If Foley Were A Democrat....

Based on WHAT? That Foley sent an email to a boy, asking him how his Summer went? I think it's probably customary for Congressmen to write letters to people who have served as pages, just like they write to people and groups who visit Washington D.C. Cordial contact with people who you have worked with, is not inappropriate behavior, and never has been, in my opinion. It is somewhat courteous and distinguished to recognize someone with a personal letter, in a friendly manner. I have several personal letters from Democrats and Republicans in Washington, that are very sentimental to me, and I suppose I am not alone in that. Trent Lott sent me a letter and a signed glossy of Ronald Reagan, and I have it framed in my den, so I know that Congressmen send letters to people on a personal basis.

The emails that Hastert knew of, or any Republican I know of, were friendly emails, and did not contain anything "sexual" in nature. They came into question as a result of a parental complaint, about the letters being a little too friendly, Hastert told Foley not to email pages, people might take it the wrong way, and that was that. The parents didn't want to make it an issue, and didn't want to go public, they were satisfied for the correspondence to stop.

Now, it is at this point, that you seem to think, Hastert should have launched an all-out investigation and assault on Foley, who now admits he is gay, and according to the rumors, it was widely known. Can you imagine the outrage from Pinheads over this? What? Hastert is crucifying one of his own because he's gay? All he did was send a nice email to a page? And I suppose, whatever Ethics Board this should be brought before, is going to accept that these fairly innocuous emails from Foley, constitute some serious violation of some kind? Without some tangible proof that Foley was engaging in inappropriate behavior with these boys, there is not a whole lot the Speaker could do about it, to be honest. I hate to be that way about it Care, but you just don't think you can take down a six-term popular conservative representative, based on a friendly email and rumored homosexuality, it doesn't work that way.

The key to this whole thing, is the Instant Messages. I will make a bipartisan appeal to you, whoever sat on these messages and didn't report them to the media, or Hastert, deserves to lose their jobs.... politicians, media people, journalists, whoever! If you can prove that Hastert knew the extent of the IM's, then I support his removal as well, but so far, I haven't seen that proof. There does seem to be some question as to the timeline, regarding this CREW group and the breaking news, and I am interested to know a little more about what went down, and who made the decision to hold the information until this late date. There is a serious election ethics issue here, and in light of 2000 and 2004, we simply can't overlook possible collusion to subvert the will of Foley's district.

the watchdog group that turned it over said it came from a whitehouse aid and that they immediately turned the emails over to the FBI....IN JULY 06....

what were the fbi doing? setting up a sting of sitting on their hands for three months?

why didn't the 3 news medias do any further investigation on this? just a few questions about foley would have gone a long way....
 
ok, now we find out he went to page dorms at night drunk a few years back, stopped by capital police
 
ok, now we find out he went to page dorms at night drunk a few years back, stopped by capital police


Yeah, but what about the Gary Studds incident, a quarter of a century ago? Or the Teapot Dome scandal in 1923?

Why are you ignoring those?
 
foley's chief of staff went to the speaker of the house too a few years back...dixie? any comment? are you defeated yet?
 
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foley's chief of staff went to the speaker of the house too a few years back...dixie? any comment? are you defeated yet?


Hastert says he doesn't know of ever seeing anything of this, so that's part of what will be investigated, I am sure. I am not trying to defend Foley, please make no mistake, I am sure he was into all sorts of sick perverted things, and the fact that he worked on child predator legislation is even more bizarre, it just goes to show you, people are not always how they present themselves. I can't imagine, if Foley was this sex-starved gay nympho pervert you make him out to be, why the hell did Democrats not use that against him, as he ran for six terms to the US House?

You want to act like we live in some kind of a bubble, where the Democrats would have never thought to actually look into Foley's past, or sift through his garbage, at some point in time, as he won election after election over your guys. It seems to me, in today's era of gotchya politics, someone on the Democratic side, would have exploited this conservative republican Bush loyalist gay pedophile, dontchya think? I just don't buy that Foley was doing all this stuff and people were screaming at Hastert to make him stop sexually abusing their children, that's the way you want it to appear, and I just ain't buying it.
 
care.... honestly....we have been at this for quite a few years...has Dixie EVER admitted he was wrong about anything? Hell he predicted back in December of last year that we wouldn't lose 500 more troops....we're past 620 since that time and he STILL won't admit he was wrong about that!!!! Do you honestly expect him to admit that this Foley thing is a real problem for Hastert? Come ON! Dixie is a koolaid besotted gadfly...nothing more.
 
