Ethics panel investigates sex scandal in US Congress

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) A congressional ethics committee approved about 50 subpoenas as it launched a probe into disgraced former Rep Mark Foley's contacts with teenage assistants in a sex scandal enveloping Republicans as they struggle to keep control of Congress.

Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House of Representatives, refused to resign as criticism mounted over his handling of early warnings about Foley's behavior, which led to unwanted advances on teenage boys.

With polls beginning to show the American public is taking notice, the political firestorm has rocked Congress and buoyed Democratic hopes that they could win control of the House as well as the Senate in congressional elections on November 7.

''The bottom line is I am taking responsibility for it because ultimately the buck stops here,'' Hastert, the top House Republican, told a news conference in his district of Batavia, Illinois. ''I'm sorry that this happened. We are now trying to correct the problem.'' Hastert acknowledged that Republicans could have better handled the Foley affair, which involved the lawmaker sending sexually inappropriate electronic messages to male teenage congressional assistants, called pages.

Hastert insisted he had done nothing wrong and would seek re-election as speaker in January, if Republicans retain control of the House.

The senior House Democrat, Nancy Pelosi of California, said the public deserved answers. ''Those who covered up Mark Foley's behavior must be held accountable,'' she said.

Republicans have denied that they tried to hide Foley's indiscretions.

The FBI is examining whether Foley broke any federal laws, but has not yet decided whether to launch a full-blown investigation into his actions.

FALLOUT AND SECOND-GUESSING The political fallout since Foley, a Florida Republican resigned last Friday after the scandal broke, still dominated Washington nearly a week later. It also sparked a busy round of second-guessing among House Republicans, many of whom were taking a wait-and-see approach on Hastert's future.

President George W Bush telephoned Hastert, who has helped push much of the White House agenda through Congress over the past six years, to offer his support.

''The president ... thanked him for going out to make a clear public statement today in which he took full responsibility and reiterated that the House leadership was accountable to the American people,'' said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The House Ethics Committee approved about four dozen subpoenas to help it examine who in Congress was aware of the allegations against Foley and what they did about it.

Rep Howard Berman of California, the committee's top Democrat, said the panel was ''looking at weeks not months.'' But there was no guarantee it would be done before the elections.

Rep Judy Biggert, a Illinois Republican on the ethics panel, said: ''We're looking at a great number of people, not one specific person. First we have to establish the facts. Did someone do a cover-up. Who knew what, who did it and why?'' Several House Republicans have said they learned of Foley's e-mail to a 16-year-old former page several months ago, but the boy's parents asked that the matter not be pursued. The Congressmen said they did not know about separate, sexually explicit messages to other teenagers until last week when they were first publicly disclosed and Foley resigned.

Foley had convinced colleagues that his e-mail to the page, which included a request for a photo, was innocent. He was told to stop such behavior, but also encouraged to run for a seventh term.

Hastert's chief of staff denied claims by a former congressional aide that the speaker's office had been told about Foley's behavior three years ago.

Hastert has said he was unaware of overtly lurid e-mails until they were made public.

Reuters DKS VP0620