US house leader will not quit in sex scandal storm

Investigations into an ex-congressman’s teenage online sex scandal were intensifying today as the Republican leader of the House of Representatives who has become embroiled in the political storm said he will not quit.

Embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert denies reports that he knew of lurid emails sent by ex-Congressman Mark Foley to young men on his staff, but took no action.

Foley, 52, stepped down last Friday after he was confronted with sexually-explicit messages he had sent to teenage male interns – known as pages – and promptly checked into an alcohol rehabilitation clinic.

Through his lawyer, he has said he is gay but denied any sexual contact with minors.

Meanwhile, Hastert earned fresh votes of confidence from President George Bush and fellow House Republican leaders yesterday after admitting direct responsibility for the damage the scandal has inflicted on the party.

He again vowed not to resign over his office’s handling of it, but it has cost Republicans in opinion polls and a US media storm shows no signs of abating.

The Republicans are working to keep their majority in both chambers of Congress in elections next month, but latest polls show that about half of likely voters said disclosures of corruption and scandal in Congress will be very or extremely important when they vote.

“I’m deeply sorry this has happened and the bottom line is we’re taking responsibility,” Hastert said.

The bipartisan ethics committee met yesterday for the first time, approving nearly four dozen subpoenas for witnesses and documents regarding improper conduct between politicians and current and former teenage pages.

While the ethics committee – officially the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct – is investigating potential violations of House rules, the Justice Department appeared to be moving with speed in its criminal investigation.

ABC News reported that three more pages, one each from 1998, 2000 and 2002, have come forward detailing sexual approaches from Foley over the internet. And the FBI has contacted a one-time congressional page from Kentucky as part of the investigation.

Ex-Foley chief of staff Kirk Fordham met with the FBI yesterday. Fordham emerged as a key figure when he told reporters that he had talked three years ago with top aides to Hastert about Foley’s conduct with pages.

Fordham’s version directly contradicts an account issued by Hastert’s office on Saturday, saying the speaker’s staff only learned of an “over-friendly” email exchange between Foley and a single page.

Hastert’s top aide, Scott Palmer, denies Fordham warned top Republican aides about Foley and inappropriate conduct with other pages.

Hastert is holding to his assertion that he did not know about a suggestive email sent by Foley to a former House page until the scandal broke last week.

But he issued a less than ringing endorsement of his staff and Congressman John Shimkus, the Republican chairman of the board that oversees the page programme.

Shimkus called on Foley to cease contact with the former page, a Louisiana teenager, and the matter ended there instead of being pursued in such a way that might have discovered far more lurid messages sent to other former pages.

“Could we have done it better? Could the page board have handled it better? In retrospect, probably yes,” Hastert said. “But at the time what we knew and what we acted upon was what we had.

“I don’t know who knew what when… If it’s members of my staff that didn’t do the job, we will act appropriately.”

Hastert got a boost yesterday evening from Bush, who called and expressed his support.

“The president thanked him for going out and making a clear public statement that said the House leadership takes responsibility and is accountable,” White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. “And he expressed his support for the speaker.”