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Former Rep. Mark Foley allegedly interrupted a House vote in 2003 to have Internet sex with a former congressional page, ABC News reported Tuesday.
The network published a partial transcript on its Web site but did not quote the exchanges in which it said the congressman and the high school student apparently had orgasms.
Former pages gave ABC News the transcripts, which were dated 2003, the network reported.
The report comes on the same day President Bush said he was "disgusted" by the revelations involving Foley.
"I was dismayed and shocked to learn about Congressman Foley's unacceptable behavior," he said, adding that he was "disappointed."
Bush -- speaking at Stockton, California, elementary school -- said that he supported the call by House Speaker Dennis Hastert for a full investigation.
The president also voiced support for Hastert, calling him a "father, teacher, coach" and said the Illinois Republican "wants to ensure these children on Capitol Hill are protected."
Bush's comments came after an editorial in the The Washington Times newspaper called for Hastert to resign his speaker's position over the scandal.
With just five weeks before the midterm elections, GOP leaders tried to blunt the fallout from the Foley matter.
The scandal threatened to hurt the GOP, with control of the House up for grabs in November.
Signaling a possible split in the House GOP leadership, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, both said they had discussed with Hastert the allegations involving Foley upon learning of them.
"I believe I talked to the speaker, and he told me it had been taken care of," Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told Cincinnati radio station WLW Tuesday. "And ... my position is, it's in his corner, it's his responsibility.
"The clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board -- all report to the speaker. And I believe it had been dealt with," he said.
Boehner also said he was "outraged" when he learned of the allegations.
"It's abhorrent, it's reprehensible," Boehner said.
"Frankly, I think he's on his way to jail. Some member who preys on children who are in our care is just outrageous."
Boehner, whose own daughter was once a page, said if he had known about what Foley is alleged to have done, "I'd have drug him out of there by his shirtsleeves."
Reynolds, of New York, said he had informed Hastert about the allegations because he thought it was appropriate to tell his "supervisor" about allegations of possible sexual misconduct.
But Reynolds, who learned of the e-mails earlier this year from Rep. Rodney Alexander, the Louisiana Republican who sponsored the page, said he never saw the e-mails or knew about the more explicit messages from 2003.
Once he saw them Friday, he began working "swiftly and immediately" to get Foley to resign.
"It's astounding to me ... that anyone would insinuate that I would seek to cover up inappropriate conduct between an adult and a child," he said.
Hastert told CNN Monday that he does not recall being told by Reynolds about the e-mails between Foley and the Louisiana teen, although he did not dispute that the conversation may have happened.
"If he did, he brought it in with a whole stack of things," the speaker said.
Hastert insisted that top Republican leaders did not know about sexually explicit instant messages Foley allegedly sent former male pages in 2003. The messages surfaced Friday in an ABC News report shortly after Foley resigned.
"No one in the Republican leadership ... saw those messages until last Friday, when ABC News released them to the public," Hastert said. He added that if Foley had not resigned, "I would have demanded his expulsion from the House of Representatives."
Call for Hastert to resign
The editorial that appeared on the Washington Times' Web site late Monday called on Hastert to "do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once."
"Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away."
A spokesman for Hastert said Hastert would not step down. "The speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress," said Ron Bonjean.
"Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The speaker is working every day on ensuring the House is a safe, productive environment for members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution."
A GOP aide told CNN that the House Republican leadership held a conference call Monday night with about 100 members, answering questions and reassuring them they would ensure there was an investigation into the situation. There were no calls for Hastert to resign, the aide said.
The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the House Ethics Committee are investigating Foley's conduct -- and whether there was any attempt to cover it up.
Foley, a six-term congressman and co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, was undergoing treatment for alcoholism and mental illness, his lawyer said Monday. (Full story)
The Times editorial could be a signal that conservative Republicans are growing tired of the moderate Hastert.
The editorial page editor of the newspaper is Tony Blankley, who served as press secretary for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Contract With America era after Republicans won the House in 1994.
In addition to Reynolds, Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, also acknowledged knowing about an "overly friendly" exchange between Foley and a former male page.
The e-mails, which occurred in 2005 between Foley and a page from Louisiana, were not sexually explicit. (Watch a timeline of how the scandal unfolded -- 2:05 Video)
Shimkus, of Illinois, has said Foley assured him nothing inappropriate had taken place with the page, and Foley was then told not to have any further contact with the teen and to watch his conduct around pages.
