US: Mark Foley, a Republican congressman whose e-mails to teenage boys have led to an FBI investigation, has checked into an alcohol treatment centre as his party struggles to limit the political fallout from the scandal.
Mr Foley (54) resigned last week following the publication of lewd e-mails he sent to teenagers who had worked in Congress as pages, or couriers. In a statement released through his lawyer, he blamed alcohol abuse for his actions and said he was seeking treatment at an unnamed rehabilitation centre.
"I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and other behavioural problems . . . I deeply regret and accept full responsibility for the harm I have caused," he said.
The FBI is investigating Mr Foley's e-mails and seeking co-operation from the teenage recipients to see if he broke federal laws that forbid adults from using the internet to solicit sex from minors.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are under fire for failing to take action against Mr Foley after they heard he was sending "overly friendly" e-mails to a boy in Louisiana who had worked as a congressional page.
Several House leaders including speaker Dennis Hastert, majority leader John Boehner and Tom Reynolds, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, have admitted that they knew for months about some of Mr Foley's correspondence.
Democratic senate leader Harry Reid said the US justice department should open an investigation immediately into whether Republican leaders tried to cover up the scandal. "The allegations against Congressman Foley are repugnant, but equally as bad is the possibility that Republican leaders in the House of Representatives knew there was a problem and ignored it to preserve a congressional seat this election year.
"Under laws that Congressman Foley helped write, soliciting sex from a minor online is a federal crime. The American people expect and deserve a full accounting for this despicable episode," he said.
The scandal comes as Republicans are battling to retain control of the House and Senate in November's mid-term elections and it has derailed the party's strategy of keeping the campaign focus on national security. Mr Foley's seat in Florida, long considered a Republican stronghold, could now come into play, along with Mr Reynolds' seat in New York.
More seriously, the scandal could reinforce voters' distaste for a Republican-led Congress many believe to be ineffectual and sometimes corrupt. Mr Foley is the third Republican to resign his seat during the current congressional term, following Tom DeLay, who left after he was charged with accepting bribes and Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was jailed for accepting bribes from contractors.