Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing he molested a kid when he was a coach/teacher?

I'm PP.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/politics/hastert-indictment.html?referrer=&_r=0

Anonymous wrote:Sandusky-esque can be the only explanation as I posted before.

Almost nothing else would warrant such a payoff.

Agreed. Most of the time you are better off telling people what happened instead of letting them speculate the worst. In this case, the speculation of the worst seems to be what actually happened.

Yuck. And Hastert was a very high rated "family values" guy. Sheesh.

Sandusky-esque can be the only explanation as I posted before.

Almost nothing else would warrant such a payoff.

Anonymous wrote:^^
From POLITICO, not even Rahm was able to dig up this dirt, which leads one to think it's not what everyone thinks it is.

Yet perhaps what’s most surprising is that these allegations never arose during Hastert’s eight years as speaker, the longest such tenure of any Republican in history.

A former Hastert aide noted privately on Thursday that House Democrats dug deep into the Illinois Republican’s background during his time as speaker. Among the sleuths was former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but like others he came up with nothing.

What do you think everyone thought it was? This is what it appears to be:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/former-us-speaker-of-the-house-dennis-hastert-indicted?utm_term=.yn52YEZQw&sub=3792872_5858506#.rxpr1028L

Anonymous wrote:I was on the Hill during his tenure but working for the other party, so really have no clue what kinds of skeletons are in his closet. Any educated guesses or hunches?

I don't think anyone knew - sounds like whatever it was was hidden quite well.

The answer to the all important "dead girl or live boy?" question appears to be "live boy":

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-dennis-hastert-indictment-20150529-story.html

Anonymous wrote:"A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages."

http://wonkette.com/586903/lets-remember-that-time-speaker-denny-hastert-covered-up-a-gop-sex-scandal

I wouldn't read too much into that, it's entirely likely that staff kept it from him for obvious reasons. There are some things you want the boss to be able to say "I had no idea until I heard it in the news."

After all, it is the Obama way, i.e. IRS, VA, Clinton emails, etc., etc.

Anonymous wrote:^^
From POLITICO, not even Rahm was able to dig up this dirt, which leads one to think it's not what everyone thinks it is.

Yet perhaps what’s most surprising is that these allegations never arose during Hastert’s eight years as speaker, the longest such tenure of any Republican in history.

A former Hastert aide noted privately on Thursday that House Democrats dug deep into the Illinois Republican’s background during his time as speaker. Among the sleuths was former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but like others he came up with nothing.

Yet there it is.

• The very first full paragraph of the indictment mentions that Hastert "was a high school teach and coach in Yorkville, Illinois" from 1965 to 1981. (According to Wikipedia, he taught history and coached wrestling.)
• The second paragraph specifies that Individual A was a resident of Yorkville and had known Hastert "most of Individual A's life."

..."Feds don't put in language like that unless it's relevant."

..."prosecutors have enormous discretion and, in some instance, may see the person doing the extortion as a greater victim." So it's notable that Hastert, the person being extorted, is also the person getting charged here.



http://www.dailykos.com/

"A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages."

http://wonkette.com/586903/lets-remember-that-time-speaker-denny-hastert-covered-up-a-gop-sex-scandal

Anonymous wrote:It's foolish to suggest that he molested children and THEN sought public office.

It's Duke Cunningham seeking payment. Denny was probably in on the score, but Duke took the fall, now that he's out of prison, he needs some running around money...

I don't think Denny Hastert has known Duke Cunningham "most of his life." Nor is Duke Cunningham from Hastert's district.

Why on earth do Hastert's attorneys get to request that the USAtty's keep everything quiet? And why would the USAtty's acquiesce? Does every garden variety criminal get to make requests about what gets made public about them when they're caught?

Anonymous wrote:^^
From POLITICO, not even Rahm was able to dig up this dirt, which leads one to think it's not what everyone thinks it is.

Yet perhaps what’s most surprising is that these allegations never arose during Hastert’s eight years as speaker, the longest such tenure of any Republican in history.

A former Hastert aide noted privately on Thursday that House Democrats dug deep into the Illinois Republican’s background during his time as speaker. Among the sleuths was former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but like others he came up with nothing.

Did you read the articles linked on the rumors from his tenure as Speaker?

Anonymous wrote:^^
From POLITICO, not even Rahm was able to dig up this dirt, which leads one to think it's not what everyone thinks it is.

Yet perhaps what’s most surprising is that these allegations never arose during Hastert’s eight years as speaker, the longest such tenure of any Republican in history.

A former Hastert aide noted privately on Thursday that House Democrats dug deep into the Illinois Republican’s background during his time as speaker. Among the sleuths was former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but like others he came up with nothing.

Well, PP, clearly the U.S. Attorney's office came up with something.

^^
From POLITICO, not even Rahm was able to dig up this dirt, which leads one to think it's not what everyone thinks it is.

Yet perhaps what’s most surprising is that these allegations never arose during Hastert’s eight years as speaker, the longest such tenure of any Republican in history.

A former Hastert aide noted privately on Thursday that House Democrats dug deep into the Illinois Republican’s background during his time as speaker. Among the sleuths was former Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but like others he came up with nothing.