Hastert says he doesn't know of ever seeing anything of this, so that's part of what will be investigated, I am sure. I am not trying to defend Foley, please make no mistake, I am sure he was into all sorts of sick perverted things, and the fact that he worked on child predator legislation is even more bizarre, it just goes to show you, people are not always how they present themselves. I can't imagine, if Foley was this sex-starved gay nympho pervert you make him out to be, why the hell did Democrats not use that against him, as he ran for six terms to the US House?

You want to act like we live in some kind of a bubble, where the Democrats would have never thought to actually look into Foley's past, or sift through his garbage, at some point in time, as he won election after election over your guys. It seems to me, in today's era of gotchya politics, someone on the Democratic side, would have exploited this conservative republican Bush loyalist gay pedophile, dontchya think? I just don't buy that Foley was doing all this stuff and people were screaming at Hastert to make him stop sexually abusing their children, that's the way you want it to appear, and I just ain't buying it.

well, it could be these other Republicans are using hastert as a scapegoat for their own inactions?
 
well, it could be these other Republicans are using hastert as a scapegoat for their own inactions?


And it could be, that certain Democrats are using Hastert as a pinata, when it was the Democrats who withheld information putting children at risk of a pedophile?

Why did Pelosi and Emmanuel refuse to submit to a polygraph about prior knowledge of this? Seems odd for people with nothing to hide, doesn't it?
 
It is clear Hastert knew Foley was into the boys and having inapproperate conversations with them on the email. Foley was told by them to guit communicating with any pages...

No, it's not clear that any of the emails known about were inappropriate, nor is it clear that Hastert knew Foley was "into the boys" as you say. The parents of one page, made a request that someone tell Foley to stop emailing their son, he was creeped out. The emails were not sexually explicit, and contained only minor questionable things that didn't warrant alarm... Foley asked how the boy had weathered the hurricane... what he planned to do on his birthday... could he send him a photo... nothing that was inappropriate or sexual in nature whatsoever. Still, the Republican leadership informed Foley to stop emailing pages, that the wrong idea could be taken by it, and that was the end of it, as far as they knew. The parents of the boy were satisfied with that, and didn't want to make it a public issue, the St. Pete Times couldn't even do a story on it, because the boy didn't want to have his identity revealed, and there wasn't anything inappropriate in the content of the emails, anyway!

What makes this incident custom made for pinhead exploitation, is the ignorance of the masses on the difference between emails and instant messages. You can fool enough ignorant people into believing they are one in the same, and that isn't the case here. You can pretend that the emails were just as bad as the instant messages, and that is simply a fabrication. And you can insist that the emails Hastert knew about, were sexually explicit like the instant messages which came out last Friday, and ignorant people aren't going to realize the difference.

Oh, it's a brilliantly crafted political strategy! It all but guarantees a democrat seat in a largely republican district! Which is why it's more than just coincidence that it all played out like it did. Yes, we will let the people decide who is corrupt and cheating their asses off to regain power.

YOU ARE A LIAR....about several things in your comment above...

1. The EMAILS were inappropriate...
2. Foley asked him what he wanted for his birthday (implying from foley himself) not what he planned to do on his birthday....
3. Foley told the 16 year old in this same email that he thought another 16 year old page had a GREAT BODY and was mature for his age...
4. He asked for this 16 year old's picture...

If all of that is not WORTH A LOOK FURTHER in to Foley's attraction to young men, then I don't what planet you live on.

This inappropriate email was NOT THE ONLY ISSUE WITH FOLEY'S BEHAVIOR TOWARDS CHILDREN the previous 5-10 years....it should have set off THE RED FLAG to any DECENT, CARING human being to immediately look in to this further.

Give it up, you lost in your quest to cover this up....or to minimize the abhorent behavior of the Republican Leadership.

care
 
YOU ARE A LIAR....about several things in your comment above...

