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Foley Regrets Explicit Notes To Teen Boys

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The Associated Press

Published: November 13, 2008

NEW YORK - Even today, two years after Mark Foley's very public fall from grace, the former congressman can't explain why he sent lurid, sexually explicit computer messages to male teens who had worked as Capitol Hill pages.

Sitting in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York this week, the Palm Beach Republican finally broke his silence.

"I believed I owed my constituents an apology. I embarrassed them and I embarrassed my family and I wanted to have a chance in a public setting to lend my voice to what happened, not through an attorney, not through a spokesperson, but from myself."

"I'm trying to find my way back," Foley said.

Foley insists he did nothing illegal and never had sexual contact with teens, just inappropriate Internet conversations.

Investigations by the FBI and Florida authorities ended without criminal charges.

Although he concedes his behavior was "extraordinarily stupid," he remains somewhat unwilling to accept full public scorn.

These were 17-year-olds, just months from being men, he insists.

"There was never anywhere in those conversations where someone said, 'Stop,' or 'I'm not enjoying this,' or 'This is inappropriate' ... but again, I'm the adult here, I'm the congressman," Foley said. "The fact is I allowed it to happen. That's where my responsibility lies."

Today, he's a pariah in Congress and the Republican Party. He makes his living investing in real estate and other business.

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