Mark Foley

Name: Mark Foley
Scandal: Inappropriate conduct with House pages
How Outed: E-mails, instant messages and blogs

It was a scandal that unfolded at the speed of the digital age: On September 28, 2006, on an ABC News blog, it was reported that Congressman Mark Foley had sent an e-mail to a page — from his personal e-mail account — requesting a photo. Foley's office dismissed the message as innocent. But the next day, another page came forward with allegations against the Congressman, providing ABC News with sexually explicit excerpts of instant messages exchanged between the two. Over the span of only a few hours, ABC News confronted Foley about the messages, posted excerpts of those conversations online, and, before the evening news even took to the air, the Congressman had announced his resignation.