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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFormer House Speaker Dennis Hastert Indicted
Former Speaker of the House John Dennis Hastert was charged Thursday with attempting to evade banks' reporting requirements and lying to the FBI about his actions.
He was charged with structuring a cash withdrawal of $952,000 so as to get around the rule that banks must report such transactions over $10,000. The charges also allege that he lied to the FBI about his actions.
Hastert, a Republican who served as a congressman for Illinois, was the Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007.
The indictment against him alleges that Hastert agree in 2010 to provide someone with $3.5 million in order to "compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct" against that individual. He then allegedly withdrew about $1.7 million in cash from different accounts between 2010 and 2014 in order to provide the money to that person.
The person to whom Hastert was doling out payments "has been a resident of Yorkville, Illinois" and has known the former Speaker for most of his or her life, according to the indictment. Additionally, it says, that individual spoke with Hastert in 2010 about "past misconduct" that had occurred "years earlier."
Each count carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney in Chicago.
Hastert resigned from his post on the CME Group's board, according to CME.
The indictment notes Hastert has acted as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. from about 2008 to the present.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102695146
Marr
(20,317 posts)I'm guessing it concerns a real estate deal.
I remember a bunch of stories around him years back about... something about bilking his state via fraudulent real estate deals, where land was bought ridiculously cheap and then sold at market rate. I don't know that anything ever came of it.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)Wolf Blitzer is too much. He said he was formally indicted as if there are informal ones.
Marr
(20,317 posts)What a corrupt piece of crap.
Also, maybe a 'formal indictment' means he was wearing a black tie, lmao.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)What could be worth four million to cover up?
Warpy
(111,339 posts)especially because so much of it was paid when he was out of power and seemingly had less to lose.
Somehow, I think this is going to be much juicier than crooked real estate, something he was up to his eyeballs in but nobody seemed to care about at the time.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)Warpy
(111,339 posts)and whose mother was driven to suicide instead of producing another one she didn't want from sex she didn't want, mired in the kind of poverty no one can possibly escape from without winning the lottery and getting very, very lucky with a financial planner who didn't steal it.
Oh, yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there that four million bucks would be a bargain price to keep quiet, especially if the payor was a crooked Congressman who'd stolen ten times that much in office and was looking forward to a quiet life at the 19th Hole, telling everybody what a big shot he used to be.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I don't think this has anything to do with his real estate schemes which were pretty bad... allegedly including maneuvering the route of a highway to influence land value.
I'm thinking something more like Sandusky
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)to the living victim of historic misbehavior.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)That it has something to do with while he was a h s teacher.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)He was a wrestling coach.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,192 posts)This is going to be fun to watch
longship
(40,416 posts)Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)wear Hawaiian shirts, shorts and flip flops when they come to your house and arrest you? Drat, that's no fun.
Spazito
(50,453 posts)"his prior misconduct against Individual A."
"According to the indictment, in 2010, Hastert agreed to provide Individual A $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A."
http://wgntv.com/2015/05/28/former-speaker-of-house-dennis-hastert-indicted-on-corruption-charges/
JI7
(89,264 posts)octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Always interesting when a supposedly dull, boring guy turns out to be mixed up in a multimillion dollar crime. And he seriously thought he could get away with withdrawing $952,000 in cash? What did he do, make 100 withdrawals of $9,520 each, safely under the $10,000 limit?
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)DFW
(54,436 posts)Once they cut and paste it from here, that is.........
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,036 posts)I can stand them for a few minutes. This took ten seconds:
4 posted on 5/28/2015, 6:39:42 PM by fhayek
It gets worse and there are multiple threads there.
time to get the ropes out for her
5 posted on 5/28/2015, 6:37:15 PM by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... No peace? then no peace!)
freshwest
(53,661 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Hope they get around to asking about his Swiss bank account.
global1
(25,270 posts)DFW
(54,436 posts)The question is--what did he do that was so bad that he needed to risk paying out seven figures in cash to keep it quiet?
For that matter, these days, what the hell was the recipient of that money gonna spend that kind of cash on anyway without it getting reported? Car dealers and real estate agents have cash reporting requirements, too.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)fredamae
(4,458 posts)I wonder who/what else this might lead to.....
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)This is also interesting:
The indictment notes Hastert has acted as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., from about 2008 to the present.
Spazito
(50,453 posts)June 2008 - Joins the Washington lobbying firm of Dickstein Shapiro as a senior advisor.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/26/us/dennis-hastert-fast-facts/
Spazito
(50,453 posts)It is interesting to see who their clients were/are.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
I want to know who the person was.
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)metalbot
(1,058 posts)Given that it seems like he was paying someone else nearly $1M to not sing like a little bird.
Though I suspect that there will also be an indictment for black mail on the other side of this, and that bird may sing.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)I always knew he was crooked too. You can tell by the R behind their name.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)rurallib
(62,448 posts)I understand they use "enhanced interrogation techniques" which Hastert defended while in congress.
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)Hotler
(11,445 posts)Hotler
(11,445 posts)wishing we could find some shit on Cheney. Oh please, please, please
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)will look mighty good in prison stripes.
Caspian Morgan
(85 posts)that only took, like, 20 years.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,036 posts)Kind of plays into the speculation about sexual misconduct from his years as wrestling and football coach?