FBI Knew in July About Foley E-Mails to Teen

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., right, addresses the media with Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., at the Capitol in this 2003 file photo in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, FILE) (Lawrence Jackson - AP)

"If Reynolds told me, it was in a line of things, and we were in the middle of another crisis this spring, so I just don't remember that," Hastert told reporters. He defended the decision by several top staffers to handle the Foley matter without telling him. "I see no reason to bump it up to me at that time," he said.

Hastert noted that the 2005 e-mails to the Louisiana teenager were ambiguous. In one, Foley asked the boy to send a picture of himself, which reportedly alarmed the youth and his parents. Hastert agreed yesterday that an adult's request for a teenager's photo "would raise a red flag." But he said he would not second-guess his party's handling of the situation.

The boy's parents approached the office of Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) in late 2005, asking that Foley stop contacting their son and that the matter be kept quiet, according to House accounts.

Reynolds, who chairs his party's House campaign committee, and Majority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) were among prominent Republicans who also knew of the parents' concerns earlier this year. But the matter was left to Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), who chairs the House Page Board, and then-House clerk Jeff Trandahl, also a board member. Shimkus has said that Foley assured them that the e-mails were innocent, and that they closed the discussion by telling him to respect pages and to cease contacting the Louisiana boy. Trandahl, now executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, did not return phone calls yesterday.

Hastert said that he and other House leaders knew nothing of the instant messages between Foley and former pages in 2003 and 2004, which, ABC has reported, were much more graphic and discussed topics such as masturbation.

ABC reported yesterday that Foley used the Internet name "Maf54" and wrote to a former page: "I miss you lots since san diego," to which the teenager responded, "ya I cant wait til dc." The youth then asked, "did you pick a night for dinner." Maf54 replied, "not yet . . . but likely Friday."

In another exchange, Maf54 wrote, "I want to see you." The teenager replied, "Like I said not til feb . . . then we will go to dinner." Maf54: "and then what happens?" Teenager: "we eat . . . we drink . . . who knows . . . hang out . . . late into the night." When Maf54 pressed further, the teenager wrote, "hmmm, I have the feeling that you are fishing here . . . im not sure what I would be comfortable with . . . well see."

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Shimkus's fellow Republican on the Page Board, said she knew nothing of Foley's electronic exchanges until last week. "As a member of the Page Board -- and more importantly as a mother -- I am appalled by Mark Foley's despicable conduct," she said. "I deeply regret not being made aware of this situation as a member of the Page Board."

White House spokesman Tony Snow contributed to the political firestorm yesterday when he told CNN that the scandal involved "simply naughty e-mails." Democrats assailed the comment, and Snow later described the messages as "disturbing," "appalling" and "reprehensible."