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[Scott32020]

Dennis Hastert (R-IL) was the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. He has not been a member of Congress since 2007.

The charges he was indicted on were making false statements to the FBI and structuring cash withdrawals to evade currency transactions reporting requirements.

Full indictment and AP story here, but here's an excerpt with the strange details. Individual A and his "prior misconduct" are unknown.

d. During the 2010 meetings and subsequent discussions,
defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT agreed to provide Individual A $3.5
million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against
Individual A.
e. Shortly thereafter, defendant began providing Individual A
cash payments.
f. From approximately 2010 to 2014, defendant JOHN
DENNIS HASTERT withdrew a total of approximately $1.7 million in cash
from various bank accounts he controlled and provided it to Individual A.

 

[davepoobond]

Wow. Big cases this week or what

 

[Clydefrog]

"...whether the purpose of the withdrawals was to store cash because he did not feel safe with the banking system, Hastert stated: "Yeah. . . I kept the cash. That's what I'm doing."

GUILTY

I wonder if he was being extorted though

 

[CitizenVectron]

The DoJ and FBI are earning their keep this week!

 

[Walter White Walker]

I want to find out who he was paying off and why. Some intern he had been having sex with?

 

[fixedpoint]

I want to find out who he was paying off and why. Some intern he had been having sex with?

The Washington Post article mentions that Individual A was likely someone from his hometown, where he was a teacher and a wrestling coach until 1981.

Lying to the FBI is dumb. Regarding the structuring charges, this guy is, weirdly, a victim of the war on drugs.

 

[Wilsongt]

Lol hastert rule

 

[Doc Holliday]

I want to find out who he was paying off and why. Some intern he had been having sex with?

With the kind of money we're talking about, my bet is on a male intern.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Pretty stunning. Eh, not really, just another Illinois politician. I never liked this guy.

I love that these guys think they can stay below 10k in withdrawals and not get detected. Structuring withdrawals like this is itself a crime. Further, it is incredibly easy to sniff out and demonstrate cash flow-breaking up withdrawals really shows intent to commit a crime in a way other transactions doesn't. I've prosecuted cases involving this scenario, and it is pretty amusing to hear the explanation by the defendant as to why they would split their checks.

 

[kirblar]

The exact WaPo quote: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/05/28/former-house-speaker-dennis-hastert-indicted/

The indictment did not spell out the exact nature of the “prior misconduct” by Hastert against the individual from his hometown, Yorkville, but noted that before entering politics in 1981, Hastert spent more than a decade as a teacher and wrestling coach at the local high school. This unnamed individual mentioned in the indictment has known Hastert for most of their life, the indictment states.

With the kind of money we're talking about, my bet is on a male intern.

I'd go further: male student.

 

[akira28]

dead girl or live boy? Well, Denny's day is done, so's his protection it seems.

 

[Affeinvasion]

I can't wait to get out of this state.

 

[chuckddd]

B..b..but the DOJ has it's hands full with fifa and can't possibly do two things at once!

 

[davepoobond]

B..b..but the DOJ has it's hands full with fifa and can't possibly do two things at once!

This is an attack on the Republican Party by the Obama administration!!!!

 

[RustyNails]

Did Loretta Lynch bring this? Awesome start for her.

 

[j_k_redtail]

The exact WaPo quote: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/05/28/former-house-speaker-dennis-hastert-indicted/




I'd go further: male student.

Sounds like there's a lot more to the story than we're hearing.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Did Loretta Lynch bring this? Awesome start for her.

This investigation probably took over a year to put together and she probably did nothing other than to sign off orally on the final charges. They probably held off indicting him under holder so lynch could start off with a bang.

 

[Mimosa97]

Pretty stunning. Eh, not really, just another Illinois politician. I never liked this guy.

I love that these guys think they can stay below 10k in withdrawals and not get detected. Structuring withdrawals like this is itself a crime. Further, it is incredibly easy to sniff out and demonstrate cash flow-breaking up withdrawals really shows intent to commit a crime in a way other transactions doesn't. I've prosecuted cases involving this scenario, and it is pretty amusing to hear the explanation by the defendant as to why they would split their checks.

How does this work ?

It's against the law for someone to withdraw cash from his own account on a regular basis in the US ? That's scary af.

 

[Laekon]

I think this is the first time I've ever heard of someone getting arrested for being blackmailed. He could totally deserve it but it's a really odd situation.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

How does this work ?

It's against the law for someone to withdraw cash from his own account on a regular basis in the US ? That's scary af.

It's against the law to purposefully split withdrawals to avoid federal reporting. Withdrawals above $10,000 trigger a notice to the irs so some folks will try to dodge that by making multiple sub 10k withdrawals.

