Lane Hudson

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Lane Hudson is a former staff member for the United States Democratic Party and a liberal blogger who exposed the Mark Foley scandal.

Hudson was profiled in Time magazine's 2006 Person of the Year issue.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

A lifelong Democrat, Hudson was born in Darlington, SC and grew up in neighboring Hartsville. After high school in Myrtle Beach, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston. He worked for a number of political campaigns including that of John Kerry. In 1995, he met Mark Foley at a Capitol Hill bar, where Foley attempted to pick him up.[1]

[edit] Stop Sex Predators

In July 2006, Hudson anonymously launched a blog called "Stop Sex Predators." His intention, as he stated on his blog, was "to serve as a clearing house for the public to report sex predators and as a resource for concerned parents and citizens."[2] Beginning in August, he started posting about Congressmen rumored to have sex affairs with congressional pages, and solicited tips and e-mails.[3] On 24 September 2006 he posted photocopied e-mails from Mark Foley to a 16-year-old page.[4] The political blog Wonkette expressed skepticism about Hudson's post,[5] and users of the website Daily Kos suspected the post to be a hoax,[6] but on September 28, ABC News' Brian Ross confirmed the existence of the e-mails,[7] which he had received in August but not previously reported on.[8]

When Hudson's identity was revealed, he was fired from his job at Human Rights Campaign.[9] Hudson joked that despite the fact that he simply told the truth, he was the only person in Washington fired over Mark Foley's exploits.[1] Stop Sex Predators ceased updates after Hudson was fired.

[edit] Independent blogging

After losing his job, Hudson became an independent blogger. He started a blog called News for the Left and also began writing for the liberal Huffington Post.

[edit] Fred Thompson Complaint

On August 20, 2007, Hudson filed a complaint with the FEC regarding Fred Thompson. The complaint alleged that Thompson had violated the "testing the waters" clause of FEC law, essentially by acting as a de facto candidate without formally declaring himself as one.[10] In response to the complaint the FEC has issued the following statement. "The FEC will now give Thompson 15 days to respond to the complaint. Following Thompson's response, election commissioners will decide whether to dismiss the case or investigate further." In Thompson's defense, "[Thompson] has not said definitively that he's a candidate for president. He is expected to make an announcement around Labor Day." [11] Under current regulations he can only use the money to "test the waters".

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Time. "Lane Hudson". 16 December 2006
  2. ^ Stop Sex Predators. "Make the World Safer for our Kids". 28 July 2006.
  3. ^ Stop Sex Predators. "CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION!!!". 24 August 2006.
  4. ^ Stop Sex Predators. "Emails from Congressman Foley to 16 Year Old Page!!!!". 24 September 2006
  5. ^ Wonkette. "Underaged Gay Sex Scandal!". 27 September 2006
  6. ^ Daily Kos. "Congressman Mark Foley Emails to Intern". 24 September 2006
  7. ^ ABC News. "Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman". 28 September 2006
  8. ^ New York Times. "Papers Knew of Foley E-Mail But Did Not Publish Articles". 3 October 2006
  9. ^ New York Times. "Rights Group Fires Publisher of Foley E-Mail". 26 October 2006.
  10. ^ News For The Left. "FEC Complaint filed against Fred Thompson". 20 August 2007
  11. ^ Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press. "Thompson Faces Election Complaint". 21 August 2007

[edit] External links