GUILTY IL - Dennis Hastert, former U.S. House Speaker, indicted for child molestation, Yorkville, 2015

[SCHMAE]

Well, I think we all knew it would be sexual of some kind, right? Wonder what kind of laws he helped along the way that were in direct violation of his inner belief system .
Gross !

 

[SCHMAE]

This Unnerving C-SPAN Call to Dennis Hastert Makes His Indictment Quite Interesting (mediaite.com w/video)

Oh snap.........

ETA If CSPAN knew to immediately disconnect the call, then they must have known , right?????????
Why not give a regular caller time to say what he wants unless they knew what it was about ?

 

[SCHMAE]

NBC:

Dennis Hastert Indictment: Feds Say Cover-Up Was Related to Sexual Misconduct, Report Says

Misconduct sounds to me like something between two consenting adults. Was this a student? If so, wasn't he not a consenting adult? Doesn't that make it child molesting? Sick of the way the media spins crap.

 

[wfgodot]

And meanwhile, in Tabloidville....

'It was sex': Law enforcement says Dennis Hastert hush-money scandal is about
sexual abuse of a male high school student during his years as a wrestling coach

⁍ Hastert was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on felony charges of hiding large cash bank withdrawals and lying to the FBI
⁍ Law enforcement sources say case about sex abuse of a male high school student when Hastert coached wrestling, taught history
⁍ Federal indictment said 'Individual A' who received the cash lived in Yorkville, Illinois, where Hastert taught from 1965 to 1981
⁍ FBI reportedly unable to corroborate sex abuse claim but determined that Hastert paid his alleged victim $1.7 million cover up
⁍ Investigators reportedly spoke with at least one other accuser but decided against including his claims in the criminal case
⁍ Hastert has been married to wife Jean since 1973; they have two sons Josh and Ethan and at least one grandson, Jack

 

[Zuri]

And meanwhile, in Tabloidville....

'It was sex': Law enforcement says Dennis Hastert hush-money scandal is about
sexual abuse of a male high school student during his years as a wrestling coach

⁍ Hastert was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on felony charges of hiding large cash bank withdrawals and lying to the FBI
⁍ Law enforcement sources say case about sex abuse of a male high school student when Hastert coached wrestling, taught history
⁍ Federal indictment said 'Individual A' who received the cash lived in Yorkville, Illinois, where Hastert taught from 1965 to 1981
⁍ FBI reportedly unable to corroborate sex abuse claim but determined that Hastert paid his alleged victim $1.7 million cover up
⁍ Investigators reportedly spoke with at least one other accuser but decided against including his claims in the criminal case
⁍ Hastert has been married to wife Jean since 1973; they have two sons Josh and Ethan and at least one grandson, Jack

So there was more than one accuser? Wow. I wonder why those claims were not included?

And wouldn't this be considered extortion in some manner by the victim with Hastert paying the now adult man?

 

[wfgodot]

LA Times:

A second person accused Hastert of sexual abuse: official

---
A top official, who would not be identified speaking about the federal charges in Chicago, said investigators also spoke with a second person who raised similar allegations that corroborated what the student said.

The second person was not being paid by Hastert, the official said.
---

more at link above

And more accusations to come.

 

[believe09]

That is a long time to have something hanging over your head. I wonder if he is relieved that the blackmail is finally over?

 

[wfgodot]

Mr. Hastert also worked with the Boy Scouts for 16 years, according to an address he gave to a Boy Scouts group at Pikes Peak several years ago.

Stands to reason.

Hastert Case Is Said to Be Linked to Decades-Old Sexual Abuse (NYT)

 

[Nova]

Yes.

And now -- based on what must be termed the ringing -- and journalistically, one has to believe, proper -- innuendo in the Post piece in the OP et al., it can only be termed ironic that this cover-up seems to be based on scandal involving Hastert and teenage males during his coaching tenure at the high school.

Well, as the saying goes, "The only scandals that will bring down an important politician involve a dead girl or a live boy in the politico's bed." And we know "Individual A" is still alive.

 

[wfgodot]

Well, as the saying goes, "The only scandals that will bring down an important politician involve a dead girl or a live boy in the politico's bed." And we know "Individual A" is still alive.

Edwin Edwards's lasting contribution to the realpolitik lexicon.

 

[Nova]

Thank you, godot! I was too lazy to look up the source.

 

[Morag]

After all this time, I'll bet he thought he had gotten away with whatever it is. But when the victim reached retirement age, he may have needed the money... Perhaps he saw something in the news about Hastert's lobbyist earnings. Or could they have been in touch all these years?

 

[RLynne]

OK so the grand jury knew exactly what he was trying to cover up? But they didn't indict him for that?
So can we infer that it wasn't illegal, just terribly embarrassing? Or that the statute of limitations has long passed? Or that there was no evidence to prove he did anything (beyond the fact that he was paying someone to cover it up)?

Or, any possible charges re: the behavior the money was paid to conceal are more properly brought it state court. But my money is on statue of limitations issues.

 

[RLynne]

I find this fascinating: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/28/dennis-hastert-patriot-act_n_7465780.html

Little did Hastert know at the time that the law he helped pass would give federal law enforcement the tools to indict him on charges of violating banking-related reporting requirements more than a decade later.

and

The indictment suggests that law enforcement officials relied on the Patriot Act’s expansion of bank reporting requirements to snare Hastert. As the IRS notes, “the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 increased the scope” of cash reporting laws “to help trace funds used for terrorism.” The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which was amended by the Patriot Act, had already required banks to report suspicious transactions.

 

[Donjeta]

It was also unclear whether the authorities considered pursuing charges against the man on suspicion of extorting payments from Mr. Hastert in exchange for keeping silent. Such a prosecution would probably have required Mr. Hastert to allege that he was the victim of an extortion. But the indictment said Mr. Hastert denied to the F.B.I. that he was making payments to the individual, saying he withdrew the cash because he no longer trusted the banking system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/politics/hastert-indictment.html?_r=0

 

[Elley Mae]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/politics/hastert-indictment.html?_r=0

Yes I want to see the blackmailer charged, and the money returned.

 

[jjenny]

Yes I want to see the blackmailer charged, and the money returned.

Doesn't look like that is going to happen, considering Mr. Hastert has denied he was extorted.

 

[Elley Mae]

Doesn't look like that is going to happen, considering Mr. Hastert has denied he was extorted.

Yeah that was before it was public, now I think denny should out who he has been paying to keep quiet. Seems that this could have been consensual between two males with the student probably being a minor. IIRC this happened before denny was married and in the political world. Seems strange that this person didn't start this shake down till 2010, denny was out of office in 2007, I wonder why the wait. jmo idk

 

[Irisha]

SHOCKED........................... not

 

[SCHMAE]

Ok, is there a statute of limitations in play here? You know the coach a couple of years ago got sent to prison and his crimes were many years prior, right?
Also, if Hastert liked molesting boys 30 yrs ago, he still likes molesting boys. Sorry but you know it's true.