US House ethics panel looks into sex scandal

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) Lawmakers charged with enforcing ethics in the US House of Representatives met today 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'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 yesterday 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.'' US President George W 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 [resignation] 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.'' REUTERS DKB BD2244