater Businessman's Association present leatherbound copies of Dianetics and The Way to Happiness to Republican State Committee woman Nancy Riley and Congressman Mark Foley. (Source http://www.fso.org/en_US/news-events/pg005.html)

• Florida Politicians and Officials lending credibility to Scientology ?  Link with web.tampabay.rr.com

It doesn't take much to create a buzz in the blogosphere, as we all know, so you can imagine what happens when a veteran congressmen, a 16-year-old male page and a series of publicly posted e-mails are involved.

• Blogs afire over Foley e-mail scandal  Link with news.com.com
 

• Mark Foley Email Exchange (pdf)
 

Résumé : Mark Foley, député républicain de Floride, défenseur de l'Eglise de scientologie a démissioné après avoir échangé des courriels à caractère sexuel avec des employés mineurs du Congrès.

L'affaire Foley fait trembler le Parti républicain (lemonde.fr - 3 octobre 06)

Democrats See Chance in Foley's District

from The Associated Press / October 1, 2006

Source : http://www.npr.org

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. September 30, 2006, 5:55 p.m. ET · Considered a long shot just two days ago to unseat a prominent House Republican, Democrat Tim Mahoney on Saturday began to talk about the scandal surrounding Rep. Mark Foley that may propel him to Congress.

Foley resigned Friday after revelations that he exchanged raunchy electronic messages with a teenage boy, a former congressional page, sending the Florida GOP scrambling for a replacement candidate less than six weeks before the election.

Mahoney on Saturday criticized Republican leaders for not fully investigating Foley when e-mails to the 16-year-old page were brought to their attention about a year ago. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.

"It looks to me that it was more important to hold onto a seat and to hold onto power than to take care of our children," Mahoney said. "I think that's wrong. I think that's what's wrong with Washington."

Mahoney, a millionaire financial services executive who switched parties last year before entering the race, campaigned Saturday with Sen. John Kerry.

The Massachusetts senator was in the state to raise money for Democratic congressional candidates and party gubernatorial nominee Jim Davis. About Foley, he said, "It speaks for itself. Every parent in America is disgusted and disturbed by it."

Foley, R-Fla., who is single, apologized Friday for letting down his family and constituents. Hours after his resignation, Foley's former colleagues engineered a vote to let the House ethics committee decide whether an investigation is needed.

In Florida, Democrats found themselves suddenly competitive in a district where Foley, 52, had been considered a shoo-in.

His resignation further complicates the political landscape for Republicans, who are fighting to retain control of Congress. Democrats need to win a net of 15 Republican seats to regain the power they lost in 1994.

Florida Republican officials on Saturday were still discussing the procedure to replace Foley as a candidate in the South Florida district, which President Bush won with 55 percent of the vote in 2004 and is now in play for November.

Though Florida ballots have already been printed with Foley's name and cannot be changed, any votes for Foley will count toward the party's choice.

State Rep. Joe Negron has been mentioned as a possible candidate. He would enter the race with several hundred thousand dollars left over from an attorney general campaign that he ended to avoid a primary with former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum.

"Tim Mahoney is spending his afternoon hanging out with John Kerry in Palm Beach County, and I think most voters in District 16 don't want a John Kerry Democrat representing them in Congress," Negron said. He said he has received the backing of many of state Republicans.

Foley, who represented an area around Palm Beach County and was chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, had introduced legislation in July to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet. He also sponsored other legislation designed to protect minors from abuse and neglect.

Foley e-mailed the page in August 2005. The boy was 16 at the time. Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

ABC News reported Friday that Foley also engaged in a series of sexually explicit instant messages with current and former pages, all male.

Associated Press writer Larry Margasak in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

NEWS FROM THE House International Relations Committee

Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman

DATE : October 21, 1999

FOR RELEASE : Immediate

Contact : Lester Munson, Communications Director (202)225-5021

GILMAN COSPONSORS RESOLUTION ON RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN GERMANY "GERMANY IS A COUNTRY THAT SHOULD TO BE A LEADER IN TOLERANCE," SAYS GILMAN

WASHINGTON (October 21) - U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, released the following statement today at a press conference announcing the introduction of a resolution authored by Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ) with respect to government discrimination in Germany based on religion or belief :

"Thank you for coming today. The problem of religious intolerance in Europe is widely recognized, even in Europe itself. It should be obvious -- especially to Europeans -- that intolerance is much more harmful than is any so-called harm that may arise from adherence to one or another of the many new religions that have arisen in the world in the past few years.

