Hastert requests criminal probe of Foley

How come he didn't do this months ago? Because this story didn't come out months ago. Very shrewd move on the Speaker's part - it allows him to go out and about saying "I can't comment on an on going investigation."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert requested Sunday that the Justice Department conduct an investigation into former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s electronic messages to teenage boys — a lurid scandal that has put House Republicans in political peril.

"As Speaker of the House, I hereby request that the Department of Justice conduct an investigation of Mr. Foley's conduct with current and former House pages to determine to what extent any of his actions violated federal law," Hastert, R-Ill., wrote in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.