Former congressional page won’t file lawsuit against Foley

SCRIPPS HOWARD

WASHINGTON — A former congressional page who received sexually explicit online messages from former Rep. Mark Foley said through his lawyer that he would not file a civil suit against Foley, and that he is satisfied with the news that the Florida Republican is unlikely to be charged with a crime.

The former page, now 22, learned through news reports last week that investigators expect no charges to be placed against Foley for sending the racy messages, the young man’s lawyer, Stephen Jones, told Scripps Howard News Service.

Although the investigation has yet to be completed, sources close to the case told Scripps last week that there has been no criminal finding against Foley.

“I have spoken to [the former page] and we don’t second-guess the decision,” said Jones, a renowned Oklahoma lawyer. “We think it’s an appropriate resolution.”

“We wish the former congressman, Mr. Foley, well,” Jones said.

Resigned

Foley resigned from Congress last September after reports surfaced that he sent a string of suggestive online messages to former congressional pages, who act as messengers and couriers on Capitol Hill.

Foley’s West Palm Beach, Fla., lawyer, David Roth, was not available to comment.

FBI agents questioned the page in a two-and-a-half hour meeting in October.

The former page, Jordan Edmund of California, who worked in the House during the 2001-02 session when he was 17, had become a central figure in the investigations after several reports named him as a teenager who exchanged messages with Foley.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said last week that the investigation should be completed within the next several days. Once the investigation is finished, it will be turned over to prosecutors in Pensacola, Fla. Pensacola has the jurisdiction in the case because that is where Foley sent one of the explicit messages.