www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263
Ted Haggard tells a KUSA-TV reporter that he bought methamphetamine but never used it and that he met a gay escort for a massage. NBC News NBC News and news services COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Ted Haggard admitted Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a gay prostitute who claims he was paid for drug-fueled trysts by the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals. Mike Jones, the 49-year-old Denver man who raised the allegations this week, quickly refuted Haggard's denial. Shortly after Haggard told reporters outside his home, "I bought it for myself but never used it. I was tempted, but I never used it," Jones told MSNBC-TV's Rita Cosby that Haggard snorted meth in front of him about once a month for two years. Haggard said he received a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel, but Jones told MSNBC, "He always came to my place." On Friday, as he was leaving his home with his wife and three of his five children, he said he bought the meth because he was curious. Haggard stepped down as president of the 30 million-member association Thursday and also gave up leadership of his 14,000-member New Life Church pending the investigation into allegations he had sex with Jones over the past three years. "It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true," Ross Parsley, the acting senior pastor at New Life Church stated in an e-mail to church members. "He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation," the e-mail stated. Haggard, who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations late Wednesday, telling NBC affiliate KUSA-TV of Denver: "I've never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife. Alleged voice mails Jones provided to KUSA-TV what he said were voice mails from Haggard. The station had University of Colorado expert Richard Sanders compare them to its earlier interview of Haggard. "It certainly sounds like the same person," Sanders said, adding that he expected to have a final report later Friday. "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more.
MSNBC A second message, left a few hours later, began: "Hi Mike, this is Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great. And I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever." Jones said Haggard, whose middle name is Art, was referring to methamphetamine. "There's some stuff on there (the voice mails) that's pretty damning," he said. Jones said he also has an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash.
Gay marriage on state ballot The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.
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