Foley scandal subpoenas OK'd
Panel vows to take a hard look in House page investigation
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/NEWS11/610060364WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee approved nearly four dozen subpoenas Thursday as its investigation of a page sex scandal sprang to life with a promise by its leaders to go "wherever the evidence leads us."
Speaker Dennis Hastert said he accepted responsibility for any earlier failures to investigate former Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit computer messages to teenage pages. But he resisted pressure to step down. "Ultimately ... the buck stops here," the Republican speaker said, borrowing the famous phrase of a Democratic president, Harry Truman.
Hastert held to his assertion that he did not know about Foley's e-mails and instant messages to former pages until the scandal broke last week. In the past several days, several Republican lawmakers and staff members said they were aware of the messages. Democrats were not notified.
The ethics committee promised to finish its investigation in weeks, not months,
but it was unclear whether that would occur before the Nov. 7 election. While Hastert's handling of the issue has brought harsh criticism from some fellow Republicans and conservative activists, he got a boost Thursday from President Bush.
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