Posted on 06/05/2015 4:26:39 AM PDT by HomerBohn
Former Republican Congressman and House Speaker Dennis Hastert may or may not have preyed on underage boys while he was a high school wrestling coach. Those claims slipping into the mainstream narrative — while likely, based on the curious phrasing in his indictment — are just unfounded speculation. Clearly the Feds could not make that case, or they would have charged him for it.
But there are much bigger questions to the Hastert affair, and they reveal the rot of the American system.
How could a former high wrestling coach/history teacher who lost his first election to an open seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, based in no small part on persistent rumors that he had had inappropriate contact with male members of his wrestling team, rise to such prominence and accumulate such wealth that he would have $3.5 million to pay a blackmailer? American government is all about bribes, influence peddling and favor granting. Special interests with the deepest pocketbooks get the favors. Everyone else gets the shaft. Congress and myriad alphabet soup government agencies have become a crony/fascist cesspool because of money printing and state-approved criminal activity in government for which the normal citizen would be jailed.
Blackmail is a crime. Why is the Federal government’s law enforcement apparatus enabling a blackmailer rather than protecting the victim of that blackmail?
Withdrawing one’s own money from a bank — for whatever reason — should not be a crime. A crime must have a victim. What gives the Federal government the authority to prosecute people for the non-crime of placing money — ostensibly gained through the government-approved means of working in government or as a registered (i.e., government-sanctioned) lobbyist — in a bank and then withdrawing it in whatever amount desired?
Of course, the laws requiring banks to snitch on their customers stem from the faux “war on drugs” and the faux “war on terror.” But those are just excuses for more government information gathering and currency controls. Hastert reportedly told investigators he “structured” his withdrawals and withdrew his money because he didn’t trust the banking system. In a curious twist, some of the financial “crimes” he’s charged with violating are found in the USA Patriot Act, an act that Hastert supported and helped steer through Congress.
But who can blame him for not trusting banks when the banks are required to report their customers’ activities with Suspicious Activities Reports on amounts over $5,000 and Currency Transaction Reports on amounts over $10,000, and have in place a plan to confiscate peoples’ savings deposits should the banks experience financial trouble?
Government snooping by proxy, using the banks as informants, is accomplished without warrants and is, therefore, a violation of the 4th Amendment. And any money deemed to have been removed from the bank for reasons the state finds “suspicious” can be and often is seized by the state without charges being filed or criminal activity being found. This is nothing more than robbery in the first degree. But since it’s done by government men wearing a badge and carrying the “force of law,” it is legal robbery.
Hastert was also charged for lying to investigators. In the American system, investigators and law enforcement personnel can lie as a matter of policy. They do this for the purpose of tricking people into confessions or into incriminating themselves. The 5th Amendment protects Americans from self-incrimination. But the creation of a crime of lying to investigators who can lie and do lie to you eats away at this right.
As to the rumors of inappropriate behavior: It is an old trick used by prosecutors and law enforcement to release spurious information on an individual charged with a crime in an effort taint the jury pool and keep the individual charged on the defensive and cast in the poorest light possible.
Americans often relish in the downfall of the rich, powerful and hypocritical members of society; and I’ve seen much gloating, particularly from the left, over Hastert’s legal troubles. But remember that what Hastert is charged with is withdrawing his own money from the bank and fudging the truth when questioned about it.
Government is using these same “laws” to persecute and prosecute average Americans. And with the bloated federal code being rewritten, changed and updated daily, you are likely committing at least three felonies a day yourself, every day. How long before the Feds decide to target you?
Yep.....our RINO leaders just ooze confidence and competency. I wonder what skeletons Cry-baby Boehner and Ichabod McConnell have in their closets?
How can Hillary remain unindicted?
There are plenty of ways to find criminals without violating the spirit of the US Constitution, but then, what would be the fun of that?
Government wants lots and lots of rules so that nearly everyone is guilty of something. That way, the powerful can hammer one down if one dares raise their head in defiance.
Rules, as they say, are for little people (and those who have fallen out of political favor). It’s getting to the point where it’s actually impossible to not be a felon in some way.
The Hassert Affair is a warning from Hillary Clinton to cease the attacks and endless scandal dredging.
Hillary has files on everybody aqnd will kill all those that cross her
The Hassert Affair is the Hillary affair
At this point, there is but one defense against Hillary Clinton. It can not be spoken
All the more reason why I wouldn't give a flying sh!t if this guy went to prison for the rest of his life.
From another post on Free Republic, about 20 posts (??) earlier from this one.
“The Palins compare Lena Dunham to Josh Duggar
By Lindsey Kupfer
Sarah and Bristol Palin want to know why Josh Duggar‘s admission that he molested his sisters is so different from what Lena Dunham said about touching her younger sibling. “I can’t believe how crazy the media is going over the Duggar family compared to the big fat yawn they gave Lena Dunham when she wrote in her book that she sexually experimented with her sister,”....””
Something strange is going on. The Left is smearing Conservatives and Christians while praising Muslims and perversion.
Contrast the Hasert/Duggar treatment with the big players on the Left. Heck, think back to how 0bama neat Jack Ryan in an Election (by illegal release of sealed Court docs!)
Consider this vile and venal pervert from Canada.
He is writing the Sex Education framework for young Children. You will never hear of him, nor his ties to Progressive Politics
Not a federal crime. Statute of limitations has run.
Which makes you wonder why Hastert would be trying to pay $3.5M in hush money to cover it up after all those years.
Hastert's real estate deals whilw he was a member of Congress are at least as troubling as anything he might have done with boys in the locker room. That this kind of a deal is actually legal --- and it's legal only because Congress made it legal -- is the problem.
God works in mysterious...and often ironic ways.
The guy is scum and the young man died in 1995.This bastard got away with it.
It was revealed long before this.
Source?
Yes. This needs to be investigated and reported on. It cannot be allowed to stay hidden.
There’s always something ‘radically’ wrong with Republicrat Speakers.
Michel, Hastert and Boehner come immediately to mind.
How can you say this about one of the all-time great speakers? The Democrats loved him.
Since Hastert is just Hillary’s “shot across the bow,” wouldn’t you love to know the other dirt she has on other Rinos like McCain and Graham and McConnell?
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