1. The EMAILS were inappropriate...
2. Foley asked him what he wanted for his birthday (implying from foley himself) not what he planned to do on his birthday....
3. Foley told the 16 year old in this same email that he thought another 16 year old page had a GREAT BODY and was mature for his age...
4. He asked for this 16 year old's picture...

If all of that is not WORTH A LOOK FURTHER in to Foley's attraction to young men, then I don't what planet you live on.

This inappropriate email was NOT THE ONLY ISSUE WITH FOLEY'S BEHAVIOR TOWARDS CHILDREN the previous 5-10 years....it should have set off THE RED FLAG to any DECENT, CARING human being to immediately look in to this further.

Give it up, you lost in your quest to cover this up....or to minimize the abhorent behavior of the Republican Leadership.

care


Hey, take a look around... it's real damn easy to call me a liar! Proving it, that's a different story. None of the things you point out, are illegal or damning on their face. You simply can't drag a man into court and condemn him for pedophilia, based on what you've presented. IF this were the case, Maine would be doing "hard time" right now!

Again, I am not defending Foley, he was certainly engaged in inappropriate behavior, but what you are showing me, is not something actionable! It's not worthy of conviction, further investigation, or even a freaking newspaper article! You can hoop and holler about RED FLAGS all you like, YOUR party ignored RED FLAGS with Studds, Reynolds, Frank, Kennedy, Kennedy, Clinton... the list is endless! When we start responding to RED FLAGS on a Kennedy, then I'll be convinced you are serious about this, until then, it's more of the same disingenuous gotchya politics.

There has been nothing covered up, the culprit resigned, no one has defended him. I know you are not accustomed to that, I know it's unusual to see people actually face responsibility and admit mistakes, but that is what has happened here. You now want to gin up this huge controversy and conspiracy theory about Hastert knowing about this and not acting, and I am telling you, it's about to blow up in your pretty little face. Democrats knew, and withheld information to use for political gain.

But then, you can come here and call me a liar, and everything is fine in the world, right?
 
Well then lucky for the Democrats that he was a Republican huh?

GOP = Grand Organization of Pedophiles
Well you tell me which party is worse?

Here are Democrat sex scandals for not just congressmen but higher up senators too:
Take note that 2 of these involve sex with 16 year olds, that's right sex, not just perverted emails but actual physical contact:

Also notice how Foley resigns but most of these Dems just stay on and the media does near jack shit to blow it up.


10. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 82-year-old Hawaii Democrat was accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. Democrats cast doubt on the allegations and the Senate Ethics Committee dropped its investigation.

9. Former Rep. Gus Savage. The Illinois Democrat was accused of fondling a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee decided against disciplinary action in 1990.

8. Rep. Barney Frank. The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from Frank’s residence in the 1980s. Only two Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to censure him in 1990.

7. Former Sen. Brock Adams. The late Washington Democrat was forced to stop campaigning after numerous accusations of drugging, assault and rape, the first surfacing in 1988.

6. Former Rep. Fred Richmond. This New York Democrat was arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old. He remained in Congress and won re-election—before eventually resigning in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.

5. Former Rep. John Young. The late Texas Democrat increased the salary of a staffer after she gave in to his sexual advances. The congressman won re-election in 1976 but lost two years later.

4. Former Rep. Wayne Hays. The late Ohio Democrat hired an unqualified secretary reportedly for sexual acts. Although he resigned from Congress, the Democratic House leadership stalled in removing him from the Administration Committee in 1976.

3. Former Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms.

2. Former Rep. Mel Reynolds. The Illinois Democrat was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault with a 16-year-old. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.

1. Sen. Teddy Kennedy. The liberal Massachusetts senator testified in defense of nephew accused of rape, invoking his family history to win over the jury in 1991.

http://www.humanevents.com/lists.php?id=17357


If only the Republican party had the same connections to the Liberal media, maybe they would have had power to get them to sit on the story until it can be unleashed as an October surprise.
 
Look flag, I think Foley is a piece of shit and I never want to see his face again and definetely not in the party and he did resign.
Contrast that to Former Democrat Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms!
 