"Germany is a country that should to be a leader in tolerance, and ought to be setting an example. Sadly, it is not doing so. Indeed, not only have countries such as Austria, Belgium, and France joined in its efforts to suppress disfavored groups on the basis of their religion or belief, but newly-developing democracies in Eastern Europe are following Germany's example.

"Thus, in various European countries, Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant groups that everyone in the United States would recognize as essentially benign have been singled out for attention : the Methodist Church, Satmar Chassidim, Opus Dei, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and others.

"As recently as this week I have personally asked German government officials to open a dialogue, in particular, with Scientologists, which seems to be the group that they are most anxious about, but I have been rebuffed, as has the United States government when it made the same request.

"And so I will be joining in co-sponsoring a resolution on this subject, and will work to find other opportunities to use my influence to foster an atmosphere of tolerance of differences on the grounds of religion or belief.

"Also participating in the press conference were : Sen. Mike Enzi (WY), Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ), Rep. Mark Foley (FLorida) and the actress Anne Archer (A scientologist. Ndlr)

Source : http://www.npr.org - September 30, 2006

by Greg Allen 

Foley Resigns; E-mails to Male Page Questioned

Source : http://www.npr.org - September 29, 2006

by Brian Naylor and Michele Norris 

Read the E-mails : Emails at Citizens for Ethics

September 29, 2006 · Rep. Mark Foley has resigned, effective immediately, in the face of questions about e-mails he wrote to a former male page. Before news of the e-mails surfaced, the Florida Republican had been predicted as an easy winner over Democrat Tim Mahoney.

But now Foley's run of six terms has ended amid questions from the media and his challenger about why the congressman, 52, wrote several e-mails to the former page, who was 16 at the time of the unusually personal exchange earlier this year.

Coming 39 days before the election, Foley's resignation took the shape of just two sentences, in which he announced his decision and apologized to his constituents for "letting down my family and the people of Florida."

Questions about Foley's sexuality are not new; when he considered running for the Senate in 2004, it became an issue. But Foley, who is single, cited his right to privacy.

In Congress, Foley has been known as a reliable Republican vote -- conservative but not dogmatic. He represented the wealthy South Central Florida district that includes Palm Beach. In a region bedeviled by hurricanes, Foley was instrumental in getting money for the district.

He was also the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.

In light of his sudden resignation, the Republican Party will be allowed to replace Foley on the ballot.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with NPR's Brian Naylor.

Mark Foley Submits Resignation to Congress

By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

Source : AP, Sep 29, 2006

WASHINGTON

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., submitted a letter of resignation from Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page, according to a congressional official.

AP

source : citizensforethics.org / September 30, 2006

Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) calls upon the House of Representatives to appoint an outside counsel to investigate the House leadership’s role in covering up Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-FL) inappropriate email exchanges with a sixteen-year-old former House page.

Several members of the Republican leadership have now admitted to knowing for nearly a year that Rep. Foley engaged in email exchanges with a sixteen-year-old former House page. These members, including Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-LA), John Shimkus (R-IL) and Tom Reynolds (R-NY) have all claimed that they failed to take action because the boy’s parents did not want to pursue the matter. The decision not to investigate further left other House pages unprotected and vulnerable to a potential sexual predator.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s (R-IL) decision to have Rep. Shimkus review the page system is particularly ludicrous, given that it was Rep. Shimkus who, despite having been made aware that the boy and his parents were concerned about Rep. Foley’s emails, readily accepted Rep. Foley’s explanation that he was merely mentoring the boy. Rep. Shimkus is the chairman of the House page board.

Although the matter allegedly was raised before the House page board, the failure to insulate pages from further contact with Rep. Foley and the failure to implement measures to protect the pages suggests that the leadership failed to take the matter seriously.

Because the House leadership has demonstrated a shocking lack of judgment in dealing with Rep. Foley’s conduct, those in charge cannot now be trusted to examine the matter candidly. To ensure a thorough investigation of this sordid episode and the roles of everyone involved, it is imperative that the House immediately appoint an outside counsel. To that end, the chairman and the ranking member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, Reps. Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Howard Berman (D-CA) respectively, should jointly choose an outside counsel with prosecutorial experience to get to the bottom of this sorry affair. It is the very least the House can do for the teenagers entrusted to its care.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said today, "It is horrifying to learn that some members of Congress were more concerned with covering up a potentially embarrassing situation than with protecting the teenage pages." Sloan continued, "the American people, and particularly the parents of other pages, have a right to know if congressional leaders put politics above the safety of children."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Crew requests an ethics committee investigation into Republican Mark Foley

source : citizensforethics.org / September 29, 2006

Letter Sent Today in Light of E-Mail Exchange Between Foley and 16-year-old Former House Page

Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a letter today to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, better known as the ethics committee, asking for an investigation into Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-FL) emails to a 16-year-old former House page.

