Lawyer: Clergyman abused Foley as a teen

A call for Hastert's resignation
The Washington Times, a newspaper with a consistently conservative editorial page, called for Hastert's resignation Tuesday, saying he was either grossly negligent "or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away."

Conservative activist Richard A. Viguerie kept up the drumbeat from the right, calling for Hastert to step down. "The fact that they just walked away from this, it sounds like they were trying to protect one of their own members rather than these young boys," Viguerie said on Fox News' "Studio B."

Boehner and Reynolds said that while they learned of overly friendly e-mails from Foley to the one Louisiana page this spring, they had no idea that the congressman had sent other, sexually explicit messages, to additional pages.

Neither lawmaker said they read the 2005 message from Foley, described as "sick" by the boy. The message asked for a photograph and mentioned a different teen who was in "great shape."

Federal investigation
Foley had been originally confronted in the fall of 2005 about his communications with the one page. According to a weekend statement issued by Hastert's office, Page Board Chairman John Shimkus, R-Ill., and the House clerk met with the Florida lawmaker and told him to "immediately cease any communication" with the page.

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Unlike GOP leaders Reynolds and Boehner, Shimkus read the 2005 e-mail.

The FBI announced over the weekend it was opening a preliminary investigation into the matter, but that, like much else, was a matter of confusion.

One law enforcement official said the FBI originally was given some Foley-related e-mail correspondence in July, but concluded that no federal law had been violated.

The agency reopened its preliminary investigation Sunday.

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