I'm not part of that Democrat party. I stick to what I have always said. Both parties suck. Both are hypocrites. Both are anti freedom pro censorship.

But this is a Republican scandal. I'll make up names for the DNC when they try to coverup their next pedophile scandal. I'm sure it won't be too many years I'll have to wait.
 
Hey Dano, your list seems to be missing a certain cigar-smoking sax player, who had inappropriate relations with an intern half his age, lied under oath about it, shook his finger and lied to the American people about it, and Democrats still revere as their beloved leader. I know there is a logical reason he didn't make your list, but I think he deserves an honorable mention.
 
Look flag, I think Foley is a piece of shit and I never want to see his face again and definetely not in the party and he did resign.
Contrast that to Former Democrat Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms!

Yes they did vote for him after this incident in his liberal district of Provincetown on the cape, (Our key west of sorts)... even though to me it was reprehensible....that he used his power to take advantage of this 17 year old...he flaunted their relationship, and even did a press conference with his lover by his side after he was censured....

His small district kept him in office becasue he did not break the law, I guess??? but the DEMOCRATS Nationwide DID NOT KEEP him in office.

The Republican Representative Crane, that was ALSO HAVING AN AFFAIR with a 17 year old page girl, DID NOT RESIGN.

However the republican Representative Crane was a MARRIED MAN and was breaking the Law of the Land by committing ADULTERY, with the 17 year old page girl... and his district did NOT reelect him.

JUst wanted to make sure the TRUTH to this whole Studs story gets out.

Studs did not break the Law having a relationship with this 17 year old page....he broke our trust as a country in our Congressmen to be Moral and Ethical and not to use their power over the children we send to Washington to learn about how our Country is run...

Unlike what it appears Foley has done...broken the Law....with his instant messages involving cyber sex and other sexual content with a 16 year old?

And most importantly, the SECOND that Tip O neal, the speaker of the House found out about Studs, He ASKED STUDS TO RESIGN....Studs refused to do such....

Hastert, had many warnings about Foley, if what the other Republicans are saying is true....He did not ask the right questions or pursue the probability of inappropriate or even unlawful behavior for the SAKE of saving a REPUBLICAN seat... that is definately how it is appearing.

care
 
Clinton did not pardon Reynolds for his sexual misadventures.... you always leave that deceptive little snippet in there dano....it really makes you look like a hack.
 
Clinton did not pardon Reynolds for his sexual misadventures.... you always leave that deceptive little snippet in there dano....it really makes you look like a hack.
Why would he pardon a sexual predator at all? What made Clinton want to pardon somebody that had previously been convicted of such a crime? What made it important that he was back on the street regardless of what he was serving time for at that moment?
 
His small district kept him in office becasue he did not break the law, I guess??? but the DEMOCRATS Nationwide DID NOT KEEP him in office.

So, it's okay to fuck subordinate kids if they are over a certain age? There is nothing unethical about it? And YES, the Nationwide Democrats stood and applauded him when he was censured, they didn't ask for his resignation.

You guys are so full of double-standards, I don't know how you keep them all straight from one day to the next. Foley may have broken a law, ironically, one he put on the books, but this was not known about by Republicans or the general public, only a select few Democrats knew about the pedophile preying on our children, and they chose to keep it to themselves until election time, rather than turning the information over to the authorities.

Do you hypocrites know how ridiculous it makes you look, to sit here criticizing Republicans for failing to protect the poor little kids, while it was your own people who failed to report the evidence to the authorities or someone in charge? Do you realize how hypocritical it is, to blast Foley for being a perverted sicko, while excusing Studs because what he did wasn't technically illegal? Do you understand how disingenuous it appears, for you to condemn Foley's behavior, while excusing the behavior of Mel Reynolds?

I really don't think you have a clue!
 
Dano, Please stop being a partisan whore....please!

Here is the full list from the original washington post article of 1998 that your partisan site with the LIST OF 10 Dems came from....

I mean, there has been clinton and gingrich and bob barr and joe scarlborough and many others since this 1998 list...?

For you to post the short cut version of this list including only Democrats and not even giving the full clip of what was said about them is intellectually dishonest, don't ya think?

care

-----------------------------------------
Congressional Sex Scandals in History

By Ken Rudin
Special to washingtonpost.com


As the House prepares for a possible investigation of sex-related allegations concerning President Clinton, it's worth taking a look back at how Congress has dealt with the frequent charges of sexual misconduct by its own members.

