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No punishment for Foley
07/10/2006 22:31 - (SA)
Washington - The US House of Representative's investigation of a page sex scandal has only one certainty: Former Congressman Mark Foley will escape punishment by his peers.
It is the Florida Republican's sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage former male pages that have ignited what has become a pre-election firestorm.
The US Congress only can punish current members, officers and employees. Foley resigned on Sept 29, but is under investigation by federal and Florida authorities.
If the House ethics committee finds evidence of a Republican cover-up, many people could be in jeopardy, facing consequences that range from a mild rebuke in a committee report to a House vote of censure or expulsion.
Unlike the committee's usual practice of identifying the investigative target at the outset, this probe is wide open. Anyone who knew of Foley's salacious messages before the story broke at the end of September has reason for concern.
"At this point, what we're launching is an investigation into this whole affair, without a specific target," said California Congressman Howard Berman, the senior Democrat on the 10-member committee divided evenly among Republicans and Democrats.
"But because Mark Foley has left the Congress, we don't have the authority to discipline him in any way. The reason what happened is relevant is because there are people now who have responsibilities, and we're gathering the facts which are related to his conduct to make judgments," Berman said.
- AP
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