What We Now Know About the Men Who Led the Impeachment of Cl

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What We Now Know About the Men Who Led the Impeachment of Clinton
by Judd Legum
June 1, 2015

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Who was really behind the impeachment of Bill Clinton on two charges related to his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky? It involved the work of three men: Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston and Dennis Hastert.

On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton on two charges related to his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. (The charges were for perjury and obstruction of justice.) The historic vote, and subsequent trial in the Senate, involved the work of three men who were elected Speaker of the House Of Representatives by the Republican majority, Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston and Dennis Hastert.

Almost 17 years later, with the federal indictment of Hastert for illegally concealing up to $3.5 million in hush-money, we finally have a more complete understanding of the men who led this effort.

Newt Gingrich


Newt Gingrich in 1998
CREDIT: AP

Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) led the push for Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Following a disappointing election in November 1998, he announced he was stepping down as Speaker and resigning from Congress.

Gingrich later admitted that, while he was pushing for Clinton’s impeachment, he was engaged in an affair with a Congressional aide. “There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them,” Gingrich said in 2007. He later said the situation was “complex and, obviously, I wasn’t doing things to be proud of.”

Bob Livingston


Bob Livingston in 1998
CREDIT: AP

After Gingrich announced his resignation, Republicans unanimously selected Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) to succeed him. Livingston represented the party as Speaker-elect in the lead up to the impeachment vote.

On the day of the impeachment vote, Livingston announced he was resigning following revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to Hustler Magazine Publisher Larry Flint, who offered a reward for information about the sex lives of members of Congress, he “found four women who said they had been involved with Mr. Livingston over the last 10 years.”

Dennis Hastert


Dennis Hastert (behind Bill Clinton) in 1999
CREDIT: AP

Following Livingston’s resignation, which occurred on the same day the House voted on impeachment, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) quickly gained support of the Republican leadership to succeed him as Speaker-designate. He began formally serving as speaker in January 1999, and held that role while the Senate conducted their trial on the articles of impeachment.

On Thursday, Hastert was indicted on charges that he illegally structured $1.7 million in payments to an individual in an attempt to cover up prior misconduct. According to reports, the payments were allegedly intended to “conceal sexual abuse against a former male student he knew during his days as a teacher in Yorkville, Ill.” The LA Times also reported that “investigators also spoke with a second man who raised similar allegations that corroborated what the former student said.”

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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.

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Former House Speaker Pleads Guilty to Concealing Blackmail Payments
by Andrew Emett
October 29, 2015

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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.

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.

Castle Bank ... set up by the CIA

-- Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond, by Martin A. Lee & Bruce Shlain

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.