 

[SURGEdude]

Illinois political landscape is becoming more and more like a getting ready for prison guidebook. If I remember correctly both of the last 2 governors are currently in jail for corruption.

I know jackass conservatives like to point out the corruption there as a way to make Obama look bad, but something is seriously amiss in their elected government.

 

[NervousXtian]

BTW, no clue what the guy did.. but it's his money.. he should be free to do with it as he pleases.

That it'd be illegal to structure the money out like this is BS.

 

[Nappuccino]

Oh sweet. Gotta love my homestate corruption!

 

[Stinkles]

We can't be sure Hilary was not on his wrestling team.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Why are we focusing on this when they could be spending our taxpayer dollars on taking down FIFA?

 

[chuckddd]

BTW, no clue what the guy did.. but it's his money.. he should be free to do with it as he pleases.

That it'd be illegal to structure the money out like this is BS.

You can neither give nor receive large amounts of money without reporting it to the irs. Otherwise, no one would pay taxes and there would be no government.

 

[davepoobond]

You can neither give nor receive large amounts of money without reporting it to the irs. Otherwise, no one would pay taxes and there would be no government.

how dare you impede on my right to use 3.5 million dollars in one day without reporting it to anyone

 

[SillyEskimo]

I know a hardcore republican who has very high political aspirations. About 15yrs ago, when he was around 20, he got busted for drunk driving. He paid around 20k to get it somehow expunged from his record. He actually diverted money from his school loans to do it.

He's a fucking hypocrite, just like them all. Do as I say, not as I do.

 

[Doc Holliday]

You can neither give nor receive large amounts of money without reporting it to the irs. Otherwise, no one would pay taxes and there would be no government.

Especially when you are a lobbyist who was the former speaker of the house.

That's how Spitzer got caught.

 

[Mimosa97]

It's against the law to purposefully split withdrawals to avoid federal reporting. Withdrawals above $10,000 trigger a notice to the irs so some folks will try to dodge that by making multiple sub 10k withdrawals.

I still don't understand how this works

But I get what you're saying. We have a similar system in my country but the threshold is lower than 10k$ and it's mostly for deposits and bank wires. If you withdraw money from your own bank they won't be asking questions. It's your money after all. But if you make a deposit deposit higher than Xk euros (depends on the bank and your own financial situation ) in cash or get money wired to you for a few K or more it's automatically reported to something called Tracfin and they are very very very meticulous lol

 

[kirblar]

LA Times reporting that the blackmail was about exactly what we thought it was about

Indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was paying an individual from his past to conceal sexual misconduct, two federal law enforcement officials said Friday.

 

[Doc Holliday]

LA Times reporting that the blackmail was about exactly what we thought it was about

Lol of course! Why else would would a republican pay blackmail money. Only thing the base wouldn't forgive is homesexuality.

I bet a republican could be accused of theft, manslaughter or tax evasion and it would be far less severe than being caught with another man.

Edit: alot more serious than just gay sex, straight up sexual abuse of a minor. Horrible if true!

 

[Walter White Walker]

I'm trying to recall - when was the last time a male Republican politician had sexual misconduct with a woman? I swear every time it's a guy.

edit: sounds like it was with a student. So not just sexual misconduct but allegedly he's a pedophile.

 

[kirblar]

I'm trying to recall - when was the last time a male Republican politician had sexual misconduct with a woman? I swear every time it's a guy.

David Vitter?

 

[Rentahamster]

Hmm

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/this-unn...stert-makes-his-indictment-quite-interesting/

Observers quickly noted that the official indictment went out of its way to identify Hastert’s former job as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, where he worked between 1965 to 1981. BuzzFeed spoke to one of Hastert’s colleagues, former Yorktown High School teacher Maria Steiner, who observed that Hastert was more focused on his work as a wrestling coach than teaching. “He would show movies in his class while he worked on wrestling stuff,” she recalled.

And then this video popped up from Hastert’s Nov. 13, 2014 appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, in which a man identifying himself as “Bruce” asked Hastert: “Do you remember me from Yorkville?” He then cackled and hung up, leaving Hastert visibly uncomfortable. (The indictment said that Individual A had started meeting Hastert in 2010, and Hastert started making payments to that individual shortly thereafter.)

 

[B-Dubs]

I'm trying to recall - when was the last time a male Republican politician had sexual misconduct with a woman? I swear every time it's a guy.

edit: sounds like it was with a student. So not just sexual misconduct but allegedly he's a pedophile.

There was that governor who went hiking the Appalachian trail, but yea it does seem to be mostly guys.

