They got him: Dennis Hastert agrees to plead guilty!

[Indus]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/15/politics/dennis-hastert-plea-deal/index.html

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to plead guilty on charges of lying to federal investigators, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago.

Hastert's attorneys told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin on Thursday that they have reached a plea agreement on the charges that he lied to federal investigators about plans to pay someone he had wronged $3.5 million in hush money.

Hastert is scheduled to enter his plea at an October 28 hearing, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Northern Illinois. Only then will the details of the plea agreement be revealed, even though prosecutors submitted a draft of the agreement to the judge sometime before Monday.

Hastert was not in the courtroom for Thursday morning's hearing.

The Chicago Tribune and other news outlets reported the agreement prior to the U.S. Attorney Office's announcement.

Two sources with knowledge of the federal investigation told CNN in June that Hastert was paying a former student to stay quiet about allegations of sexual abuse from when he was a wrestling coach and teacher in Yorkville, Illinois.

The indictment details payments and a payment plan to an unidentified "Individual A," by Hastert. But that person has never been officially identified.

Hastert was charged with lying to FBI investigators about his payment plan for "Individual A" and structuring bank transactions under $10,000 to avoid triggering federal reporting requirements.

Hastert initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, but Hastert's defense team entered negotiations with prosecutors last month. At the time, Durkin set an October 15 hearing date to receive either an update on the negotiations or set a March or April trial date.

The plea deal would forgo the trial, which could easily be damaging for Hastert. Hastert has remained on bail on his own recognizance, although he did surrender his passport as part of the bail agreement.

Ladies and Gentleman.. weThey got him! (Interesting case of Al Caponeitus.. getting the pedophile for lying to federal investigators)

Funny that this all started rolling because of the Patriot Act that he helped create and this call certainly puts things in perspective: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4539390/hastert-creepy-phone-call

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Well, that does it for me. I will not be voting for him.

 

[PokerGuy]

We? OP, were you involved with "getting him"?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

We? OP, were you involved with "getting him"?

I have the same pet peeve with "We"

 

[trenchfoot]

I think the context in which he framed "we" is "We the People", which to me passes muster.

 

[Indus]

I thought we Americans collectively would be against pedophiles but ok.. it's more accurate that THEY got him so corrected.

 

[kage69]

Another GOP child molester faces the music? Good. Too funny that he was basically busted by the Patriot Act. More irony for the mix.

 

[glenn1]

Another GOP child molester faces the music? Good. Too funny that he was basically busted by the Patriot Act. More irony for the mix.

And prosecuted for a law ostensibly used to prevent money laundering, paying hush money for a gay affair didn't really seem to be the intent for the law.

I'm sure the same people who raged that we shouldn't be going after Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job by Monica Lewinsky will certainly be coming to the defense of Hastert now that he's getting prosecuted for lying about getting a blow job from Moe Lewinsky.

 

[kage69]

And prosecuted for a law ostensibly used to prevent money laundering, paying hush money for a gay affair didn't really seem to be the intent for the law.

I'm sure the same people who raged that we shouldn't be going after Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job by Monica Lewinsky will certainly be coming to the defense of Hastert now that he's getting prosecuted for lying about getting a blow job from Moe Lewinsky.

Something tells me those same people could probably see a big difference between a program registering suspicious financial activity and a prolonged witchhunt revolving around private and consensual contact between two adults. Maybe if Monica had been underage there would be a bit more parity, a bit more rage?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

And prosecuted for a law ostensibly used to prevent money laundering, paying hush money for a gay affair didn't really seem to be the intent for the law.

I'm sure the same people who raged that we shouldn't be going after Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job by Monica Lewinsky will certainly be coming to the defense of Hastert now that he's getting prosecuted for lying about getting a blow job from Moe Lewinsky.

Glenn the dude was underage, Monica was not. I get your point that most of this started because the victim attempted to blackmail the former Senator but that doesn't change the fact he was going after underage Men.

 

[Jaskalas]

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to plead guilty on charges of lying to federal investigators

When is Hillary's turn?

 

[PokerGuy]

I thought we Americans collectively would be against pedophiles but ok.. it's more accurate that THEY got him so corrected.

I think we can all agree on the being against pedophiles part (unless of course it's a wealthy lefty like Polanski), but since I didn't have anything to do with Hastert's arrest or plea deal, I don't think it makes sense for me to say "we".

