House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., responding to complaints about how Republicans have handled allegations of sexual misconduct by a GOP colleague, yesterday called for a Justice Department investigation, and the FBI later said it had begun an inquiry.

Democrats intensified their criticism of how Republicans handled the scandal, in which former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned after the revelation of sexually charged electronic messages that he sent to underage congressional pages.

In a letter sent late yesterday afternoon to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Hastert asked that federal investigators look into possible criminal behavior by Foley as well as any related wrongdoing that may have occurred in any congressional office, including his own.

The surprising move by Hastert underlined the potential damage of the scandal to Republicans as they head into the final month of the campaign before the midterm elections - with control of Congress in the balance. And the Republican leadership faced another variation of the now iconic Watergate-era refrain: What did they know and when did they know it?

Hastert asked Gonzales to find out who had specific knowledge of sexually explicit communication between Foley and the pages, and what those people did with the information.

"I request that the scope of your investigation include any and all individuals who may have been aware of this matter, be they members of Congress, employees of the House of Representatives or anyone outside the Congress," Hastert wrote.

In emphasizing the phrase "sexually explicit communication," Hastert was highlighting the key defense of his office's own account of what happened - that the staff knew of an "over-friendly" e-mail exchange months ago but was not aware of explicit electronic messages they say came to their attention only last week.

But there is some dispute within the Republican Party over Hastert's role, as Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., pointedly noted that he had made the speaker aware of the allegations - in some form, at least - months ago.

Hastert's letter blunted some of the thunder from Democrats who had been calling for an independent investigation during yesterday's political events and news talk-shows. Still, ranking Democrats questioned whether the investigation would exonerate Republican leadership when so many seemingly damning details are already part of the public record.

"Taking at face value the statements made by House Republican leadership, they really ignored their responsibility," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Here are people officially responsible for the pages taking care not to ask the hard questions, taking care not to turn this over for a full-scale investigation right away. I think that is shameful."

The effort to contain the damage of the sex scandal began immediately after Foley's resignation Friday and continued through the weekend. ABC News' publication of Foley's electronic messages with young men who serve or served as pages has thrown the race in Foley's heavily Republican district into play for Democrats. The timing is especially crucial for Republicans as they struggle to fend off an attempt by Democrats to pick up the 15 seats needed to retake control of the House.

But part of the problem for the Republicans is intramural. Top GOP officials disclosed over the weekend that they knew for months about the original message exchange with a 16-year-old former page, though they say they weren't familiar with the specifics.

Even after Reynolds, who is also chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, learned that there had been some questionable communications between Foley and one young man, Foley remained head of the congressional caucus on missing and exploited children. The NRCC also accepted a $100,000 transfer of funds from Foley's campaign committee in July, disclosure records show.

Reynolds says he told Hastert months ago he had heard about some problematic e-mails in a conversation that Hastert says he doesn't recall but does not dispute. What's more, the Washington Post reported that Boehner said in an interview three days ago that he also told Hastert about his hazy understanding of an e-mail exchange by Foley, but an aide to Boehner now says the congressman isn't completely sure he brought the matter up with Hastert.

In a written account of the matter, Hastert's office said Saturday that staff members were aware of an "over-friendly" message by Foley in the fall of 2005. In that exchange, Foley reportedly asked a young man from Louisiana how he was weathering Hurricane Katrina and requested a picture of him. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., confronted Foley and told him to stop communicating with the intern.

This is cache, read story here