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ABC Insists Denny Hastert is Under FBI Investigation
Despite a fierce counterattack from House Speaker Denny Hastert, ABC News is sticking to its story: that Hastert is under investigation by the FBI for his role in the Abramoff scandals:
Despite a flat denial from the Department of Justice, federal law enforcement sources tonight said ABC News accurately reported that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" in the FBI investigation of corruption in Congress.
Speaker Hastert said tonight the story was "absolutely untrue" and has demanded ABC News retract its story.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has provided information to the FBI about Hastert and a number of other members of Congress that have broadened the scope of the investigation. Sources would not divulge details of the Abramoff’s information.
"You guys wrote the story very carefully but they are not reading it very carefully," a senior official said.
One focus involves a letter Hastert wrote in 2003 urging the Secretary of the Interior to block an Indian casino that would have competed with tribes represented by Abramoff.
The letter was written within days of a fund-raiser held for Hastert at Abramoff’s restaurant in Washington. Federal campaign records show more than $26,000 was raised at the time from Abramoff and his clients.
Hastert has denied doing anything unlawful and says he has a long history of opposing certain types of Indian casinos.
ABC’s law enforcement sources said the Justice Department denial was meant only to deny that Hastert was a formal “target” or “subject” of the investigation.
"Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation," one federal official said tonight.
The investigation of Hastert’s relationship with Abramoff is in the early stages, according to these officials, and could eventually conclude that Abramoff’s information was unfounded.
Officials said the next logical investigative step would be for the FBI to seek a wide range of documents from the members of Congress named by Abramoff, including letters and business documents.
A spokesman for Hastert said the office had received no subpoenas or requests for documents.
Click here to read the statement issued by the Office of Speaker Dennis Hastert.
No wonder Hastert went ballistic over the FBI's unprecedented search of Rep. Bill Jefferson!
As a Constitutional matter, I think the Justice Department must be extremely careful when investigating Congress - and it absolutely should not be recruiting spies to report "potential crimes," whether in Congress or anywhere else.
But at this stage of the Abramoff investigation, there is more than enough evidence to get a subpoena for Hastert's records.
And as BradBlog reminds us, they should also be investigating Hastert for taking as much as $500,000 in campaign bribes in October 2000 to kill a Congressional resolution designating the killings of Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 a genocide.
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ABC Insists Denny Hastert is Under FBI Investigation
Here is what I believe about the possibility of criminal activities by some of our (DEM/GOP) Congress.
Load a shotgun with rock salt. Fire the shotgun up into the air over our Congressional representatives. Should any of this rocksalt fall upon a Congressman, my bet is that man at some time has been involved in robbing America.
The GOP Loses More Everyday....Finally exposed
We seem to be learning alot about our government officials. As taxpayers we work hard to support these men and women. What do they do, they cheat, lie, to line their own pockets with illegal money.
There is no one in Washington who cares about the hungry, the poor, the homeless, they only care about where that next dollar is going to come from.
Below is an article that appeared today about John McCain. Everyone touts him as the "FRONTRUNNER FOR PRESIDENT", how can anyone support a man who crawled back to Jerry Fallwell so he can get the extreme religious right vote, how can anyone support this man when we see him hugging George W. Bush. Now today it is reported that he also had made up with the Wyly brothers from Texas. For all of you who don't know the Wyly Brothers, they provided the funding that helped spread the lies about McCain during the primaries. The ads about his wife being mentally ill, hooked on pills that he had fathered a black child. How can we trust a man who will not defend his own name and defend his wife. McCain is no different than George W. Bush and if he is allowed to become elected nothing will change in this country. I have enclosed the article. He got caught by the press taking money from these men who tried to destroy him. These republicans will do anything for money and power. Sure he gave the money back, but he took money from these men. They hurt McCains wife, and McCain is willing to kiss their fannies to get campaign money. Please, we cannot allow to make another mistake come 2008. McCain is a hypocrite. We will not be able to trust him anymore than we trust the current administration.
WASHINGTON (CNN) (CNN) Republican Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, has returned $20,000 in political contributions from a powerful Texas family that is under investigation for possible unlawful use of offshore tax shelters.
McCain's political action committee, Straight Talk America, returned $5,000 checks to each of the following: Charles Wyly; Wyly's brother Sam; Sam's wife, Cheryl; and Charles' son, Charles, according to the PAC's most recent Federal Election Commission filing.
The Wylys were hosts of a May 15 Dallas fund-raiser for McCain but were requested not to attend the event, a McCain political adviser told CNN.
"We have a vetting process here at Straight Talk America," said Craig Goldman, the PAC's executive director. "When that vetting process indicates there is any controversy with a donor, we return the check."
"At our request, they did not attend the fund-raiser in Dallas."
Goldman said he is not sure how much money McCain, who is considering another run for the White House in 2008, raised at the event.
The Wylys' support of McCain caught many people by surprise, because six years ago the Wylys not only backed George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, in the Republican presidential primary, they also worked aggressively against McCain.
The brothers formed "Republicans for Clean Air" in the 2000 campaign and used the 527 organization to run $2.5 million worth of ads criticizing the Arizona Republican's environmental record.
Charles Wyly is the chairman and Sam Wyly is the vice chairman of Michaels Stores, which the company describes as the "nation's largest retailer of arts and crafts materials."
The sooner the better
Hastert and the rest of these critters belong in the SLAMMER! THE SOONER THE BETTER!
The Rainbow at the End of Public Service
rtpricetag you are right.
They all cover up their criminality for each other. They all dream of great corporate jobs and plunder at "the end of their rainbow of public service".
It is obvious that the Congress can not monitor themselves. The Justice Department under Republicans is either silenced or unable because of cut backs or layoffs. Some heads need to roll in the FBI and Justice Department. They in the end are responsible.
Hastert coverd up the Foley sexual harrassment, stopped Congressional bills from the floor even though both parties approved them, coerced/strong armed Congress people and held up the vote in the dead of night to pass his legislation, took money from Abernoff, lied about terrorist alerts, Iraqi intelligence and WMD...
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/61/20541
AND did a land deal with partners in Illinois which he voted on for (a road to go throught it) at a 300% profit. This $1.5 million profit bought him a vacation home in Wisconsin for his retirement.
Now that type of behavior is not ethical or honest. Hastert should be let go of his office and the money returned to tax payers. He committed a felony/fraud and should be jailed. The IRS/FBI/Justice Department punish those who steal public dollars do they not?