In Oklahoma, a lawyer for a former page who has been identified as the recipient of explicit messages from Foley dismissed reports that the now 21-year-old youth was engaging in a practical joke. "From what I do know, this was not a prank," the lawyer, Stephen Jones, said on CNN.

The case continued to provoke sharp exchanges between Republicans and Democrats.

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the board that oversees the page program, said he was outraged at criticism of his handling of the initial complaint against Foley. Shimkus said he was the person who questioned Foley, only to be told by the lawmaker that the initial e-mail communication was innocent.

"I did nothing wrong," said Shimkus, a former teacher, who on a radio program in his district accused Democrats, including Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, of questioning his integrity in the matter.

A spokesman for Durbin responded Friday that Shimkus had not consulted with the full page board when questions about Foley surfaced and had not checked with other pages to determine if they had had any contact with the lawmaker. The spokesman, Joe Shoemaker, said Durbin knew Shimkus and did not "question his personal values, only his judgment in falling for Mark Foley's defense and his decision not to involve the bipartisan page board and launch a full investigation."

With the new focus on the page program, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a member of the page board, proposed changes, like holding regular meetings and adding members to divide the board evenly between the two parties.

"We should create a system in which all members of the page board have more information on any potential problem facing the pages," Capito said Thursday in a letter to other board members.