CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: Now Drudge is reporting that “the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.”

Like Brendan Loy, I don’t think this gets Foley off the hook even if its true. (Hastert? I’m not sure.) But it certainly complicates things.

Craig Henry says this whole scandal is “anti-gay window advertising,” and Bill Quick agrees, somewhat more pungently.

UPDATE: John Podhoretz comments: “If Drudge has it right, then Foley got played by a couple of teenagers. Which seems like fitting punishment for him. But did the rest of us have to get drawn into this bottomless vortex?”

And Eric Scheie writes: “Is it worth taking another look at all the facts and finding out exactly what Foley did?”