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Bush 'disgusted' at sex scandal
04/10/2006 12:49 - (SA)
Charlotte Raab
Washington - President George W Bush's Republican party struggled on Tuesday to contain the political damage from a sex scandal fed by new revelations over messages sent between a top lawmaker and male teenaged congress aides.
Just over a month from a key election in which the president's party now faces losing control of congress, ABC television released details of a possible romantic relationship between former representative Mark Foley and a young male congressional page.
The Republican leader in the House of Representatives, speaker Dennis Hastert, faced calls from some conservatives for his own resignation for failing to take action promptly in the scandal. Hastert insisted he would not step down.
Political gain
The speaker said he had handled the matter correctly and accused the opposition Democrats of trying to distort the scandal for political gain.
"If they get to me it looks like they could affect our election as well," he said in an interview on a radio programme hosted by conservative host Rush Limbaugh.
Bush condemned Foley's behaviour but did not back calls for Hastert's resignation as house speaker.
Bush 'disgusted'
"I was dismayed and shocked to learn about congressman Foley's unacceptable behaviour," the president said during a visit to a school in Stockton, California.
"I was disgusted by the revelations and disappointed that he would violate the trust of the citizens that placed him in office," Bush added.
Bush supported Hastert's call for a law enforcement probe into the e-mails and text messages sent by Foley. Hastert "wants all the facts to come out," said the president.
"I am confident he (Hastert) will provide whatever leadership he can to law enforcement in this investigation," Bush said.
Possible relationship
Foley, who represents Palm Beach county in Florida, abruptly resigned on Friday after sexually explicit e-mails to a former male page were published.
The scandal widened as ABC television revealed salacious new details of additional e-mails which suggested a possible relationship with an underage congressional aide.
In the intimate e-mail exchanges published by ABC, Foley and the young congressional page traded internet kisses and made plans for a future encounter.
Until Tuesday, most of the exchanges made public showed Foley propositioning congressional pages, who did not appear to entirely return his advances.
Cybersex 'orgasms'
In an April 2003 message made public on Tuesday however, Foley invited a teen to come to his home to drink alcohol. The teenager enthusiastically accepted the offer.
ABC said that during one vote in Congress, Foley and the teenager described how they were having cybersex "orgasms".
Foley 'was molested'
Foley has entered an alcoholism rehabilitation clinic but his attorney David Roth disclosed on Tuesday however that his client had been sexually abused by a clergyman as a teenager.
"Between the ages of 13 and 15 he was molested," Roth told a Palm Beach, Florida press conference.
Roth also insisted that the relationships were never physically intimate. "Mark Foley has never had sexual contact with a minor," Roth said. He also confirmed for the first time publicly that Foley was gay.
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