The stupidest scandal of the year just got even stupider: Drudge Report:

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, 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.

According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.

The primary source, an ally of Edmund, adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund. Both are fearful that their political careers will be affected if they are publicly brought into the matter.

UPDATE at 10/5/06 2:48:59 pm:

Michael Rogers, the vicious, unscrupulous “activist” who specializes in “outing” gay conservatives, was apparently trying to blackmail an unnamed senator in January. And in March, Rogers explicitly singled out Mark Foley for what can only be described as an insane rant: I have seen the enemy... (Hat tip: righthanded.)

UPDATE at 10/5/06 3:35:17 pm:

ABC News says they have three more former pages coming forward to hammer some more nails in Foley’s coffin.