Mark Foley
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Mark Adam Foley (September 8th, 1954 - ) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party, before resigning due to revelations that he had sent sexually explicit messages to teenaged boys who had served as congressional pages.
In 2006, representative Jim Kolbe discovered Foley's crimes, and immediately reported it to overseeing members of the House of Representatives. Assuming the matter had been taken care of, Kolbe went back to work. However, it was not taken care of until 2006, where it reached the public's attention and an investigation by the House was launched. Foley resigned from Congress on September 29th, 2006 acting on a request by the Republican leadership after allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to teenage boys who had formerly served and were at that time serving as Congressional pages. As a result of the disclosures, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted investigations of the messages to find possible criminal charges. Each ended with no criminal finding.
In the case of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the "FDLE conducted as thorough and comprehensive investigation as possible considering Congress and Mr. Foley denied us access to critical data," said FDLE commissioner Gerald Bailey with the closure of the case. The House Ethics Committee also conducted an investigation into the response of the House Republican leadership and their staff to possible earlier warnings of Foley's conduct.
Other information edit
- Foley claimed he was molested by a clergy member back at the ages from 13 to 15.
- Ironically, he was known as a Republican member of the House who strongly opposed LGBT rights prior to the scandal.
- Jim Kolbe was as well investigated after reporting Foley's crimes, and also from some allegations against him.
- He supports the Patriot Act, the death penalty and strict sentencing for hate crimes.
- Foley's legislation to change federal sex offender laws was supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, America's Most Wanted host John Walsh and a number of victims' rights groups. President Bush signed it into law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
- In the House, Foley was one of the foremost opponents of child pornography. Foley had served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, coined the "Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002" to outlaw websites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that "these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles."
Post-congresional life edit
After leaving Congress, Foley entered the real estate business in Palm Beach, Florida. He also came out publicly as a gay man and was in a relationship with a Palm Beach dermatologist, Layne Nisenbaum, until his death in 2012. On September 22nd, 2009, Foley debuted as host in his own radio show, "Foley on Politics," on Seaview AM 960 in North Palm Beach, Florida.
After several years removed from the public eye, Foley resurfaced as a supporter of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, appearing behind him in a crowd at one of his rallies.