Here are 21 case studies. In most, Congress took little or no official action, leaving the fate of the accused to the voters.

This history begins in 1974, but not because episodes of sexual impropriety only go back a quarter-century. In the old days, they simply weren't reported. In 1903, for example, the Speaker of the House, David Henderson (R-Iowa), was forced to resign over his sexual relationship with the daughter of a senator. Henderson never said why he was quitting, and neither did the press. But that was then, and this is now.

1974

Rep. Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.)
On Oct. 9, 1974, Mills, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and perhaps the most powerful member of the House, was stopped for speeding near the Jefferson Memorial at 2 a.m. Shortly after, Annabella Battistella – a stripper who went by the stage-name of Fanne Foxe, the "Argentine Firecracker" – jumped out of his car and into the Potomac River tidal basin. The incident did not immediately threaten Mills, whose district was solidly Democratic. But Mills won reelection with only 59 percent of the vote, his lowest total ever. Within weeks, Mills appeared on a Boston stage carousing with Foxe, apparently intoxicated. Faced with an uprising among House Democrats, Mills was forced to resign as Ways and Means chairman, and in 1976 he announced he would not seek another term, ending his 38-year House career. He was succeeded by Jim Guy Tucker, whose own ethics got the attention of Kenneth Starr some two decades later.

1976


Rep. Wayne Hays (D-Ohio)
In its May 23, 1976, editions, The Washington Post quoted Elizabeth Ray as saying that she was a secretary for the House Administration Committee, headed by Hays, despite the fact that "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone." She said the main responsibility of her $14,000-a-year job was to have sex with Hays. The fall of Hays, an arrogant bully who was one of the most powerful – and disliked – members of Congress, was rapid. The House ethics committee opened its investigation on June 2. He resigned as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on June 3. In the Democratic primary five days later, a car-wash manager/bartender who had run against Hays four previous times and never received more than 20 percent of the vote got 39 percent. Hays later resigned his committee chairmanship, dropped his reelection bid, and finally resigned on September 1.
Rep. John Young (D-Tex.)
On June 11, 1976, Colleen Gardner, a former staff secretary to Young, told the New York Times that Young increased her salary after she gave in to his sexual advances. In November, Young, who had run unopposed in the safe Democratic district five consecutive times, was reelected with just 61 percent of the vote. The scandal wouldn't go away, and in 1978 Young was defeated in a Democratic primary runoff.

Rep. Allan Howe (D-Utah)
On June 13, 1976, Howe was arrested in Salt Lake City on charges of soliciting two policewomen posing as prostitutes. Howe insisted he was set up and refused to resign. But the Democratic Party distanced itself from his candidacy and he was trounced by his Republican opponent in the November election.

Rep. Fred Richmond (D-N.Y.)
In April 1978, Richmond was arrested in Washington for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy. Richmond apologized for his actions, conceding he "made bad judgments involving my private life." In spite of a Democratic primary opponent's attempts to cash in on the headlines, Richmond easily won renomination and reelection. But his career came to an end four years later when, after pleading guilty to possession of marijuana and tax evasion – and amid allegations that he had his staff procure cocaine for him – he resigned his seat.


1980

Rep. Jon Hinson (R-Miss.)
On Aug. 8, 1980, during his first reelection bid, Hinson stunned everyone by announcing that in 1976 he had been accused of committing an obscene act at a gay haunt in Virginia. Hinson, married and a strong conservative, added that in 1977 he had survived a fire in a gay D.C. movie theater. He was making the disclosure, he said, because he needed to clear his conscience. But he denied he was a homosexual and refused GOP demands that he resign. Hinson won reelection in a three-way race, with 39 percent of the vote. But three months later, he was arrested on charges of attempted oral sodomy in the restroom of a House office building. He resigned his seat on April 13, 1981.