Yesterday, ABC News reported that, using a personal email account, Rep. Foley sent a number of emails to a former page. The emails asked the page his age, how school was and what he wanted for his birthday. Rep. Foley also requested the boy’s photograph.

In 1983, the House censured two members of Congress, Reps. Dan Crane (R-IL) and Gerry Studds (D-MA) for having sexual relationships with pages. In 1990, the ethics committee publicly disapproved of the conduct of Rep. Gus Savage (D-IL), who had made sexual advances to a Peace Corps volunteer. In all three cases, the ethics committee relied on the House rule prohibiting conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House.

Based on these precedents, CREW asked the ethics committee to investigate Rep. Foley’s emails to the former page.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today, “The House of Representatives has the responsibility to protect teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process. The ethics committee has a moral obligation to investigate any allegation that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by a member of Congress and, should the allegations prove true, take swift action to punish the offender.” Sloan continued, “The ethics committee should determine whether Rep. Foley’s emails to the former page were improper.”

CREW’s letter and Rep. Foley’s e-mails are available at www.citizensforethics.org.

***

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/press@citizensforethics.org.

L'affaire Foley fait trembler le Parti républicain

LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et AP | 03.10.06 | 04.10.06

Le député républicain de Floride, Mark Foley, avait lui-même cosigné une loi contre la pornographie pédophile sur Internet. Ironie de l'histoire, cet élu accusé d'avoir échangé des courriels à caractère sexuel avec des employés mineurs du Congrès pourrait bien aujourd'hui être poursuivi en vertu de cette même loi. Après la plainte déposée par l'un d'eux, qui a déclaré avoir reçu des messages "pervers", Mark Foley, 52 ans, a dû quitter ses fonctions vendredi 29 septembre, et aussitôt commencer une cure de désintoxication alcoolique. Mais il pourrait bien entraîner d'autres membres du Parti républicain dans sa chute. En effet, sa démission n'a pas calmé la violente tempête qui agite le Congrès depuis quelques jours. 

C'est aujourd'hui la tête de Dennis Hastert, le président de la Chambre des représentants, que réclament de nombreuses voix dans le pays, parmi lesquelles le très conservateur Washington Times. "Démissionnez !", lui a intimé le quotidien dans son édition du mardi 3 octobre. "M. Hastert a perdu la confiance de l'opinion et de son parti et ne peut pas présider à l'indispensable enquête qui s'annonce", affirme le journal dans un éditorial. Dennis Hastert est accusé d'avoir fermé les yeux sur ces actes répréhensibles, alors que les courriels ambigus auraient circulé parmi certains responsables américains. 

ENJEU ÉLECTORAL

Le président Bush a rompu le silence mardi sur le scandale qui fait monter la pression contre sa majorité au Congrès, en se disant "dégoûté" par ces correspondances électroniques compromettantes. "Je suis déçu qu'il ait trahi la confiance que lui avaient accordée les électeurs", a ajouté M. Bush.

Ces accusations graves déstabilisent profondément le Parti républicain, alors qu'approchent les élections législatives du mois de novembre dont le résultat s'annonce serré. Les démocrates ont besoin de gagner 15 sièges s'ils veulent reprendre le contrôle de la Chambre. Au Sénat, il leur faut remporter six sièges supplémentaires. Ce scandale pourrait bien les y aider.

Pour l'heure, M. Hastert réfute les accusations de connivence, déclarant avoir seulement eu connaissance de courriels "excessivement amicaux"  entre le député et un adolescent. Révélant le climat de crise, le président du Congrès a dû revenir brièvement à Washington dimanche, plutôt que d'aller faire campagne dans sa circonscription. Mais il a annoncé mardi par la voix de son porte-parole qu'il resterait à son poste. "Le président va continuer à mener le groupe républicain vers une nouvelle majorité dans la [prochaine] législature", a assuré son porte-parole.

Pour mieux illustrer sa mobilisation sur le dossier, M. Hastert a également annoncé un renforcement des mesures de sécurité entourant ces jeunes lycéens de 16 ans ou plus qui occupent des fonctions de "messagers" au Congrès et y sont logés en internat.