Posted by
Nerdus Maximus on Friday, October 06, 2006 12:35:42 PM
There is an interesting developing story on Drudge
indicating that the Page who "captured" the instant messages has told
other Pages that it was a prank. This brings up a question I
haven't seen addressed. How do we know that these are actually
what they are purported to be? Instant messages are not saved by
default, so they are not something that would just be lying around to
be found. Somebody has to take specific action to have them
persist beyond the session. Why would the Page do that and then
sit on them so long? These things are ephemeral by nature. Has
anyone asked how it is that they have come to be preserved until this
moment?
The messages are also just text and
would be supremely easy to fake in a log file. Has anybody done
anything to verify that they are genuine? Just looking at the
text wouldn't be a dead giveaway like the Times New Roman proportional
font on a National Guard Selectric typewriter that everyone but Dan
Rather and Mary Mapes could have spotted from across the room.
Has anyone established the chain of custody?
There is little doubt from Foley's
actions that he did not belong in congress. Unlike Gerry Studds
(Democratic House member who had a homosexual affair with an under age
Page in the 80's and went on to be reelected several times with the
full support of the Democratic House establishment), at least he
resigned knowing that his (minor compared to Studds') actions would not
be tolerated by his leadership. Foley is a bad actor. There
is a lot of uncovered ground that could reveal a number of other bad
actors if properly investigated. I want to see some verification
that these IMs are the real deal.