Foley asked Jeb to explain presidential snubs

Mark Foley

Mark Foley complained to Florida Governor Jeb Bush two years ago that the White House snubbed him during presidential visits to the state, says the Palm Beach Post, which obtained copies of the governor's messages in a public records request.

Foley asked the governor to intervene with his brother, President George W. Bush.

"Have I done something to offend the White House?" Foley wrote to Governor Bush in September 2004. "I am always getting the shaft."

The former congressman said in the email message that he had not been allowed to accompany the President on post-hurricane visits to Foley's district in Florida.

"I can't quite figure what I have done, but this is a continuing pattern of slights," Foley said. "I have constantly put the President in the best possible light." Governor Bush replied: "I will try to help. I know it is nothing you have done."

After Foley's resignation, Governor Bush described the sexually explicit messages Foley sent to aides as "disgusting" and said he was angered by Foley's breach of public trust.

- REUTERS