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"BI examining possible threat to La. teenager
'Ugly stuff' was sent, congressman says
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- The FBI is investigating a possible threat against the north Louisiana teenager who was on the receiving end of suggestive e-mails from disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley, a Louisiana congressman said Tuesday.
Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, said Tuesday that the young man's life wasn't threatened, "but close to it."
"There are people out there who feel like he is the one who (accused) Foley," Alexander said. "There are some bloggers out there who sent him some ugly stuff."
The teen served as a House page in 2005 and afterward received e-mails from Foley, a six-term Republican, asking for a picture of the then-16-year-old and what he wanted for his birthday.
The e-mails, first broadcast by ABC News, led to the disclosure of a highly salacious batch of instant messages that Foley sent to other House pages in 2002 and 2003. That disclosure triggered Foley's resignation late last week and raised questions about whether House Republican leaders acted fast enough to address the scandal, with the conservative Washington Times on Tuesday calling on House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to step down.
FBI looks at threat
Alexander, who sponsored the teenager to be a House page, said the FBI recently launched an investigation after someone sent a particularly strong e-mail to the young man.
"It is something the family is concerned about," Alexander said.
Foley sent the e-mails to the teen in late summer 2005. Saying they "freaked me out," the youngster forwarded them to a lawyer on Alexander's staff in late August, two days after Hurricane Katrina hit, asking her to alert Alexander.
"If you can, mention this to Rodney so he is aware," one of the page's e-mails said. "I wonder what he would do about it."
Alexander said he didn't find out about the e-mails until November 2005, when he was contacted by a Florida newspaper pursuing a story. The e-mails he had seen at that point, Alexander said, were "innocuous." He said he notified staffers working for Hastert.
Alexander said he was contacted by another media outlet in February and brought the matter to the attention of Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., who runs the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to get Republicans elected to the House.
"We know they talked to Foley, that they warned him that that kind of thing wasn't to be going on," Alexander said. "I'm satisfied with the response."
Reynolds said he told Hastert months ago about the e-mails to the Louisiana teen, but Hastert said he didn't remember the conversation. The House leaders said they were unaware of the more sexually explicit instant messages until those came to light Friday.
Nonetheless, The Washington Times' editorial Tuesday said Hastert "has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party" and should step aside as House speaker. But House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, defended Hastert in a reply to the newspaper, saying that had Hastert known about the sexually explicit messages, he would have pushed to have Foley expelled immediately.
State's delegation
Republicans in Louisiana's House delegation echoed that sentiment, preferring to give Hastert the benefit of the doubt until all the facts come out.
"I think he would have physically jumped on someone if he thought they were abusing someone," Alexander said of Hastert. "He's a good man."
Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport, said calling for Hastert's resignation is "premature" pending a full investigation. McCrery said there is a "difference in tenor" between the 2005 e-mails, to which Hastert was alerted, and the more explicit messages sent years earlier, which he said he didn't know about until recently.
"I think we were all blindsided by this thing," McCrery said.
Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, said Hastert "acted as best he could to address this problem in light of the information that was available to him."
Louisiana state Sen. Craig Romero, R-New Iberia, who is challenging Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, for Congress, said he didn't have enough information to render a judgment about Hastert or the House leadership. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, said he was reserving judgment on Hastert's future.
"Anyone who may have been part of a cover-up, if there is one, should be held accountable," Boustany said.
Stacey Tallitsch, a Democrat challenging Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, accused the one-term incumbent of "burying" the Foley matter by supporting referral of the matter to the largely ineffectual House ethics panel. But in a statement, Jindal said the FBI should investigate not just Foley but whoever "else knew of his conduct and for how long."
"We all have a special responsibility to protect our children and anyone, including the House leadership, who failed in that duty by not taking action in a timely manner should face serious consequences," Jindal said. |
