Are you ready for this?

[Ganja Ninja]

CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRY

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.

http://www.drudgereport.com/page.htm

[acmavm]

1. Geeze, this is so blatantly bullshit it not even good comedy.

[meegbear]

2. Interesting ...

The name of the page "outted" yesterday by the RW blogger was named Jordan Edmund. Isn't that a coincidence.

Sorry drudge, you're full of shit.

[Virginia Dare]

3. So it was a REPUBLICAN conspiracy...

ship of fools...

[Red Right and BLUE]

4. What fucking idiots. nt

[Contrary1]

5. Yeah, that explains why Foley resigned. n/t

[ourbluenation]

21. well yeah - it does

according to the story, they lured him into the conversation. He still said those things....so yeah, when confronted he resigned.

now if this is a prank is another story.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. I hope they run with it.

[helderheid]

7. nice try boys!

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Here's how it could have been a "prank"

Friend to Page: "Hey, you know that creepy congressman who is always hitting on you guys? Why don't you lead him on, pretend you're interested. Get the guy all excited. It'll be fuckin' hilarious!"

That's no different from what the FBI and those TV shows do to online pedophiles, pretending to be 15 year old girls looking for fun, etc. And it doesn't change what Foley did, one bit. It doesn't matter if the Pages were "really" chatting him up or not. He BEHAVED as if he was engaged in seducing them. That's what matters.

The extent to which Drudge, et al are flailing here only proves how badly the GOP is getting nailed by this deal.

[Swamp Rat]

9. Great! Matt Sludge will occupy millions of idiots with lies that will go

NOWHERE! :)

[NashVegas]

10. Actually, I Wouldn't Be Surprised

The idea that one of these little Hitlers would pull a tease like this isn't that far-fetched.

Think back to the story of the alcoholic, out of control, female school teacher in Troy, NY, who was screwing her students.

"An unexpected moment in court came when Albany County Judge Stephen Herrick said this is a very unique case because the 16-year-old is a victim in the statutory sense but Geisel didn't victimize him. He went on to say, "At the time this occurred, you were needy, drinking heavily and had a low self esteem. While you looked at this as affection, you were being used, abused and sexually abused. You became their playmate. "


The first AIM chat that was published, the kid's conversation had a quality to it that indicated he knew he was in a position to wield some power.

[Ganja Ninja]

23. While I might believe a 16 year old would come up with this...

prank I can't believe a 50+ year old politician would be so stupid as to participate in it. I can believe Foley's a pervert easier than I can believe he's that dumb.

[NashVegas]

24. Not Wittingly, No

Sex is a very powerful drug. It can make you do stupid things.

[JackBeck]

11. Wait, yesterday, the RW bloggers were calling this kid

an openly gay "Democrat" operative.

Which one is it, fellas?

Even if this kid was Punking Foley, what about how this had been going on for over 10 years?

[mnhtnbb]

12. Go, Drudge, go! Next thing, it'll be an April Fool's joke!

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. Smart kid.

"The news come on the heels that Edmund has hired former Timothy McVeigh attorney, Stephen Jones."

The guy did such a good job with that client that he got executed.

[karlrschneider]

22. Good grief, do you think there's a lawyer on the planet who could

have gotten him off?

[RaleighNCDUer]

26. Gotten him off, no. Kept him alive to answer questions about the

fascist militias, I should hope so.

Even though he showed no interest in talking, that doesn't mean he wouldn't 15 years down the road. He was executed to shut him up.

[karlrschneider]

28. I'm sorry but that's just silly. Terry Nichols gave them all the info

they needed. :eyes:

[RaleighNCDUer]

33. so you really think we know the whole story now?

My understanding is that it was Nichols who brought McVeigh into the militia world. Nichols who came up with the robbery that funded the operation. Basically, without Nichols, it never would have happened. But McVeigh is the one who is executed.

Doesn't that strike you a little odd?

[mhatrw]

27. Doogie Howser, LLP

Oh, you meant McVeigh.

[Jim__]

14. If the page was kidding, but foley was serious ...

... how does that get the pukes off the hook. Foley was propositioning high school age pages.

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. It doesn't affect Foley at all. What it does is it attempts to salvage

the kid's political career. Most the kids that go to DC wind up wanting to get into that world and this would end his career before it began.

[Dr Fate]

15. So Foley resigned over a "prank"? Drudge is a liar. n/t

n/t

[azmouse]

16. Sounds like another RW "youthful indiscretion".

:eyes:

[Kierkegaard]

17. According to a wino, whom I overheard mumbling

between swigs of Thunderbird, I can now reveal with some certainty that Repugnicans are not human, but are actually inbred alien outcasts who are incapable of telling the truth, avoiding involvement in sexually perverted acts, accepting responsibility for anything, nor grasping rudimentary logic.

It is their intent to indoctrinate mentally defective humans and entrust them with the task of spreading incredulous nonsense through their websites. Based upon the subject matter of the OP's message, I think they may be onto something. NOT!

[WilliamPitt]

18. LOL

That's why he's admitted to being gay, alcoholic, abused by priests, unemployed because he quit in light speed, and now confined to a loony bin run by the Scientologists.

This must be the greatest prank in history. They managed to get him to do all this with IMs. Wow.

[karlrschneider]

19. I can't figure out why he needs a high powered lawyer.

:eyes:

[Marnieworld]

20. Sure a prank they pulled again and again over years with several pages

:eyes:

[librechik]

37. BINGO--even the morans won't swallow that backwash n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. Well that's certainly one way to spin it.

What a crock!

[johnaries]

29. Brian Ross already said his sources were REPUKES.

Actually, he denied they were Dems and said they were "of the same party", which would be Repuke.

Sorry, Sludge. Your "sources" are pranking you!

[Jacobin]

30. nice try

Not gonna fly, but nice try. Actually, dumb try, but I'm trying to be polite

[Rex]

31. 'Enemy political operatives'? What time is the waterboarding

'prank'? They sound realllllyyyy scary! Please tell me they will be 'pranked' back into reason and sanity!

[ShortnFiery]

32. Don't feed The BEAST - Don't cite Drudge. Please!?!

Every time you click on Drudge's link a Rovarian Hell's Angel gets it's wings.

Rove sends all his rumors and smear campaigns DIRECTLY to Drudge to post on his smarmy site. Don't allow this horse's ass to get credit for increased traffic. :(

[spanone]

34. A big ol bucket of BULLSHIT from the Drudge shit factory.

[Oilwellian]

36. Ex-Page's Lawyer: Drudge's "Prank" Story "A Piece of Fiction"

Earlier today, the Drudge Report published a story claiming that one batch of lewd IM transcripts published by ABC News were the result of a "prank" by a former House page. The former page, Drudge said, "goaded Foley to type embarrassing comments," which he shared with friends.

The story did not quote the young man, or say whether any attempt had been made to contact him or his lawyer.

Now, the lawyer for the former page in question, 21-year-old Jordan Edmund, says the Drudge Report article is false. Calling the story "a piece of fiction," Stephen Jones told the Daily Oklahoman that "there is not any aspect of this matter that is a practical joke nor should anyone treat it that way."

This afternoon, ABC News published news of three more former pages who had sexual online conversations with Foley similar to Edmund's.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001739.php