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Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party, before resigning due to revelations that he had sent sexually explicit messages to teenaged boys who had served as congressional pages in what came to be known as the Mark Foley scandal. Foley resigned from Congress on September 29, 2006, acting on a request by the Republican leadership after allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails, as well as sexually explicit instant messages, to teenage boys who had formerly served and were at that time serving as Congressional pages. As a result of the disclosures, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted investigations of the messages to find possible criminal charges. Each ended with no criminal finding. In the case of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FDLE commissioner Gerald Bailey with the closure of the case stated that the "FDLE conducted as thorough and comprehensive investigation as possible considering Congress and Mr. Foley denied us access to critical data." The House Ethics Committee also conducted an investigation into the response of the House Republican leadership and their staff to possible earlier warnings of Foley's conduct.


Early career

Foley was born in
Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
, the son of Frances and Edward Joseph Foley Jr., a teacher and civic activist. Foley served in the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
1990–1992 and then in the Florida State Senate 1993–1994.


Congressional career


Early House career

Foley was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 with 58 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat John Comerford. He was re-elected in 1996 with 64 percent of the vote against Democrat Jim Stuber and again in 1998 (this time without opposition). He was re-elected in 2000 with 60 percent of the vote against Democrat Jean Elliott Brown and Reform Party candidate John McGuire. Constitution Party candidate Jack McLain was his only opponent in 2002. He was re-elected in 2002 with 79 percent of the vote and in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote. Foley was a moderate Republican. He spent most of his tenure in Congress as a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He was also the first public figure to imply that Vice President
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
claimed to have invented the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. On March 12, 1999,
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reported Foley as saying, "The Vice President is mistaken. The only thing he has ever invented is another tax. He did not invent the Internet but he sure did tax it." In late 2000, Foley played a large role in aiding
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
during the Presidential election recount controversy in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. In 2006, Foley was a member of the Republican House leadership, serving as deputy whip.


Senate campaign

In 2003, Foley was widely considered the Republican front-runner for Bob Graham's Senate seat, especially after Graham had announced his
retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
. However, longstanding rumors surfaced that Foley was either homosexual or bisexual and was in a long-term homosexual relationship. The story was initially published only in local and gay press;"Being gay in the GOP: Congressman Mark Foley: A model of political hypocrisy and personal cowardice"
, ''Boston Phoenix'', May 30, 2003
then the '' New Times'' broke the story in the mainstream press. Other alternative press rivals, including the '' New York Press'', then addressed the topic. Foley held a press conference to denounce the "revolting" rumors and stated that his sexual orientation was unimportant, but did not specifically deny the rumors. A few weeks later, he withdrew his candidacy, saying his father's battle with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
had caused him to reassess his perspective on life (the seat was later won by Republican Mel Martinez). Foley had raised $3 million in campaign contributions before withdrawing.


Actions in Congress


Legislation regarding pornography and sexual offenses

In the House, Foley was one of the foremost opponents of
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
. Foley had served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, coined the "Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002" to outlaw websites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that "these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles." As it was written, the bill would have prohibited commercial photography of children and it failed due to the unmanageable burden it would have presented to the legitimate entertainment industry. In June 2003 he wrote letters to the governor and attorney general of Florida, asking them to review the legality of a program for teenagers of a Lake Como nudist resort in Land o' Lakes, Florida. Foley's legislation to change federal
sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a Sex and the law, sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convi ...
laws was supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, '' America's Most Wanted'' host John Walsh and a number of victims' rights groups. President Bush signed it into law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Foley also succeeded in getting a law passed that allows volunteer youth-serving organizations like the
Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...
and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
fingerprint background checks.


Other social issues

Foley's stances on many social issues differ from his party's leadership. Although he professes to be
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Foley was a member of The Republican Majority For Choice which does not believe there should be any restriction on abortion. He has, however, advocated alternatives such as
adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...
and sexual abstinence. He also supported the Patriot Act, the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
and strict sentencing for hate crimes. Foley was a member of Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too and the Republican Main Street Partnership. According to the '' National Journals calculations, in 2005, Foley's voting record on
social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...
issues was moderate.


Other domestic issues

Foley helped secure the first-ever financial commitment from Congress for the preservation of Florida's Everglades. Foley helped pass legislation that expedites the
deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
of non-violent criminal aliens serving their sentences in federal prisons; and helped eliminate federal prohibitions on notifying a campus community when a student commits a violent crime. Foley worked to pass legislation to help surviving heirs of Holocaust victims who have been unable to collect on life insurance policies owed to them.


