Hate to say “I told you so”…..but….

Per Drudge Report:

“**World Exclusive**

**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**

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. According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded 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. This source, an ally of Edmund, also adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund.

The news come on the heels that former FBI Chief Louis Freeh has been named to investigate the mess.

Now you know the MUCH MORE I have been referring to, and the reason Jordan Edmund needs an attorney.

More to come!

UPDATE I: Hot Air with links and info.

UPDATE II: You had to expect a pushback from ABC’s Ross. Through their “tipline” webform, they claim three other pages are coming forward.

“Three more former congressional pages have come forward to reveal what they call “sexual approaches” over the Internet from former Congressman Mark Foley.

The pages served in the classes of 1998, 2000 and 2002. They independently approached ABC News after the Foley resignation through the Brian Ross & the Investigative Team’s tip line on ABCNews.com. None wanted their names used because of the sensitive nature of the communications.

“I was seventeen years old and just returned to [my home state] when Foley began to e-mail me, asking if I had ever seen my page roommates naked and how big their penises were,” said the page in the 2002 class.”

(UPDATED - added the webform link, not the lack contact info - like ZERO accountability of the comment) Ok, but what is to say that these kids are who they say they are. After all they’re filling out a webform. How do we know that the Daily Kos isn’t sending this stuff in, you know, like they do with online polls.

Count me skeptical.

They do address the Drudge Story:

“An online story on the Drudge Report Thursday claimed one set of the sexually explicit instant messages obtained by ABC News was part of a “prank” on the part of the former page, who reportedly says he goaded the congressman into writing the messages.

“This was no prank,” said one of the three former pages who talked to ABC News today about his experience with the congressman.”

Well that is going to remain to be seen, because I can tell you the sources Drudge are quoting are lockstep in their testamony about it all being a prank, so let the Battle of the Pages begin!

Just an additional note, the DOJ should seek an injunction on ABC from posting any further so-called evidence online. We get the point Brian. Seems to be a fetish.

UPDATE III: CNN is reporting that the parents of the LA teen has issued a statement “in support” of their son. Have the statement up in in a bit.

Here’s the statement:

“We wish to remain anonymous in an effort to prevent any further harm to our family.

There has been much media inquiry regarding our son and his time as a house page. Although our son bravely came forward with information regarding Congressman Foley, his experience as a House page was not marred by the kind of wrongdoing that appears to have occurred with respect to other House pages and Congressman Foley.

In fact, we are pleased that he had the opportunity to serve as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives and if given the opportunity, he would serve as a page again.

We would like to express our support for our congressman, Rodney Alexander, whose office sponsored our son’s position as a House page. As far as we know, Congressman Alexander’s conduct in this matter has been beyond reproach. He has tried his best to do what we have asked him to do from the very beginning: Namely, to protect the privacy of our son and family from the intense media scrutiny we are now having to endure.

In the fall of 2005, as soon as Congressman Alexander became aware of the e-mails received by our son, he called us. He explained that his office had been made aware of these e-mails by our son and that while he thought the e-mails were overly friendly, he did not think, nor did we think, that they were offensive enough to warrant an investigation.

Rather, we asked him to see that Congressman Foley stop e-mailing or contacting our son and to otherwise drop the matter in order to avoid a media frenzy. He did so. If we had any other knowledge or evidence of potential impropriety, we would have asked for the matter to be treated differently. For instance, we were not aware of the instant messages that have come to light in the past few days.

These instant messages, which have only recently surfaced as a result of the news of the ambiguous e-mails received by our son, are separate matters.

As a young man with integrity who had the courage to question the intention of the e-mails, we respect and honor our son as a hero. Despite his courageous actions, he is becoming a victim due to the harassment by some of the media. Please honor our request that we be left alone. There is nothing more that we can contribute to this ongoing matter. He is not the story, and we feel this intense media scrutiny could endanger our son and family.

We have no intention of discussing this further. Thank you.”

(NOTE - I had previously misindentified the parents as being that of Edmund, that is not correct, thanks to Sarah for the alert).

In otherwords everything was handled just the way it ought to have been and their is no ill will via the family.