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Re: What We Now Know About the Men Who Led the Impeachment o

PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:44 am
by admin
Dennis Hastert, former House Speaker, was indicted for covering up large bank transactions and lying to the FBI. Forced to cover up past misconduct through blackmail payments, is Hastert squeaky clean reputation now tainted?
by Andrew Emett
May 30, 2015

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Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was indicted on Thursday for lying to the FBI and attempting to conceal approximately $1.7 million in blackmail payments. After bank employees questioned Hastert about his large cash withdrawals, he began structuring his withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 to evade filing required federal bank reports. Concerned about Hastert’s excessive cash withdrawals, the FBI and IRS discovered that the former House Speaker was being blackmailed to cover up past misconduct.

First elected to Congress in 1987, Hastert went on to replace Newt Gingrich as House Speaker in 1999. After the Democrats took control of the House in 2006, Hastert resigned his seat the following year. He later joined the law firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP as a lobbyist and has recently resigned from the firm.

According to the indictment, Hastert agreed to provide someone referred to as “Individual A” $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A. From 2010 to 2014, Hastert withdrew a total of roughly $1.7 million in cash from various bank accounts and provided the money to Individual A. But in April 2012, bank representatives began questioning Hastert regarding his routine $50,000 cash withdrawals.

To evade the filing of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), which banks are required to file for cash withdrawals in excess of $10,000, Hastert restructured his withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000. During pre-arranged meetings every few weeks, Hastert would give between $50,000 and $100,000 in cash to Individual A in exchange for his silence.

In 2013, the FBI and IRS began investigating Hastert’s surreptitious cash withdrawals to determine whether he was using the money for criminal purposes or blackmail payments. While being questioned by FBI agents on December 8, 2014, Hastert lied about keeping the cash withdrawals for himself. Instead of admitting to making regular payments to Individual A, Hastert insisted, “I kept the cash. That’s what I’m doing.”

Although the indictment does not identify Individual A, the court document does provide clues into the prior misconduct allegedly committed by Hastert. According to the indictment, Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, between 1965 and 1981. Individual A was a resident of Yorkville and has known Hastert most of his life.

According to the Los Angeles Times, two federal law enforcement officials confirmed that Individual A is a male and that the prior misconduct involved sexual abuse during Hastert’s time as a high school teacher and coach. Hastert has been married since 1973 and has two children.

On Thursday, Hastert was charged with structuring cash withdrawals of $952,000 on at least 106 occasions in order to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000, and lying to the FBI about his withdrawals. Hastert faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Re: What We Now Know About the Men Who Led the Impeachment o

PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 8:35 am
by admin
Former House Speaker Pleads Guilty to Concealing Blackmail Payments
by Andrew Emett
October 29, 2015

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


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Former House Speaker, Dennis Hastert plead guilty on Wednesday to concealing $1.7 million in blackmail payments. In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the second count—making false statements to the FBI.

While pleading guilty on Wednesday to concealing $1.7 million in blackmail payments, former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert admitted to the judge that he knew his actions were illegal. In exchange for Hastert’s guilty plea, federal prosecutors dropped the second charge of making false statements to the FBI and recommended a lenient sentence for the former House Speaker.

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YOU CAN'T WIN WHEN THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED, by axiomatica.ca


In his plea agreement, Hastert admitted to meeting with a person described only as “Individual A” multiple times in 2010. During these meetings, they discussed Hastert’s past crimes against Individual A that had occurred several decades earlier. Hastert eventually agreed to pay $3.5 million in order “to compensate for and keep confidential his prior misconduct against Individual A.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, two federal law enforcement officials confirmed that Individual A is a male and that the prior misconduct involved sexual abuse during Hastert’s time as a high school teacher and coach. Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, between 1965 and 1981. Individual A was a resident of Yorkville and has known Hastert most of his life, but the statute of limitations ran out on any possible criminal charges for sexual abuse.

Between 2010 and 2014, Hastert withdrew approximately $1.7 million in cash from several banks and gave the hush money to Individual A in order to buy his silence. From June 2010 to April 2012, Hastert made fifteen $50,000 cash withdrawals from Old Second Bank, People’s State Bank, and Castle Bank.



When bank representatives began questioning Hastert regarding his routine $50,000 cash withdrawals, the former House Speaker restructured his withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 to evade reporting the large transactions.

From July 2012 to December 6, 2014, Hastert withdrew $952,000 in increments of less than $10,000 while continuing to make regular payments to Individual A. In 2013, the FBI and IRS began investigating Hastert’s surreptitious cash withdrawals to determine whether he was using the money for criminal purposes or blackmail payments. While being questioned by FBI agents on December 8, 2014, Hastert lied about keeping the cash withdrawals for himself.

Instead of admitting to making routine payments to Individual A, Hastert told FBI agents, “I kept the cash. That’s what I’m doing.”

On May 28, Hastert was charged with structuring cash withdrawals of $952,000 on at least 106 occasions in order to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000, and lying to the FBI about his withdrawals. Hastert initially faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Hastert pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals in order to evade financial reporting requirements. In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the second count of making false statements to the FBI and recommended a sentence of zero to six months in prison, although the judge could sentence Hastert to up to five years in prison and fine him $250,000. Reading from a statement, Hastert admitted to U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, “I didn’t want them to know how I would spend the money.”

When asked if he understood at the time that his conduct was wrong, Hastert answered, “Yes.”

His sentencing is scheduled for February 29.