Scandal and resignation

On September 28, 2006,
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross reported that in 2005, Foley had sent email messages from his personal AOL account to a former Congressional page, asking the page to send a photo of himself to Foley, among other things. Foley's office confirmed that Foley had sent the messages but said it has a practice of asking for photos of individuals who may ask for recommendations and that the page had requested a recommendation. The original news report prompted another page to come forward and on September 29, 2006, ABC News reported that it had seen excerpts of sexually explicit instant messages allegedly sent by Foley. The instant messages made repeated references to sexual organs and acts. Kirk Fordham, chief of staff to Tom Reynolds (chairman of the fundraising
National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the United States Republican Party, Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Repub ...
) and former chief of staff to Foley, said that he was with Foley on September 29, 2006, when ABC confronted him with the explicit messages before they were publicized. Fordham then informed Reynolds and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; he returned with a one-sentence resignation letter that Foley signed. Hastert and Reynolds made it clear that if Foley didn't resign, he would be expelled from the House. That same day, Foley tendered his resignation to Hastert as well as Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Foley said in a statement, "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent." Once the news report became more widely known, Foley's chances of retaining his seat in Congress were limited. Hastert said in an October 2 press conference that he would have demanded Foley's expulsion from the House had he tried to stay in office. (Ironically, Hastert himself was described by a Federal District Court judge as a "serial child molester" and jailed in 2016 for illegally structuring bank withdrawals in an attempt to hide his own sexual abuse of four high school boys during his pre-Congressional career ). Even if Foley had tried to get his seat back, polls showed him losing badly to his Democratic opponent, Tim Mahoney. More pages came forward, alleging a history of inappropriate conduct by Foley dating back at least 10 years. Foley had been warned about the matter in 2005 by another House Republican and the House Clerk. Through his lawyer, Foley insisted he was not a pedophile and asserted that he had not "had contact" with a minor. Foley also explained that he had a drinking problem and had made the communications while intoxicated. He checked himself into a rehab clinic on October 2, 2006. His lawyer revealed that Foley claimed he was molested by a clergyman when he was between the ages of 13 and 15 adding that "Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man." Federal authorities said the explicit messages could result in Foley's prosecution, under some of the same laws he helped to enact. Foley resigned from the US Congress on Friday, September 29, 2006. There was widespread criticism of Republican leaders for their response to earlier warnings and inconsistencies in their statements. In particular, many called for Hastert to resign, including some
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
voices such as the editorial page of '' The Washington Times''. On October 19, 2006, the '' Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' stated that a disgraced abusive homosexual Catholic priest named Anthony Mercieca told the newspaper about an intimate two-year relationship he had with Foley when the congressman was a teenage altar boy living in Lake Worth, Florida. The priest is retired and living in
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. He acknowledged getting naked in saunas and possible "light touching", but denied contact of a sexual nature. Florida officials closed the investigation of Foley, stating they found "insufficient evidence" to file criminal charges since the page was over the age of consent (16).


November 2006 election

Shortly after Foley resigned, the Republican Party of Florida named State Representative Joe Negron to run as the Republican replacement candidate to face Mahoney.Caputo, Marc and Long, Phil, In accordance with Florida election law, Foley's name remained on the ballot. Votes cast for Foley in the November election counted towards Negron's total. Mahoney called for a full investigation of Foley's actions. Foley's district had been held by Republicans since its creation in 1973 (it was the 10th District until 1983 and the 12th District until 1993.) In an effort to use the scandal to his benefit, Negron used the slogan "Punch Foley for Joe!", instructing voters to "punch" Foley's name on the ballot to chastise him and support Negron. Negron narrowly lost the election to Tim Mahoney. Negron had 47.7 percent and Mahoney had 49.5 percent. The seat fell back into Republican hands in the 111th Congress with the 2008 election of Tom Rooney.


Post-congressional life

After leaving Congress, Foley entered the real estate business in Palm Beach, Florida. He also came out publicly and was in a relationship with Palm Beach dermatologist Layne Nisenbaum until Nisenbaum's death in 2012. On September 22, 2009, Foley debuted as host of his own radio show, "Foley on Politics", on Seaview AM 960 in North Palm Beach, Florida. After several years removed from the public eye, Foley resurfaced as a supporter of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
during the 2016 presidential election, appearing behind him in a crowd at one of his rallies.


Electoral history

1According to Florida law, the names of those with no opposition are not printed on the ballot and no totals need be submitted.
2Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2000, write-ins received 9 votes.
3Mark Foley's name was the one on the ballot, however, as noted above.


See also

* Ego-dystonic sexual orientation * List of federal political sex scandals in the United States * List of federal political scandals in the United States * List of LGBT members of the United States Congress * Mark Foley scandal


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Mark 1954 births American talk radio hosts Republican Party Florida state senators American gay politicians American LGBTQ broadcasters American LGBTQ city council members Florida Republicans LGBTQ members of the United States Congress LGBTQ state legislators in Florida LGBTQ people from Massachusetts LGBTQ Roman Catholics Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Palm Beach State College alumni Politicians from West Palm Beach, Florida Politicians from Newton, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida LGBTQ conservatism in the United States Members of Congress who became lobbyists 21st-century Florida politicians 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature