Posted on 06/07/2015 5:39:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Dennis Hastert has not been indicted on a charge of sexual abuse, nor has he been indicted on a charge of paying money he was not legally allowed to pay. The indictment of Mr. Hastert, a former House speaker, released last week, lays out two counts: taking money out of the bank the wrong way, and then lying to the F.B.I. about what he did with the money.
Does that make sense? Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic, for example, is worried that the indictment constitutes government overreach, punishing Mr. Hastert for concealing payments whose disclosure he may have thought would be damaging to his reputation, but which were not illegal.
Federal prosecutors allege Mr. Hastert was paying hush money in exchange for wrongdoing that happened long ago.
But Mr. Hastert is charged with structuring: making repeated four-figure cash withdrawals from his bank in order to avoid the generation of cash transaction reports, which banks are required to send the government about every transaction over $10,000. These reports have been required since 1970, with the intention of helping the federal government identify organized criminals and tax evaders.
To be clear: Its not illegal simply to take $8,000 out of the bank repeatedly.
The criminal provisions there do have strong mens rea (criminal intent) requirements: The government has the burden to prove that the defendant knew about the reporting requirement and intended to evade it, said Jim Copland, who directs the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute, a right-of-center think tank. So this is quite unlike many of the regulatory crimes that can ensnare the unsophisticated.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“Hes a disgrace to the GOP whether hes a pedophile or not. “
If he was paying hush money to the victim, I would say he’s a pedophile. It’s not often an innocent person would be paying out like that.
Hastert is renewed proof that Republican primary voters make poor nominations for Congress.
Hastert is renewed proof that Republican primary voters make poor nominations for Congress.
...
Hastert got into office by being selected by Republican power brokers.
How the hell did he come up with $3.5 m?
And, while it hasnt been proven in a court of law, it appears this guy is a dirtball pedophile. Seems to me that if they could put him away for Jaywalking, it would be fine by me.
I don’t really care how they get boy molesters off the street, if it works—good.
I think the man is disgusting and I scratch my head and wonder why Freepers are not all over this? Yes, republicans get it worse than Dems. But Republicans also make all of the arguments for family values and what-not, yet diddle boys in high school and look for gay love in airport men’s rooms. What the hell is wrong with these people?
Oh, I’m not defending the guy. He’s not being charged with getting a road built, he’s being charged with moving his money in less than five digit increments and lying to the FBI. This has nothing to do with his sins.
The liberal dems would make it illegal to be a conservative if they could. Punishable by death.
RE: Three points:
One more point you forgot — the structuring laws passed by Congress only server to INCREASE government surveillance and destroy our liberty and privacy. THEY SHOULD BE REPEALED Post haste.
You can withdraw money but under $10,000.00 and not too often!
This is an old Bill Clinton law!
There is no freedom without financial privacy.
>>>Ive said from the beginning that there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. Why would a former elected official who hasnt been in office in years pay $3.5M in hush money over an incident that: (1) occurred long before he was in public office, and (2) occurred so long ago that the statute of limitations for any criminal prosecution expired years ago?<<<
Makes you wonder why he just didn’t say the hell with it and retire and keep all that money. What is the rationale for losing 3.5M? Does he have such a lucrative lobbying career that it is worth that price?
I’m sure the IRS is equally concerned with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the clenis has paid out to silence all of his baby mamas.
They have not enough evidence of the real crimes that they charge him with things that should not be a crime?
Well, it certainly wasn't from selling chicken dinners at the family restaurant, White Fence Farm.
Federal Reserve Notes are no longer “Legal Tender”.
If only he were a pop star named Michael
I know!!! Let’s clean house!!! Everyone elected under the R!! Everyone even voting on the right!!! Listen up. If you are a pedophile, SWITCH PARTIES NOW. If you are a man in the closet about your love for pen*ses, again, THERE IS THE DOOR. I don’t care if we are left with five of us. I don’t care if some of us are gay. Fine. But No More Pervy Scandals!!!!!
I'm betting if you check the record, Hastert probably voted for the law and may have even brought it to the floor as speaker.
Another electable establishment RINo for you. They love to use the government and power, and that is their downfall, because unlike Democrats, they are not protected while doing it, and they get watched.
I think someone needs to send a memo to the Jeb Bushes out there. RINOs always get caught, the -R suffix is exactly what Democrats look for to put someone to jail.
It is absolutely suicide to play government game if you are not running with the -D suffix.
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