Hastert calls for investigation into sex scandal as Durbin blasts Hastert

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/79991,CST-NWS-pages02.article

U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, on the defensive Sunday for his handling of a congressional page sex scandal, is asking the Justice Department to investigate everyone involved, including himself.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed Sunday that the FBI is ''conducting an assessment to see if there's been a violation of federal law.''

Former Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned over revelations he had exchanged "over friendly" e-mails with one congressional page and sexually explicit instant messages with another page. Both pages were teenage boys.

Critics -- including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat -- blasted Hastert and other GOP leaders for failing to protect pages after they learned of the e-mails last year.