Raw: Amid questions, ABC says messages 'couldn't be a prank'

The Raw Story has an update on Drudge's red alert story that the Foley IM was just a page prank gone awry. Now Drudge has added that the charge regards only one of the many examples...: "Faced with claims by the conservative political website The Drudge Report on Thursday that lurid instant message exchanges between disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) and the former page who was outed on a conservative website yesterday were the result of an elaborate prank, insiders at ABC News say the network stands behind its story.

It has also announced that three more pages have come forward with information about alleged Foley misdoings.

Drudge alleges that the young Republican 'goaded Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos' and that 'the prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.'

Sources inside ABC News tell RAW STORY that the evidence of widespread misconduct by Foley is overwhelming and rules out the possibility that the entire scandal is based on a prank or a sting."