Source: CNN.com
The network published a partial transcript on its Web site but did not quote the exchanges in which it said the congressman and the high school student apparently had orgasms.
Former pages gave ABC News the transcripts, which were dated 2003, the network reported.
The report comes on the same day President Bush said he was "disgusted" by the revelations involving Foley.
"I was dismayed and shocked to learn about Congressman Foley's unacceptable behavior," he said, adding that he was "disappointed."
Bush -- speaking at Stockton, California, elementary school -- said that he supported the call by House Speaker Dennis Hastert for a full investigation.
The president also voiced support for Hastert, calling him a "father, teacher, coach" and said the Illinois Republican "wants to ensure these children on Capitol Hill are protected."
Bush's comments came after an editorial in the The Washington Times newspaper called for Hastert to resign his speaker's position over the scandal.
With just five weeks before the midterm elections, GOP leaders tried to blunt the fallout from the Foley matter.
The scandal threatened to hurt the GOP, with control of the House up for grabs in November.
Signaling a possible split in the House GOP leadership, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, both said they had discussed with Hastert the allegations involving Foley upon learning of them.
"I believe I talked to the speaker, and he told me it had been taken care of," Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told Cincinnati radio station WLW Tuesday. "And ... my position is, it's in his corner, it's his responsibility.
"The clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board -- all report to the speaker. And I believe it had been dealt with," he said.
Boehner also said he was "outraged" when he learned of the allegations.
"It's abhorrent, it's reprehensible," Boehner said.
"Frankly, I think he's on his way to jail. Some member who preys on children who are in our care is just outrageous."
Boehner, whose own daughter was once a page, said if he had known about what Foley is alleged to have done, "I'd have drug him out of there by his shirtsleeves."
Reynolds, of New York, said he had informed Hastert about the allegations because he thought it was appropriate to tell his "supervisor" about allegations of possible sexual misconduct.
But Reynolds, who learned of the e-mails earlier this year from Rep. Rodney Alexander, the Louisiana Republican who sponsored the page, said he never saw the e-mails or knew about the more explicit messages from 2003.
Once he saw them Friday, he began working "swiftly and immediately" to get Foley to resign.
"It's astounding to me ... that anyone would insinuate that I would seek to cover up inappropriate conduct between an adult and a child," he said.
Hastert told CNN Monday that he does not recall being told by Reynolds about the e-mails between Foley and the Louisiana teen, although he did not dispute that the conversation may have happened.
"If he did, he brought it in with a whole stack of things," the speaker said.
Hastert insisted that top Republican leaders did not know about sexually explicit instant messages Foley allegedly sent former male pages in 2003. The messages surfaced Friday in an ABC News report shortly after Foley resigned.
"No one in the Republican leadership ... saw those messages until last Friday, when ABC News released them to the public," Hastert said. He added that if Foley had not resigned, "I would have demanded his expulsion from the House of Representatives."
Call for Hastert to resign
The editorial that appeared on the Washington Times' Web site late Monday called on Hastert to "do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once."
"Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away."
A spokesman for Hastert said Hastert would not step down. "The speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress," said Ron Bonjean.
"Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The speaker is working every day on ensuring the House is a safe, productive environment for members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution."
A GOP aide told CNN that the House Republican leadership held a conference call Monday night with about 100 members, answering questions and reassuring them they would ensure there was an investigation into the situation. There were no calls for Hastert to resign, the aide said.
The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the House Ethics Committee are investigating Foley's conduct -- and whether there was any attempt to cover it up.
Foley, a six-term congressman and co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, was undergoing treatment for alcoholism and mental illness, his lawyer said Monday. (Full story)
The Times editorial could be a signal that conservative Republicans are growing tired of the moderate Hastert.
The editorial page editor of the newspaper is Tony Blankley, who served as press secretary for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Contract With America era after Republicans won the House in 1994.
In addition to Reynolds, Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, also acknowledged knowing about an "overly friendly" exchange between Foley and a former male page.
The e-mails, which occurred in 2005 between Foley and a page from Louisiana, were not sexually explicit. (Watch a timeline of how the scandal unfolded -- 2:05 Video)
Shimkus, of Illinois, has said Foley assured him nothing inappropriate had taken place with the page, and Foley was then told not to have any further contact with the teen and to watch his conduct around pages.
Source: CNN.com
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