Editorial: Investigating indecent behavior

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

As the details surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate communications with congressional pages unfold, it appears House Speaker Dennis Hastert was among a handful of members of Congress who knew about one of the incidents for months.

Foley, a Florida Republican, resigned his seat Friday and checked into a rehabilitation center, where he claims he needs treatment for alcoholism. On Tuesday his attorney also said the former conservative lawmaker is gay and as a youngster was molested by a clergyman.

Foley has been accused of sending sexually suggestive communications to several male pages as far back as 2003. Despite the attorney's efforts to make excuses for Foley's actions, there are none for such repulsive conduct.

But no investigation was sought - not even after Hastert was told several months ago about a 2005 incident. Two House members said they told Hastert that Foley had been accused of sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old male page, but Hastert dubiously claims that he doesn't remember those discussions. Such a disclosure should have elicited his outrage and full attention.

President Bush has said Hastert "wants all the facts to come out" and "wants to ensure these children up there on Capitol Hill are protected." Really? If Hastert's priority was to uncover the facts and protect the teens working as congressional pages, he should have demanded a thorough investigation when he was first told of Foley's behavior.

Hastert even had the nerve on Tuesday to suggest that Florida Democrats knew of Foley's reported behavior but leaked it to the media now as a pre-election partisan ambush. The truth is that it was Republicans, including Hastert, who knew of this allegation long ago and did nothing. And it was former pages who first approached the media.

Congress should convene an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate just how long Hastert and others knew of Foley's behavior and what, if anything, they did about it. At the very least, there are serious ethical questions to be answered. At the worst, there is the possibility that these lawmakers had a hand in covering up criminal actions against minors.