The Full Monty: Foley IM File

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ABC has published one of the IM messages a former Congressional page says he had with Rep. Foley in 2003. If you want to read the whole thing, go here. I include the relatively non obscene passage below to note that Foley is in real legal trouble, as perhaps only he is well aware. As his own website notes (it has been taken down, but ah the beauty of the wayback machine), Foley was the author of several anti-child pornography/explotation bills. (More on that can be found on a cached version of a Foley press release.)

Which makes the following all the more sick:


Maf54 [that’s Foley’s screen name] (8:09:44 PM): thats a great size

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:00 PM): thank you

Maf54 (8:10:22 PM): still stiff

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling

Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back

Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:59 PM): she is computer dumb though

Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:01 PM): it makes me so mad

Maf54 (8:15:04 PM): good

Maf54 (8:15:08 PM): haha

Some of the bills that Foley wrote/sponsored/pimped himself as part of have faced constitutional challenges, but might be possible that Foley falls prey to legislation that he himself wrote! Talk about justice.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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