Hastert is Latest to Be Investigated

Update [2006-5-25 0:40:54 by BooMan]: Raw Story says ABC is sticking by their story despite Hastert’s demands that they retract it.

There has been a big hole in the culture of corruption. We’ve seen the Vice-President’s chief-of-staff indicted. The President’s Deputy Chief-of-Staff might already be indicted, or could be indicted any day. Bill Frist is under investigation by the FEC for insider trading. The number #1 and #3 men at the CIA have resigned. Rep. Duke Cunningham has been indicted and Rep. Bob Ney and Sen. Conrad Burns have been implicated in the corruption of Jack Abramoff, the most influential GOP lobbyist in the District of Columbia. The Bush administration’s top federal procurement official, David Safavian, was indicted. Bush’s domestic policy adviser Claude Allen was “charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores.” But so far, the Speaker of the House has not been implicated in anything (that is, no one has alleged anything other than the muzzled Sibel Edmonds). So, it is with a great sense of relief and completion that I read ABC’s Brian Ross:

Federal officials say the Congressional bribery investigation now includes Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, based on information from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government.

Part of the investigation involves a letter Hastert wrote three years ago, urging the Secretary of the Interior to block a casino on an Indian reservation that would have competed with other tribes.

The other tribes were represented by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff who reportedly has provided details of his dealings with Hastert as part of his plea agreement with the government.

The letter was written shortly after a fund-raiser for Hastert at a restaurant owned by Abramoff. Abramoff and his clients contributed more than $26,000 at the time.

The day Abramoff was indicted, Hastert denied any unlawful connection and said he would donate to charity any campaign contribution he had received from Abramoff and his clients.

A spokesman for Speaker Hastert told ABC News, “We are not aware of this. The Speaker has a long history and a well-documented record of opposing Indian Reservation shopping for casino gaming purposes.”

I hope the FBI will soon arrest Dennis Hastert and Bill Frist, along with Karl Rove. I will not rest until they are all frog-marched out.

11 Comments

pacifica on May 24, 2006 at 10:02 pm

I hope the FBI will soon arrest Dennis Hastert and Bill Frist, along with Karl Rove. I will not rest until they are all frog-marched out.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

All I can say is I’ve been waiting a very long time for justice in the Plame case. I’m still waiting. Rove is currently free to make mischief instead of spending quality time behind bars.

Omir the Storyteller on May 24, 2006 at 10:12 pm

I just heard, either on the Al Franken show or the news immediately afterward, that the House had gone to the unusual effort to issue a press release stating that Hastert was not under investigation.

I have no idea whether to believe it or not.

conglomerNation on May 24, 2006 at 10:31 pm

There are a few comments on Ross’ blog that claim the DOJ has issued a statement claiming the story is not true? Hmm…this is interesting. Like the previous poster, I am not sure what to believe. I haven’t found this “statement” anywhere yet, though (I refuse to watch cable news, so maybe it was there?).

AP on May 24, 2006 at 10:32 pm

Hate to hijack a thread, but have you seen this…???

From MSNBC

BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney could be called to testify in the perjury case against his former chief of staff, a special prosecutor said in a court filing Wednesday.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald suggested Cheney would be a logical government witness because he could authenticate notes he jotted on a July 6, 2003, New York Times opinion piece by a former U.S. ambassador critical of the Iraq war.

Fitzgerald said Cheney’s “state of mind” is “directly relevant” to whether I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s former top aide, lied to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about how he learned about CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity and what he subsequently told reporters.

Libby “shared the interests of his superior and was subject to his direction,” the prosecutor wrote. “Therefore, the state of mind of the vice president as communicated to (the) defendant is directly relevant to the issue of whether (the) defendant knowingly made false statements to federal agents and the grand jury regarding when and how he learned about (Plame’s) employment and what he said to reporters regarding this issue.”

Well, well, well. Interesting, no?

BooMan on May 24, 2006 at 10:36 pm

Very.
- AP on May 24, 2006 at 10:48 pm
  
  …I was reading a story about Oprah’s Legends Ball (Something not political? Astonishing, I know.) and I saw “Breaking News” and Cheney in the same sentence.
  
  Hmmm…the mind whirls. Rove? Whatever. Get that evil SOB Cheney.
  - BooMan on May 24, 2006 at 10:56 pm
    
    what happened on that silly Fox show everyone is talking about?
    - AP on May 24, 2006 at 11:03 pm
      
      The bad thing is, I thought you were talking about a talking heads show. I didn’t know what you were referring to. Duh!
      
      I’ve only watched once, and it was enough. I tried watching Lost but admit that I was only feeling lost, not feelin’ Lost (as in liking it for those not understanding my dated slang).
      
      Interestingly, I haven’t seen anything on WP or NYT yet. But here’s the updated AP story on Forbes.
      
      The prosecutor wants to use Cheney’s notes on the Wilson article to corroborate other evidence he has that Libby lied about outing Plame to reporters.
      
      In a filing last week, Libby’s lawyers said Fitzgerald would not call Cheney as a witness and would have a hard time getting the vice president’s notes admitted into evidence.
      
      “Contrary to defendant’s assertion, the government has not represented that it does not intend to call the vice president as a witness at trial,” Fitzgerald wrote. “To the best of government’s counsel’s recollection, the government has not commented on whether it intends to call the vice president as a witness.”

