Lurid Congressional Email Scandal Challenges Leadership

Representative Mark Foley immediately resigned on September 29 amid scrutiny of his email and instant message contacts with underage congressional pages. Ironically, the six term Florida congressman was co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and involved with legislative crackdowns with on line predators and Internet child pornography.

The three top republicans in the house said in a joint statement that Foleys "improper communications" were "unacceptable and abhorrent" and his resignation was not enough.

The lurid nature of the case has even more negative repercussions based on concerns that top house Republicans knew for months about the email communications of Foley and the youth but kept the matter secret.

The scandal has ratcheted up with the FBI conducting an "assessment to determine if there has been any violation of federal law."

Former Representative Foley's attorney stated that Foley has checked into a rehabilitation center for alcoholism treatment according to the AP.

This incident stresses the criticality of leadership development, ethics training and internal controls to prevent abuses of individuals who may exploit their positions of authority.