May 29th, 2015
As Anton Chekov one wrote, “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.” Yesterday’s indictment against former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) included allegations that he was paying $3.5 million to Individual A who “has known defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT most of Individual A’s life” as part of a cover-up of “past misconduct by defendant against Individual A that had occurred years earlier.” It also began with this particular biographical detail: that Hastert had been a high school teacher and coach at Yorkville, Illinois, for sixteen years before entering politics in 1981. I was convinced yesterday that this detail would not have been included if it hadn’t been somehow relevant.
Well now that gun has now fired its first shot:
One of the officials, who would not speak publicly about the federal charges in Chicago, said “Individual A,” as the person is described in Thursday’s federal indictment, was a man and that the alleged misconduct was unrelated to Hastert’s tenure in Congress. The actions date to Hastert’s time as a Yorkville, Ill., high school wrestling coach and teacher, the official said
…Asked why Hastert was making the payments, the official said it was to conceal Hastert’s past relationship with the male. “It was sex,” the source said. The other official confirmed that the misconduct involved sexual abuse.
The man – who was not identified in court papers — told the F.B.I. that he had been inappropriately touched by Mr. Hastert when Mr. Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach, the two people said on Friday. The people briefed on the investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a federal investigation.
Also, this:
A source familiar with the investigation told BuzzFeed News that U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon considered but did not pursue additional charges against former Speaker Dennis Hastert, which would have included a reference to an Individual B, one of potentially several alleged victims of “prior misdeeds.”
The indictment didn’t include sexual abuse. Instead, Hastert is being charged with making a series of cash withdrawals designed to evade the currency transaction reporting requirements and lying to the FBI about it. This kind of behavior often gets law enforcement’s attention, either because the person is engaged in shady financial dealings or the individual is paying off a blackmailer. Either way, it’s a red flag that something illegal may be happening, hence the FBI investigation. Lying to the FBI doesn’t go over very well. The transactions, according to the affidavit, began in 2010.
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Lucrece
May 30th, 2015
As usual, the government won’t get you for the victim’s sake.
But for the sake of the almighty Dollar, by god they will hunt you to the last. For when money or state “secrets” are concerned, there are plenty of laws for the government to avail itself against you.
gar
May 30th, 2015
Good writing advice from Mr. Chekhov. As for Mr. Hastert, sigh.
Ben in oakland
May 31st, 2015
Got another one of these down low guys. Randy Boehning–and how is that for a porn name– anti gay legislator from North Dakota, caught on the DL.
Can’t find out whether he is married. He is claiming he’s bisexual.
NancyP
June 1st, 2015
Sexual misconduct, generally conducted in the absence of third party potential witnesses, is harder to prosecute than money laundering and lying to the FBI, where the actual documents are retrievable and there is no factual controversy.
MattNYC
June 1st, 2015
The coverup is almost always the clincher.
Also, remember Al Capone. Sometimes, the money trail is the easiest to find. Also, not sure what the statute of limitations is on sexual abuse cases in Illinois and I am not sure the feds could get involved in that unless some of the conduct happened during a wrestling match in another state.
From what I have been hearing–admittedly all speculative–the victim (that is the younger man, since Fox has been portraying Hastert as the “victim”) was never threatening to expose Hastert (i.e., extort him), but he was trying to seek out damages and this avoided the spectacle of a court trial.
Ironically, the first time I heard sexual themes raised were from a guy on Chris Hayes’ show (actually, Chris’ father-in-law) who–on Friday–was just speculating that it may have involved a former student or wrestler. I have to say I was quite ashamed at the yellow journalism before a single detail had been revealed. So either the guy knew something that hadn’t been reported yet or just got lucky. Either way, it didn’t make Hayes or his FIL look very good.
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