 

[alien42]

I'm sure the same people who raged that we shouldn't be going after Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job by Monica Lewinsky will certainly be coming to the defense of Hastert now that he's getting prosecuted for lying about getting a blow job from Moe Lewinsky.

wow, only in this guys world is molesting and sexually abusing a child the same thing as two consenting adults.

seriously, how do you live with yourself?

 

[glenn1]

wow, only in this guys world is molesting and sexually abusing a child the same thing as two consenting adults.

seriously, how do you live with yourself?

Just setting the standard here, so when the next time comes we can apply an objective measure to whether busting someone for lying about sex is OK without needing to see the party label of the politician first. Federal investigators didn't question Gerry Studds or Mark Foley about their respective underage sex scandals, so I'm glad you're OK with a bipartisan approach of working to bust them on "lying to investigators" when it happens next time.

BTW, even though the Clinton example did involve adults it was still an abuse of power by a male authority figure. 99% of time feminists are full of shit but that was a good example of that principle. Doesn't mean he should have been impeached, but defending him without qualification is something you should stop doing.

 

[alien42]

blah blah blah, justifying the comparison of a child molester with an adult who got a blowjob from another adult

i really didn't expect that and definitely don't know how you live with yourself now and i seriously hope that you aren't molesting any children.

 

[glenn1]

i really didn't expect that and definitely don't know how you live with yourself now and i seriously hope that you aren't molesting any children.

So anything goes as long as we're using it against child molesters? Seeing what sort of prosecutorial tactics people are willing to agree to is an interesting exercise.

 

[Jhhnn]

Just setting the standard here, so when the next time comes we can apply an objective measure to whether busting someone for lying about sex is OK without needing to see the party label of the politician first. Federal investigators didn't question Gerry Studds or Mark Foley about their respective underage sex scandals, so I'm glad you're OK with a bipartisan approach of working to bust them on "lying to investigators" when it happens next time.

BTW, even though the Clinton example did involve adults it was still an abuse of power by a male authority figure. 99% of time feminists are full of shit but that was a good example of that principle. Doesn't mean he should have been impeached, but defending him without qualification is something you should stop doing.

So dishonest. The age of consent is 16 in DC, so neither Studds nor Foley broke the law in that jurisdiction. Florida abandoned their inquiry wrt Foley for lack of evidence.

Hastert may not have broken Illinois law at the time, either, but lying to the FBI is most definitely illegal. If he didn't like the questions, he didn't have to answer.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Just setting the standard here, so when the next time comes we can apply an objective measure to whether busting someone for lying about sex is OK without needing to see the party label of the politician first. Federal investigators didn't question Gerry Studds or Mark Foley about their respective underage sex scandals, so I'm glad you're OK with a bipartisan approach of working to bust them on "lying to investigators" when it happens next time.

C'mon, make an honest argument.

The FBI wasn't interested in Hastert's sex life: "Hastert was charged with lying to FBI investigators about his payment plan for "Individual A" and structuring bank transactions under $10,000 to avoid triggering federal reporting requirements."

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I had never heard of this guy before today, so: what is the context of that CSPAN call? That was an abuse victim calling up?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I had never heard of this guy before today, so: what is the context of that CSPAN call? That was an abuse victim calling up?

I heard a transcript of it. The caller more or less said do I sound familiar? You'll be hearing from me. You've become pretty successful.
**I heard it months ago so I may be off a little bit**
I'm still amazed he didn't do the rich guy thing and tell the guy to sue him in civil court, he settles for whatever money the guy wanted as long as the case is sealed and nobody leaks info.

 

[Newell Steamer]

That's OK - because both parties are the same.

Yawn.

Non news.

 

[who?]

Monica Lewinsky claims that she was an adult who did what she CHOSE to do, not a victim.

 

[Brian Stirling]

OK, so he pleads guilty and says he knows what he did was wrong. It's not 100% clear if he'll get significant jail time but he's likely to spend a few months in the pokey. Say, do they have KY in the pokey?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dennis-hastert-court-expected-plea-hush-money-case-n452836


Brian

 

[OrByte]

Having him convicted and being able to label him a criminal brings much joy to my old bones.

I blame him for much of the congressional dysfunction and gridlock we see these days. He was instrumental in partyline paralysis with the ominous "Hastert Rules"

And he is a closet pervert... wahoo!