The evidence continues to mount that House Leadership could have found out about Folay had they engaged in even a cursory investigation.

As such, Hastert has proven that he in inept at management of the House (a key job of the Speaker), or that he was willing to look the other way because of political implications. As such, he should resign.

Via the LAT: Foley Saga No Shock to Some

“Almost the first day I got there I was warned,” said Mark Beck-Heyman, a San Diego native who served as a page in the House of Representatives in the summer of 1995. “It was no secret that Foley had a special interest in male pages,” said Beck-Heyman, adding that Foley, who is now 52, on several occasions asked him out for ice cream.

Another former congressional staff member said he too had been the object of Foley’s advances. “It was so well known around the House. Pages passed it along from class to class,” said the former aide, adding that when he was 18 a few years ago and working as an intern, Foley approached him at a bar near the Capitol and asked for his e-mail address.

Like most of those willing to discuss Foley, the young man asked not to be named because of concern that speaking openly could harm his career.

Considering that Foley was a freshman member of Congress in 1995, Beck-Heyman’s statements would indicate that Foley was not especially cirumspect from the beginning of his congressional career.

More from the LAT story:

The current and former congressional staffers interviewed by The Times, who are from both parties, said it was well known within the Capitol’s gay community that Foley was interested in young men.

“Among the gay political community, there was a pretty wide understanding that he had an eye for the interns and the younger staff,” said one former congressional staffer.

The staffers said Foley — who was elected to the House in 1994 and is not openly gay — would seek out the young men in bars, restaurants and even around the Capitol.

The former intern said he was approached by Foley at Bullfeathers, a popular restaurant and bar a few blocks from the Capitol. “He asked for e-mail, which I gave him,” said the young man. “I was 18. To have a congressman take an interest in you seemed pretty cool.”

But he said he quickly regretted it. Foley began sending him e-mails, asking for more information about him. “It was a patented act,” he said. He stopped responding to Foley soon afterward.

Beck-Heyman, the former page, said several other male pages in his class also had been approached by Foley. “Mark Foley knew he could get away with this type of behavior with male pages because he was a congressman,” he said.

Another former staffer said it was an oft-repeated story around Capitol Hill that Foley’s former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, would sometimes accompany the congressman to keep him out of trouble.

Fordham’s involvement is especially interesting because:

Shortly after leaving Foley’s office last year, he became chief of staff to Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Reynolds has said he was told this spring about the e-mails that sparked the initial complaint about Foley.

So, forget a full blown investigation, Reynolds could have asked Fordham about Foley.

The notion that Leadership did everything that was reasonably within their power after getting information of the “over friendly” e-mail last year does not stand up to serious scrutiny.