Rep. Robert Bauman (R-Md.)
On Oct. 3, 1980, Bauman, a leading "pro-family" conservative, pleaded innocent to a charge that he committed oral sodomy on a teenage boy in Washington. Married and the father of four, Bauman conceded that he had been an alcoholic but had been seeking treatment. The news came as a shock to voters of the rural, conservative district, and he lost to a Democrat in November.

1981


Rep. Thomas Evans (R-Del.)
The Wilmington News-Journal reported on March 6, 1981, that three House members – Evans, Tom Railsback (R-Ill.) and Dan Quayle (R-Ind.) – shared a cottage during a 1980 vacation in Florida with Paula Parkinson, a lobbyist who later posed for Playboy magazine. All three proceeded to vote against federal crop-insurance legislation that Parkinson had been lobbying against, and questions were raised whether votes were exchanged for sex. Railsback and Quayle denied having sex with her. Evans said he regretted his "association" with Parkinson and asked his family and God to forgive him. But he forgot to include the voters, who in 1982 threw him out of office.


1983

Reps. Dan Crane (R-Ill.) and Gerry Studds (D-Mass.)
The House ethics committee on July 14, 1983, announced that Crane and Studds had sexual relationships with teenage congressional pages – Crane with a 17-year-old female in 1980, Studds with a 17-year-old male in 1973. Both admitted the charges that same day, and Studds acknowledged he was gay. The committee voted to reprimand the two, but a back-bench Georgia Republican named Newt Gingrich argued that they should be expelled. The full House voted on July 20 instead to censure the two, the first time that ever happened for sexual misconduct. Crane, married and the father of six, was tearful in his apology to the House, while Studds refused to apologize. Crane's conservative district voted him out in 1984, while the voters in Studds's more liberal district were more forgiving. Studds won reelection in 1984 with 56 percent of the vote, and continued to win until he retired in 1996.


1987

Rep. Ernie Konnyu (R-Calif.)
In August 1987, two former Konnyu aides complained to the San Jose Mercury News that the freshman Republican had sexually harassed them. GOP leaders were unhappy with Konnyu's temperament to begin with, so it took little effort to find candidates who would take him on in the primary. Stanford professor Tom Campbell ousted Konnyu the following June.


1988

Sen. Brock Adams (D-Wash.)
On Sept. 27, 1988, Seattle newspapers reported that Kari Tupper, the daughter of Adams's longtime friends, filed a complaint against the Washington Democrat in July of 1987, charging sexual assault. She claimed she went to Adams's house in March 1987 to get him to end a pattern of harassment, but that he drugged her and assaulted her. Adams denied any sexual assault, saying they only talked about her employment opportunities. Adams continued raising campaign funds and declared for a second term in February of 1992. But two weeks later the Seattle Times reported that eight other women were accusing Adams of sexual molestation over the past 20 years, describing a history of drugging and subsequent rape. Later that day, while still proclaiming his innocence, Adams ended his campaign.

Rep. Jim Bates (D-Calif.)
Roll Call quoted former Bates aides in October 1988 saying that the San Diego Democrat made sexual advances toward female staffers. Bates called it a GOP-inspired smear campaign, but also apologized for anything he did that might have seemed inappropriate. The story came too close to Election Day to damage Bates, who won easily. However, the following October the ethics committee sent Bates a "letter of reproval" directing him to make a formal apology to the women who filed the complaint. Although the district was not thought to be hospitable to the GOP, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a former Navy pilot who was once shot down over North Vietnam, ousted Bates in 1990 by fewer than 2,000 votes.


1989

Rep. Donald "Buz" Lukens (R-Ohio)
On Feb. 1, 1989, an Ohio TV station aired a videotape of a confrontation between Lukens, a conservative activist, and the mother of a Columbus teenager. The mother charged that Lukens had been paying to have sex with her daughter since she was 13. On May 26, Lukens was found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sentenced to one month in jail. Infuriating his fellow Republicans, Lukens refused to resign. But he finished a distant third in the May 1990 primary. Instead of spending the remaining months of his term in obscurity, Lukens was accused of fondling a Capitol elevator operator and he resigned on October 24, 1990.

