Former page says he received suggestive messages from Foley

<p>An Atlanta man says former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley sent him sexually suggestive messages and invited him to his Washington brownstone after he served as a congressional page nine years ago.</p><p>Tyson Vivyan, 26, said Thursday that Foley, a Florida Republican, began sending him instant messages about a month or two after his nine-month stint as a page ended in June 1997.</p><p>Vivyan's account appears to show the earliest exchange of suggestive messages reported so far between Foley and teens who had served in the page program. Previous accounts placed the earliest contacts in 2003.</p><p>"Even though the behavior itself was repugnant, I thought it was an isolated event," Vivyan said. "I was surprised by the extent of it but I wasn't shocked by his behavior."</p><p>Vivyan said he never met Foley personally during his stint as a page, other than brief greetings while working as a page in the cloakroom beside the House chamber where members take breaks.</p><p>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.</p><p>Vivyan said he figured the person had to be on Capitol Hill, and began looking up initials in a congressional guide. He said that when he found Foley's initials _ MAF, born in 1954 _ he realized who it was.</p><p>"It was almost surreal. Not only was I conversing with a congressman in a personal manner, I was conversing in a sexual manner," Vivyan said.</p><p>After he guessed it was Foley, the person continued to contact him. Vivyan said he tried to turn the talk to politics, often to no avail.</p><p>On a later visit to Washington, Vivyan said Foley invited him to his brownstone on Capitol Hill. Vivyan said he didn't want to go alone, so he brought a fellow ex-page with him.</p><p>"You don't go swimming in a lake by yourself," he said. "You always take a buddy."</p><p>He said they had pizza and soft drinks, but nothing sexual took place.</p><p>David Roth, attorney for Foley, declined to comment on the allegations.</p><p>Foley, 52, resigned Friday. He has since entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility at an undisclosed location. Through his lawyer, he has said he is gay but denied any sexual contact with minors.</p><p>Vivyan, who was a Knoxville, Tenn. student at the time, was nominated as a page by Rep. John. J. Duncan, a Tennessee Republican.</p><p>Duncan said Thursday he first learned of the allegations on Monday when Vivyan called his office.</p><p>"I was shocked to learn this, as I was three days earlier when I first learned of the disgusting behavior by Rep. Foley," Duncan said.</p><p>Vivyan said he was interviewed this week by the FBI. FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett in Atlanta declined comment.</p><p>Vivyan, who now lives in north Atlanta and is unemployed, told WAGA-TV in Atlanta he never felt threatened by Foley.</p><p>"Absolutely not. No, to me, it was simply a very lonely, very sick, very desperate man seeking attention from someone he apparently found attractive," he told the television station.</p><p>Now that Foley's contact with other pages has blown into a scandal, Vivyan told the TV station he should have broken his silence earlier.</p><p>"I'm very disappointed in myself for not having the courage to do it back in '96-97. I was hoping and praying it was an isolated incident _ myself, maybe one or two others. Now it seems this has been progressive manipulative and wide-ranging abuse of adult authority on Mark's part and it's affected more people than I ever hoped it would."</p><p>Several Georgia House Republicans said Thursday they support House Speaker Dennis Hastert, unless evidence emerges that he knew of Foley's illicit behavior.</p><p>"Based on what I know now and everything I've read, I think the speaker did exactly what he should have done," said Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta. If new developments prove otherwise, "maybe I'll have to change my tune. I hope not."</p><p>Rep. Jack Kingston, a Savannah Republican and vice chair of a GOP conference that helps craft the party's national message, disagreed with criticism that Republican leaders should have been more aggressive in responding to red flags about Foley's behavior.</p><p>"I'd say there's only one flag and it was only red in hindsight," Kingston said of so-called "over-friendly" e-mails that Republican leaders have acknowledged knowing about.</p><p>Reps. Tom Price of Roswell, Charlie Norwood of Augusta and Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville said they also stand by Hastert while the investigation proceeds.</p><p>Kingston, Price, Gingrey and Westmoreland signed a letter Thursday calling on Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, to testify under oath about what they or other party operatives might have known about Foley's communications with minors.</p><p>_</p><p>Associated Press writers Harry R. Weber in Atlanta and Ben Evans in Washington contributed to this report.</p>

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