Posted on 10/05/2006 10:39:00 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers charged with enforcing ethics in the U.S. House of Representatives met on Thursday to begin an investigation of a sex scandal that has ensnared top Republicans and could harm their chances of keeping control of Congress in the November 7 elections.
The top Republican in the House, Speaker Dennis Hastert, also scrambled to keep his job amid criticism of how he handled the case of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s unwanted advances on teenage boys. Foley resigned last week after disclosure of his lurid electronic messages.
With polls beginning to show the public is taking notice, the political firestorm has rocked the Congress and buoyed Democratic hopes they can take back control of the House as well as the Senate in next month's elections.
Hastert has rejected calls to step down, and his chief of staff denied claims by a former top congressional aide on Wednesday that Hastert's office was first told about Foley's troublesome behavior three years ago.
Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview with the Washington Examiner, described himself as a "huge Denny Hastert fan" and said "it makes no sense at all for him to think about stepping down." President Bush has expressed support as well.
The 10 members of the House Ethics Committee -- five Democrats and five Republicans -- were expected to open an investigation.
While the ethics panel has no authority over former lawmaker Foley, now the object of a federal probe, it will examine who in the Congress was aware of the allegations and what they did about it.
A number of top House Republicans have said they learned of Foley's e-mails to a 16-year-old former page as early as late last year, but that the boy's parents asked that the matter not be pursued.
Foley convinced colleagues the messages, one of which asked for a photo of the boy, were innocent. Foley was also told to cease such behavior and encouraged to run for a seventh term.
Democrats have charged that Republicans were protecting one of their members instead of the young pages.
The furor has caused strains and second-guessing within the ranks of House Republicans, many of whom were still taking a wait-and-see approach about Hastert's fate a week after the scandal broke.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Hastert said again he has no plans to step aside.
"No. Look, I've talked to our members," Hastert said. "Our members are supportive."
Hastert also suggested without offering proof that Democrats may have been behind release of the Foley e-mails just weeks before the election.
"I think that is exactly what our opponents would like to have happen -- that I'd fold my tent and others would fold our tent and they would sweep the House," Hastert said.
Hastert announced a telephone tip-line for current and former congressional pages to report relevant information about Foley or "any other concerns."
"As the speaker I take responsibility for everything in the building," Hastert said. "The buck stops here. The safety and security of the students in the Page program is imperative."
(Additional reporting by Michael Conlon, Susan Cornwell, Donna Smith and Joanne Kenen)
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I didn't know we had an House Ethics committee or panel for that latter. With all the stuff that happens there, they sure keep a low profile.
The words House and Ethics together is a bit of a stretch these days too.. well, to some anyway. ;-)
Rush just had a great rant a little while ago about the term "Sex Scandal"... He said something to the effect of "Can we please get back to the good ole days, and when there's a "Sex Scandal", can we at least have "Sex" take place in it???"
No kidding!!
sex scandal???
as much as I hope Foley rots in hell that's a bit of a stretch....
Boy talk about writing a story that is pure "Here is what we hope" is going on instead of the facts. Guess someone should show them the polling data from Zogby a way left pollster, that show the Dems may pick up 3 Senate Seats
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