Foley panel: GOP left pages vulnerable

[Regis Philbin]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061208/D8LST9K00.html

Foley Panel: GOP Left Pages Vulnerable

Dec 8, 4:10 PM (ET)

By LARRY MARGASAK

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican lawmakers and aides left male pages vulnerable to Rep. Mark Foley's improper sexual advances even though the first concerns surfaced more than a decade ago, the ethics committee said Friday in a report into an election-year scandal that convulsed the House.

The committee said one witness testified that he warned one lawmaker, Illinois Rep. John Shimkus, a year ago that he viewed Foley as a "ticking time bomb" who had been confronted repeatedly.

The panel said it found no evidence that any current lawmakers or aides violated any rules, and recommended no sanctions.

But it said it discovered a pattern of conduct on the part of many individuals "to remain willfully ignorant of the potential consequences" of Foley's conduct.

Speculating on the reason for their reluctance to act, the committee said:

"Some may have been concerned that raising the issue too aggressively might have risked exposing Rep. Foley's homosexuality.... There is some evidence that political considerations played a role in decisions that were made by persons in both parties."

[Regis Philbin]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/abc_exclusive_n.html

ABC Exclusive: No Prosecution Likely for Foley

December 08, 2006 7:38 PM

Pierre Thomas Reports:

Jason Ryan contributed to this report:

According to Justice Department officials, it is unlikely that the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington will press forward on a prosecution in the Foley case.

According to several sources, prosecutors have had difficulty establishing probable cause of a crime. The barrier in getting past the probable cause threshold was the statute on transmitting obscene materials to minors. Under federal law, the age of minors receiving obscene materials is 16.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

According to that same report, Florida is opening a criminal investigation. In addition, even though Hastert denied knowing what Foley was doing, "the report found that Hastert was likely told about Foley's e-mails by two Republican leaders last spring ...Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York have said they informed the speaker last spring.

"The speaker's reported statement in response to Majority Leader Boehner that the matter 'has been taken care of' is some evidence that the speaker was aware of some concern regarding Rep. Foley's conduct" even prior to the spring conversation, the report said."

[Annoyedlistner]

so regis do you think its ok what foley did?