Ex-Page Says He Got Messages From Foley (in 1997)

[NVMojo]

ATLANTA (AP) -

A former congressional page said Thursday he received sexually suggestive messages from then-Rep. Mark Foley in 1997.

Tyson Vivyan's account appears to show the earliest exchange of suggestive messages reported so far between Foley and teens who had served in the Capitol page program. Previous accounts placed the earliest contacts in 2003.

Vivyan, 26, told The Associated Press that Foley began sending him instant messages about a month or two after his nine-month stint as a page ended in June 1997.

Vivyan, who gave interviews this week to other media, said he never met Foley personally during his stint as a page, other than brief greetings while working in the cloakroom beside the House chamber where members take breaks.

A few months later, he said, he started getting instant messages via computer from a person with the screen name MAF54, which has been linked in news reports to Foley. He said he wasn't sure who it was, but the person knew his name and physical description. He said the person asked personal questions, such as his sexual orientation.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-cong/2006/oct/05/100500446.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. So let's check the maths

26 years old now minus <2006 - 1997> equals 17 ,maybe 16. No older than 17 at the time though.

[Igel]

10. 17.

"Vivyan says he was 17 at the time, and not at all interested in a sexual relationship with the much older Foley." http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15132294/

But we could have reached that decision without a link. Pages are 16 or 17; if he starts his year when he's 16, the following summer he'd almost certainly be 17, or a few weeks from turning 17.

"Vivyan continued communicating with Foley by instant message for the next eight years. He says he didn't want to ruin his connection to a powerful Washington personality, and thus never cut off the correspondence. Vivyan says he never had any sexual contact with the Republican congressman, and is speaking out now to make the public aware that this scandal is about a lawmaker's inappropriate behavior, and shouldn't reflect poorly on the page program.

"NBC News has confirmed that FBI special agents in Atlanta interviewed Vivyan Tuesday morning at his home. He provided the FBI with the following instant message exchange, in which Foley allegedly says he's looking for a boyfriend. The messages, sexual in nature, are from 2004 and 2005, when Vivyan was 24 years old. Foley's lawyer did not return a call to NBC seeking comment on the messages and Vivyan's claims. "

[dipsydoodle]

13. We don't have UK equivalents

so it was difficult for me to relate to the age of the pages. Thanks for info.

[Lautremont]

2. Here's what I would do if I was Rove:

One of the things, anyway. I'd set up a bunch of former pages to make claims that are later debunked so as to make the whole scandal look manufactured. This looks like one of them to me. Were there "instant messages" in 1997? I ask because I don't know, but if there weren't it could be the equivalent of the modern font bullshit of that CBS thing.

[NVMojo]

3. I've been on yahoo messenger since before 1997

[NashVegas]

4. ICQ Went Live in 1996

And AOL had chat rooms long before that.

[Occulus]

5. And looooong before that there was IRC

Which is still widely used.

[toadzilla]

8. there were definately instant messages in 1997.

i was about 15 then, and i remember sending instant messages about 4 years prior to that.

[Lautremont]

9. Thanks, all. Now I know.

My Rovian suspicions remain intact, but not about this particular point at least.

[zonkers]

11. I saw this guy on TV. He seemed very sincere and made sense.

His big concern was the future of the page program.

[roseBudd]

12. definitely IMs in 97 looks like Foley is an early adopter

[Ignacio Upton]

14. At least he's not Ted Stevens.

Looks like Foley knows how to navigate those tubes!:crazy:

[daleo]

6. What did Gingrich know?

And when did he know it? It seems likely that they were covering for Foley at the same time they were screaming about Lewinsky.

[medeak]

7. K&R

[seasat]

15. I wonder if he did the same thing in fhe Florida Senate?

With news coming out about Foley going back further in time, he may have been up to some of the same stuff while in the Florida state senate. I wonder if anyone has checked to see if he was hitting on pages there?

[yellowcanine]

16. Maybe this is why Newt is defending Foley. He probably heard the rumors

as well and did nothing about it when he was speaker.