Mark Foley Refuses To Turn Computers Over To Investigators

This post, written by Heather Wood, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

It must really be nice to live under such a thick veil of protection and secrecy that you can conduct yourself like a complete sleaze bag without repercussions.

The veil of which I speak is, of course, our government. This week as Florida police officers tried to look for, you know, evidence, in their investigation of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley - who in Sept. 2006 resigned from Congress after being accused of soliciting and sending sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teenage boys - they were stopped cold by Congress. Sorry, said Uncle Sam, but you can't snoop around these parts, criminal investigation or no. Something about "case laws," which is just legal jargon for: Ha ha, there's a precedent-setting case that's stopping you, so there!

Apparently, no matter what one of our elected public officials is doing on their state-issued computers, it's off limits to the public, and certainly the police. Considering Foley spent most of his time at the office, and was allegedly in contact with former Congressional pages (who, if by the time they became "former" were still teens, then Capitol Hill needs to seriously rethink its internship policies) chances are the burden of proof lies in that very computer. Geez, talk about blanket protection. When Catholic priests were being accused of all those horrible, illegal, immoral acts, the law of the Lord protected them for awhile, but eventually the truth - and consequences - came out.

Why does Foley get to jump through loopholes that allow him to escape federal pornography laws - and who knows what else. Now, I'm not accusing the man of the worst things the priests were guilty of, but the last time I checked, partaking in salacious conversations with minors got you arrested, or at least outed and humiliated on the evening news.