Shortly after it was revealed Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) had sent inappropriate and highly sexual e-mails to underage boys that had worked as interns on Capitol Hill, he was forced to resign. Now, Republican leaders in the House are facing accusations they took the issue as a political one and not a matter involving the well-being of children. Two criminal probes have been launched, which are expected to include a look at cover-up allegations.

Foley's behavior was surprisingly cavalier and reckless, given his position, the fact that he used Capitol Hill computers while openly soliciting sexual behavior from underage boys, and the fact that he worked on a panel that consults on children's issues. But the political tangle of the scandal now seems to have ensnared the leadership who may have helped cover up his behavior and prolonged his involvement with children's groups.

It is also vital to note the fact that Foley, as part of the Congressional caucus on children's issues, helped to enact legislation designed to protect young people from molestation or from sexual advances from adults. The National Youth Advocacy Coalition has now said it is "shocked" by the sexual content of Foley's exchanges with the teenage boys, and that if he committed a crime, "he should be prosecuted under the very laws he helped to enact."

The NYAC has referred to his behavior as "that of a predator"; the group's director has also said "those around him who knew, and did not act to stop him, are just as guilty". By Monday, it had been revealed that Foley had sent similar "suggestive" correspondence to other pages, and that House leadership may have been aware of his advances as early as 2001. And young pages were reportedly warned in 2003 to be careful around Foley.

Some reports suggest Foley was well-known for being involved with the pages and was even popular with many. He was considered by some who spoke to the press to be always "attentive" to the details of their lives, who they were, what their interests were. For many, the attention seemed a welcome departure from the air of officialdom and the remoteness characteristic of many representatives. But ABC also reported yesterday that the congressman exchanged sexually charged instant messages with a page while a House vote was open, during 2003.

And the Washington Post is now reporting that in 1995, young male pages were being "warned to steer clear of a freshman Republican from Florida, who was already learning the names of the teenagers, dashing off notes, letters and e-mails to them, and asking them to join him for ice cream, according to a former page".

The Post article says more than a dozen former pages said Foley had been reputed to be "extraordinarily friendly in a way that made some of them uncomfortable". Mark Beck-Heyman, now a Democrat, with campaign and Capitol experience, said many on Capitol Hill "have known for over 11 years about what was going on and chose to do nothing".

Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert (R-IL), became directly involved in the scandal when he claimed not to have known about the sexual nature of the correspondence. Hastert had claimed that all he had been told was that there were some "overly friendly" e-mails sent to a Congressional page. The scandal fell at his doorstep when Rep. Reynolds (R-NY) revealed that the Speaker had in fact been made aware of the sexual nature of the exchanges between Foley and at least one boy, but did nothing.

Writing for the Financial Times, Caroline Daniel reports "The Arlington Group of leading pro-family groups called for the resignation of any member who had acted 'improperly in this matter' and called for the leadership to investigate aggressively any further rumours of misconduct." An MSNBC headline Tuesday described Hastert as "isolated", amid calls he step down as Speaker and/or resign from Congress.

An editorial in the Chicago-Sun Times compared the House leadership's reaction to Foley to the Catholic Church's official reaction to new of sexual abuse of minors, writing: "Men in power knew what was going on, and not one of them acted to stop it. They chose to protect their own self-interests instead of vulnerable children."

Conservative groups have been taken aback by the apparent indifference of Republican party leadership to such an obvious violation of their core values, of common decency in general, and of the party's long-touted support for "family values". Daniel goes on to cite American University professor James Thurber, saying "Look at the leadership of the ethics committee. They have not had a single hearing on any of these lobbying issues, such as with Tom Delay [former House majority leader] or Bob Ney [a former congressman]."

Thurber alleges Hastert's handling of the Foley case is part of a broad pattern of overlooking and concealing ethics violations, even where they verge on or clearly cross over into criminal wrongdoing. Some of the most serious criminal wrongdoing committed by members of Congress in recent years, or allegedly committed, has been left uninvestigated by any congressional oversight committees, apparently due to the party affiliation of the accused.

Amid concern about worsening problems for Foley privately and for the party generally, there has been an effort to diminish the seriousness of what he did and to qualify his behavior. Foley's lawyer has said his client is not only a secretly homosexual man, but also an alcoholic and that he was sexually abused as a teenager, by a member of the clergy. Foley's lawyer would not identify the priest, or the church, but SF Gate reports Foley is Roman Catholic, raising a troubling link between Foley's actions and the infamous covering-up of sexual abuse within the Church.

It is not clear if Foley had reported his experience as a teenager, or if there is evidence to support his claims, but the claim does not exonerate him legally from wrongdoing. Already, some have raised questions about whether Rep. Foley could rightly be described as an alcoholic.

The AP reports that Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said "I don't buy this at all. I think this is a phony defense. The fact is, I think he's responsible for what he did here and I think it's a gimmick." Others report never having seen the former Congressman drunk in public. But some associates have said they believe he may have hid his drinking, or drunk heavily in private, and that he was a customary "social drinker".

As all House members serve two year terms, Foley was a candidate on the November ballot in Florida. The Republican party is concerned his name's appearance on the ballot will drive voters to the Democratic candidate. They have replaced him with state representative Joe Negron, but voters will have to choose Foley's name in order to cast their vote for Negron. [s]

• SF Gate: "Lawyer Says Foley Was Molested As a Teen"
• Washington Post: "FORMER PAGES SPEAK: Some Say They Felt Uneasy About Representative's Attention"
• FT: "Bush backs Hastert's handling of sex scandal"
• 365 Gay: "Gay Youth Group Calls For 'Full Disclosure' Of Foley Affair"
• 365 Gay: "Report: Foley Emails Not First To Pages"
• Miami Herald: "Foley yet another scandal" [editorial]
• Chicago-Sun Times: "Someone in power abused innocents? We've heard this wrong before" [editorial]
• Seattle PI: "Some question Foley's alcoholism claim"
• MSNBC: "Negron replaces Foley on ballot"