Rep. Gus Savage (D-Ill.)
The Washington Post reported on July 19, 1989, that Savage had fondled a Peace Corps volunteer while on an official visit to Zaire. Savage called the story a lie and blamed it on his political enemies and a racist media. (Savage is black.) In January 1990, the House ethics committee decided that the events did occur, but decided against any disciplinary action because Savage wrote a letter to the woman saying he "never intended to offend" her. Savage was reelected in 1990, but finally ousted in the 1992 primary by Mel Reynolds.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)
In response to a story in the Aug. 25, 1989, Washington Times, Frank confirmed that he hired Steve Gobie, a male prostitute, in 1985 to live with and work for him in his D.C. apartment. But Frank, who is gay, said he fired Gobie in 1987 when he learned he was using the apartment to run a prostitution service. The Boston Globe, among others, called on Frank to resign, but he refused. On July 19, 1990, the ethics committee recommended Frank be reprimanded because he "reflected discredit upon the House" by using his congressional office to fix 33 of Gobie's parking tickets. Attempts to expel or censure Frank failed; instead the House voted 408-18 to reprimand him. The fury in Washington was not shared in Frank's district, where he won reelection in 1990 with 66 percent of the vote, and has won by larger margins ever since.


1990

Rep. Arlan Stangeland (R-Minn.)
It was reported in January 1990 that Stangeland, married with seven children, had made several hundred long-distance phone calls in 1986 and 1987 on his House credit card to or from the residences of a female lobbyist. Stangeland acknowledged the calls and conceded some of them may have been personal. But he insisted the relationship was not romantic. Voters of his rural district were not buying, choosing a Democrat in November.


1991

Sen. Charles Robb (D-Va.)
On April 25, 1991, with NBC News about to go on the air with allegations he had an extramarital affair with Tai Collins, a former Miss Virginia, Robb made a preemptive strike. The Virginia Democrat, married to Lyndon Johnson's daughter, said he was with Collins in a hotel room, but all that took place was a massage over a bottle of wine. Collins, in a subsequent interview with Playboy, said they had been having an affair since 1983. It was thought that these charges, along with long-circulated but unproven allegations that Robb had attended Virginia Beach parties where cocaine was present, would jeopardize Robb's 1994 bid for re-election. But the GOP nominated Oliver North, the Iran-Contra figure who had his own credibility problems. Robb squeaked by with 46 percent in a three-way race.


1992

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
In October 1992, Republican Senate nominee Rick Reed began running a campaign commercial that included a surreptitiously taped interview with Lenore Kwock, Inouye's hairdresser. Kwock said Inouye had sexually forced himself on her in 1975 and continued a pattern of sexual harassment, even as Kwock continued to cut his hair over the years. Inouye, seeking a sixth term, denied the charges. And Kwock said that by running the commercial, Reed had caused her more pain than Inouye had. Reed was forced to pull the ad, and while many voters took out their anger on the Republican, Inouye was held to 57 percent of the vote – the lowest total of his career. A week later, a female Democratic state legislator announced that she had heard from nine other women who claimed Inouye had sexually harassed them over the past decade. But the women didn't go public with their claims, the local press didn't pursue the story, and the Senate Ethics Committee decided to drop the investigation because the accusers wouldn't participate in an inquiry.

Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.)
Less than three weeks after Packwood narrowly won a fifth term, the Washington Post on Nov. 22, 1992, reported allegations from 10 female ex-staffers that Packwood had sexually harassed them. The Post had the story before the election, but didn't run it as Packwood had denied the charges. With the story now out in the open, Packwood said that if any of his actions were "unwelcome," he was "sincerely sorry." He then sought alcohol counseling. But his longtime feminist allies were outraged, and with more women coming forward with horror stories, there were calls for his resignation. It wasn't until September of 1995 when, faced with the prospect of public Senate hearings and a vote to expel, Packwood announced his resignation.


1994

Rep. Mel Reynolds (D-Ill.)
Freshman Reynolds was indicted on Aug. 19, 1994, on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old campaign worker and then pressuring her to lie about it. Reynolds, who is black, denied the charges and said the investigation was racially motivated. The GOP belatedly put up a write-in candidate for November, but Reynolds dispatched him in the overwhelmingly Democratic district with little effort. Reynolds was convicted on Aug. 22, 1995 of 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography, was sentenced to five years in prison, and resigned his seat on October 1.
 
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