 

[j_k_redtail]

Welp.

 

[Link]

I'm trying to recall - when was the last time a male Republican politician had sexual misconduct with a woman? I swear every time it's a guy.

Mark Sanford?

Then he got elected to Congress.

 

[Azih]

It's against the law for someone to withdraw cash from his own account on a regular basis in the US ? That's scary af.

No, if it's very large sums of money you have to report it and explain the purpose is all. If he could just say "I'm buying a fleet of yachts here's the receipts" everything would be fine, but he had to hide the true purpose and so had to hide the money transfers, thus breaking the law.

Lol.

 

[tcrunch]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-a-statue-of-hastert-until-he-told-it-not-to/

Dennis Hastert -- the now-indicted former Illinois congressman -- has the distinction of being the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House. Hence, in his home state, the state legislature was ready to spend half a million dollars this year to build a statue of him.

But Hastert said he didn't want it -- something we now know that he said as he was aware of the criminal probe he was facing.

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) proposed the statue to honor Hastert on May 5, according to the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times. The bill advanced out of committee two weeks later.

Hastert tamped down on the idea almost immediately, though, saying the money would be better spent closing budget holes.

so close

 

[davepoobond]

Close budget holes is the real concern, not having your statue torn down after the revelations you performed sexual misconduct while a teacher.

I guess statute of limitations ran out on those crimes by now

 

[entremet]

Sounds like sexual abuse--decades long--according to the NYT.

That's sick since he was a teacher.

 

[Sulik2]

Lol of course! Why else would would a republican pay blackmail money. Only thing the base wouldn't forgive is homesexuality.

I bet a republican could be accused of theft, manslaughter or tax evasion and it would be far less severe than being caught with another man.

Edit: alot more serious than just gay sex, straight up sexual abuse of a minor. Horrible if true!

He was also a teacher, could be improper conduct with a student too.

 

[Netherscourge]

From approximately 1965 to 1981, defendant JOHN
DENNIS HASTERT was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville,
Illinois.

Hmm... ok.

b. Individual A has been a resident of Yorkville, Illinois and
has known defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT most of Individual A’s life.

I see....

c. In or about 2010, Individual A met with defendant JOHN
DENNIS HASTERT multiple times. During at least one of the meetings, Individual A and defendant discussed past misconduct by defendant against
Individual A that had occurred years earlier.

Uh oh...

During the 2010 meetings and subsequent discussions,
defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT agreed to provide Individual A $3.5
million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against
Individual A.

e. Shortly thereafter, defendant began providing Individual A
cash payments.

f. From approximately 2010 to 2014, defendant JOHN
DENNIS HASTERT withdrew a total of approximately $1.7 million in cash
from various bank accounts he controlled and provided it to Individual A.

g. From approximately June 2010 through April 2012,
defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT made fifteen $50,000 withdrawals of
cash from bank accounts he controlled at Old Second Bank, People’s State
Bank and Castle Bank and provided that cash to Individual A approximately
every six weeks.

Well, that is some EXPENSIVE past-misconduct!

ii. Whether defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT was using
the cash he was withdrawing to cover up past misconduct;

Court of Public Opinion - GUILTY OF PAYING TO COVER UP.... SOMETHING.

So, uh - what exactly was being covered up?

 

[AndyD]

Hmm... ok.



I see....



Uh oh...



Well, that is some EXPENSIVE past-misconduct!





Court of Public Opinion - GUILTY OF PAYING TO COVER UP.... SOMETHING.

So, uh - what exactly was being covered up?

Sounds like sexual abuse--decades long--according to the NYT.

That's sick since he was a teacher.

Done here.

 

[Link]

Sounds like sexual abuse--decades long--according to the NYT.

That's sick since he was a teacher.

I'm sure a bunch of high-profile Republicans will stand behind him and let us know that God has forgiven him.

Then they'll talk about how awful same-sex marriage is for the children.

 

[Netherscourge]

I'm sure a bunch of high-profile Republicans will stand behind him and let us know that God has forgiven him.

Only the ones who received direct campaign fund donations from him over the years.

The rest will start stacking sticks below the stake in the center of town.

 

[JohnsonUT]

Could Individual A be indicted for some form of blackmail? It seems like this was more of a settlement.

 

[davepoobond]

Could Individual A be indicted for some form of blackmail?

Probably.


But I don't know if DOJ is gonna want to put a sexual abuse victim in the spotlight like that. They might just make a deal with them instead to build the case on Hastert.

Sort of punishing for the act in a roundabout way

 

[The Technomancer]

Dennis Hastert (R-IL)

Goddamnit what the fuck Illinois