Cali Scribe on May 25, 2006 at 12:52 am

said that Justice Department says they’re not investigating Hastert…of course the House Ethics Committee could conduct their own investigations if/when the Democrats regain control… 🙂

AP on May 25, 2006 at 8:27 am

But it still explains the team-up w/ Pelosi on the Jefferson raid. It’s only a partisan slam dunk when there are no implications for you.

I actually agree w/ what Pelosi and Hastert have done, but I also believe that in many ways, they brought it on themselves. They have been abdicating their CONSTITUTIONAL duties for YEARS to shrub, and only now do they get it. In many ways, the rethugs have been just as gutless as our Dems.

Ideology is beside the point. They have responsibilities but they, too, fear shrub. They just roll over for him. And it passed time for them to quit it.

albert on May 25, 2006 at 10:55 am

Now this whole schpeal would make for some good blog posts on his blog.

pacifica on May 24, 2006 at 10:02 pm

I hope the FBI will soon arrest Dennis Hastert and Bill Frist, along with Karl Rove. I will not rest until they are all frog-marched out.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

All I can say is I’ve been waiting a very long time for justice in the Plame case. I’m still waiting. Rove is currently free to make mischief instead of spending quality time behind bars.
Omir the Storyteller on May 24, 2006 at 10:12 pm

I just heard, either on the Al Franken show or the news immediately afterward, that the House had gone to the unusual effort to issue a press release stating that Hastert was not under investigation.

I have no idea whether to believe it or not.
conglomerNation on May 24, 2006 at 10:31 pm

There are a few comments on Ross’ blog that claim the DOJ has issued a statement claiming the story is not true? Hmm…this is interesting. Like the previous poster, I am not sure what to believe. I haven’t found this “statement” anywhere yet, though (I refuse to watch cable news, so maybe it was there?).
AP on May 24, 2006 at 10:32 pm

Hate to hijack a thread, but have you seen this…???

From MSNBC

BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney could be called to testify in the perjury case against his former chief of staff, a special prosecutor said in a court filing Wednesday.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald suggested Cheney would be a logical government witness because he could authenticate notes he jotted on a July 6, 2003, New York Times opinion piece by a former U.S. ambassador critical of the Iraq war.

Fitzgerald said Cheney’s “state of mind” is “directly relevant” to whether I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s former top aide, lied to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about how he learned about CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity and what he subsequently told reporters.

Libby “shared the interests of his superior and was subject to his direction,” the prosecutor wrote. “Therefore, the state of mind of the vice president as communicated to (the) defendant is directly relevant to the issue of whether (the) defendant knowingly made false statements to federal agents and the grand jury regarding when and how he learned about (Plame’s) employment and what he said to reporters regarding this issue.”

Well, well, well. Interesting, no?
- BooMan on May 24, 2006 at 10:36 pm
  
  Very.
  - AP on May 24, 2006 at 10:48 pm
    
    …I was reading a story about Oprah’s Legends Ball (Something not political? Astonishing, I know.) and I saw “Breaking News” and Cheney in the same sentence.
    
    Hmmm…the mind whirls. Rove? Whatever. Get that evil SOB Cheney.
    - BooMan on May 24, 2006 at 10:56 pm
      
      what happened on that silly Fox show everyone is talking about?
      - AP on May 24, 2006 at 11:03 pm
        
        The bad thing is, I thought you were talking about a talking heads show. I didn’t know what you were referring to. Duh!
        
        I’ve only watched once, and it was enough. I tried watching Lost but admit that I was only feeling lost, not feelin’ Lost (as in liking it for those not understanding my dated slang).
        
        Interestingly, I haven’t seen anything on WP or NYT yet. But here’s the updated AP story on Forbes.
        
        The prosecutor wants to use Cheney’s notes on the Wilson article to corroborate other evidence he has that Libby lied about outing Plame to reporters.
        
        In a filing last week, Libby’s lawyers said Fitzgerald would not call Cheney as a witness and would have a hard time getting the vice president’s notes admitted into evidence.
        
        “Contrary to defendant’s assertion, the government has not represented that it does not intend to call the vice president as a witness at trial,” Fitzgerald wrote. “To the best of government’s counsel’s recollection, the government has not commented on whether it intends to call the vice president as a witness.”
Cali Scribe on May 25, 2006 at 12:52 am

said that Justice Department says they’re not investigating Hastert…of course the House Ethics Committee could conduct their own investigations if/when the Democrats regain control… 🙂
- AP on May 25, 2006 at 8:27 am
  
  But it still explains the team-up w/ Pelosi on the Jefferson raid. It’s only a partisan slam dunk when there are no implications for you.
  
  I actually agree w/ what Pelosi and Hastert have done, but I also believe that in many ways, they brought it on themselves. They have been abdicating their CONSTITUTIONAL duties for YEARS to shrub, and only now do they get it. In many ways, the rethugs have been just as gutless as our Dems.
  
  Ideology is beside the point. They have responsibilities but they, too, fear shrub. They just roll over for him. And it passed time for them to quit it.
albert on May 25, 2006 at 10:55 am

Now this whole schpeal would make for some good blog posts on his blog.

Hastert is Latest to Be Investigated

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