Former speaker was handed down a 15 month prison sentence today for bank fraud related to hush-money he paid to boys he sexually abused as a high school teacher and wrestling coach.

It sickens me that the national media has refused to cover this story at all, even though Hastert was second in line to the Presidency as Speaker and was one of the longest serving Speakers ever. If I remember correctly, it was Hastert that got the Iraqi War resolution passed in the House.

What about interrogating and investigating him during the time he was Speaker? How many boys did he sexually abuse then? I guess we'll never know, cause such an investigation might expose other dirty D.C. politicians.

Another Illinois politician added to the "Wall of Shame" along with Blago, Ryan and Rostenkowski.

Hastert got a lot of credit for the Patriot Act getting passed.

I read an article last week on CNN (I think) that said the Patriot Act he championed was the basic reason he got caught in the first place (funny bank transactions).

Too bad this piece of shit isn't going to the pokey for longer. Hopefully he just up and dies.

_________________

far be it from me to defend a sexual predator, but the sentence is complete bs for the crime of bank fraud. This isn't getting Al Capone for tax evasion. This is getting Al Capone for jay walking.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I listened to wgn this morning on some "expert" was on...and she thought the sentence would be between 2 to 6 months....and maybe something like 3 months but not even in federal prison...just at a half-way-house or whatever they call it. Like you...not defending the prick. just an observation.

_________________
Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

I'm sure you're more plugged into this than I am, but I have to think there was some kind of behind the scenes deal where he got less time if he accepted the sex offender treatment. Otherwise, why would his lawyer allow that? One would think he'd be screaming that this wasn't a charge on sex offenses.

More than that, this is an abuse of the intention of the "structuring" law. There was no tax evasion here, as I understand it.

_________________
Freedom is our Strength.

This does seem odd. The article I read had the judge go over the deal agreed to. He stated it was due to the sexual abuses and they had victims testify at the sentencing hearing. Is that normal for that to happen in a money federal case? I assume they can appeal the sentence on those grounds.

As for the original crime I did see what was mentioned about the 9/11 money thing nabbing him. I do not get either way why you should be in trouble for paying money to people for whatever reason.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Is this the highest-ranking government official to go to the can for whatever reason? It's gotta be.

_________________
Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

The lawyer was screaming.

The problem with the judiciary is that most of them come from a prosecutorial backround. They uphold government overreaching because they were part of the system that employed it.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

they're too busy right now talking about mean tweets

He didn't get in trouble for the sexual abuse or banking. You can make transfers of $10K without consent of the government. However, the law requires institutions to notify the government of any movement over $10K. Hastert was making movements of $9,999 in a clear attempt to circumnavigate reporting. The FBI questioned him on it and he lied about the money.

He is being sentenced for lying.

If he had said, I banged kids while I was a teacher and am now paying them off, he would not have been in any trouble.

So you see what the government did: they are bootstrapping the sexual crime onto a rather innocuous crime of lying to an investigator. If prosecutors had played this straight by making no mention of the sexual crime and only telling the judge we are here because of a lie to an investigator during an informal interview regarding a run of the mill white collar bookkeeping matter, the judge would have given him probation and nothing more.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

So a guy can't even give another guy a groin massage anymore? No more Lazy Boy by the boy's showers?

_________________

talk about judicial overreach. poor guy. maybe Hillary can give him a pardon.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

As I've said before, never applaud the US Attorney's Office. We have seen far too many instances of prosecutorial misconduct over the last five years for anyone to believe that their methods are admirable...and they will do it to you if given the chance.

Doesn't it feel great to know we are protected from Rod Blagoevich in prison for over a decade? It has had such far reaching impacts on corruption as well. All it cost the tax payers was an additional expensive trial and about 6 more years of having to foot the bill for incarceration

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That is my point. I have no sympathy for him really but bootstrapping the sexual stuff on the lying seem wrong.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

The US Attorney's office paid my way through college so I applaud them evey day.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

wrongful conviction?

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I "slipped" in the post office.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

_________________
Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

On Wednesday, a grim-faced Hastert took an oath of a different kind, swearing in a federal courtroom in Chicago to tell the truth as he pleaded guilty to a felony count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals to evade bank currency-reporting requirements.

"Guilty, sir," Hastert, 73, said in a hoarse voice as he leaned toward a microphone and acknowledged in the packed courtroom that he had made hush-money payments to cover up wrongdoing in his past.

He was sentenced for illegally structuring transactions. It IS illegal to structure withdrawals in order to avoid government reporting. Which is exactly what Hastert did. Lying didn't help, but he didn't have to plead guilty to obstruction of justice so he wasn't being charged with lying.

You can bring up prior bad acts at a sentencing hearing. And they can be considered in sentencing. In this case, the lying and sexual abuse become relevant when considering a sentence for Hastert. But if he was sentenced within the proper sentencing guidelines for his crime, then he can appeal all he wants, but it will ultimately be irrelevant.

_________________

Unfortunately Spiro Agnew got a mammoth sweetheart deal then only had to pay fines & do a few years of probation on his bribery conviction.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

The Hastert case begs the question why there is a Statute of Limitation on sexual crimes? Just because time has passed doesn't make Hastert any less guilty.

Sexual crimes, particularly on a minor, should be in the same category as murder: no statute of limitations.

Victim#1 testified that the incident ruined his life for having had to live with that terrible memory. It should be Hastert's turn to have his life be ruined, or what's left of it.

Same thing with Bill Cosby.

The ends justify the means, a pervert and hypocritical pos was exposed and publicly shamed.

_________________

You are a bad American

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I'm just glad this guy ain't coaching your children in rasslin or you 20 years ago... He's a bad and dangerous man to children..the more people than know the better..agree to disagree.

_________________

We had this conversation here over the behavior of priests.

People like Mark Foley and Denny Hastert are the reason there are statutes of limitation.

_________________

Disagree all you want. You are wrong.

The means are what makes the US the US

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Some of you are missing this detail about the case, making it all the more heinous.

In an article on Politico linked to the Drudgereport, the prosecution said that Hastert initially accused his first victim of extortion, causing the FBI to investigate him. In other words, from his position of power Hastert set his victim up to fall.

Hastert isn't sorry for anything he did. He was a monster of the worst kind, first preying on his victim and then seeking to have him prosecuted through his influence.

Unbelievable, and no word from the national media. Thank God the F.B.I. didn't turn a blind eye to Hastert.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/h ... son-222538

You're thinking like lawyer, I'm thinking like a human.

_________________

You are thinking like someone who hasn't thought the whole thing out. Apply your philosophy universally and where does it logically lead?

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I believe in justice in any form, if I had my way ..this POS would be bankrupted and spend the rest of his life in the can..gen pop not some cozy federal country club... You are still thinking like an attorney and I'm still thinking like a human being, we are never going to agree on this.

_________________