Free Republic

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) passed a massive $1.2 trillion government funding plan despite the objections of the majority of House Republicans, violating the Hastert Rule and crossing the Rubicon into dangerous territory for the future of his speakership. House Republicans enacted the longstanding rule to prohibit Republican Speakers from colluding with Democrats to pass legislation. But Johnson sent the bill to the Senate despite the objections of 112 Republican colleagues, with only 101 Republican votes in favor, although Johnson and his leadership team applied significant pressure. Johnson also broke a House rule intended to give lawmakers time to review legislation...

Following McCarthy's ouster, acting Speaker Patrick McHenry ordered Nancy Pelosi to leave the special hideaway office she didn't relinquish following her party's defeat in the 2022 mid-terms. The email notifying Pelosi's office of the order to get out got right to the point, noting that the office will be re-keyed if she doesn't leave. As one of his first acts as the acting speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry ordered former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday, according to an email sent to her office viewed by POLITICO. “Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be...

The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group. Law enforcement officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI. The dispute is the latest controversy this week for CREW, a liberal-leaning group that has come under attack from House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert...

Allegations of sex abuse that began with Harvey Weinstein on the West Coast have incrementally shifted towards facets of the political, economic and media spheres of the U.S. Eastern seaboard. A surge in public willingness to come to terms with the stark reality of abuse perpetrated by members of the establishment suggests that it is time to re-examine the testimony of survivors who have previously come forward with allegations. Disobedient Media spoke with Greg Bucceroni, a survivor of sex trafficking, who described his experiences in an alleged child sex ring in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that primarily targeted...

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was released from prison on Monday after serving 13 months for lying to federal investigators about money used to hide sexual abuse charges. In May 2015, Hastert was charged with felony counts of illegal bank structuring and lying to the FBI. In October 2015, Hastert pleaded guilty to those charges before admitting in April 2016 he sexually molested teenage boys while coaching wrestling at Yorkville High School in Illinois. A federal judge chastised Hastert for his behavior and sentenced him to 15 months in prison, which he did not appeal. His anticipated release date had...

From:podesta@podesta.com To: mashorie@meiji.ac.jp CC: john.podesta@gmail.com, rknipp@adelphia.net Date: 2015-06-01 13:26 Subject: RE: Hellow! Dear Mac Cant believe its almost 50 years since Camp Nose I have stayed in touch with denny Hastert and jan ettelt and andy dolan all these years Its wonderful to reconnect with you Are you posted in new York? I would love to see you I have stayed involved with Japan and do some work for the Japanese Ambassador Send me your contact information I look forward to seeing you Best tony From: horie masahiko [mailto:mashorie@meiji.ac.jp] Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:12 PM To: Tony Podesta Cc:...

CHICAGO — J. Dennis Hastert, once among the nation’s most powerful politicians, was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of young members of a wrestling team he coached decades ago. In a hearing that was by turns harrowing and revelatory, Mr. Hastert publicly admitted for the first time to abusing his athletes, was confronted in emotional addresses by one of the former wrestlers and the sister of another, and faced a long, scathing rebuke from the judge. Mr. Hastert, 74, who made an unlikely...

CHICAGO —A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert to 15 months in federal prison — a term above what even prosecutors had recommended and one that clearly takes into account the sexual abuse allegations that generated the criminal case against the Illinois Republican. The sentencing marked an ignominious moment in the life of a man who was once a revered high school teacher and wrestling coach in Illinois and who ascended into the highest ranks of American politics. Even before the hearing, prosecutors had revealed in court filings how Hastert allegedly had molested or inappropriately...

One of the victims, identified in court documents as "Individual D," told prosecutors that Hastert "put a 'Lazyboy'-type chair in direct view of the shower stalls in the locker room where he sat while the boys showered."

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors on Friday for the first time provided details of sexual abuse allegations against J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House, asserting that he molested at least four boys, as young as 14, when he worked as a high school wrestling coach decades ago. Mr. Hastert, 74, is not charged with the incidents of abuse because of statutes of limitation, prosecutors said, but he was accused last year of illegally structuring bank withdrawals for money he was paying to one of his victims in an effort to hide the abuse. He pleaded guilty in October...

Dennis Hastert’s lawyers asked a federal judge Wednesday to spare the former U.S. House Speaker time behind bars in his hush-money case and sentence him to probation, saying the 74-year-old has already paid a steep price in shame and disgrace. A filing in federal court in Chicago — where the Illinois Republican is scheduled for sentencing on April 27 — says Hastert “apologizes for his misconduct that occurred decades ago” and is “overwhelmed by the guilt.” Notably, it contains no detail about that misconduct. Attorneys and the judge spoke recently about someone possibly testifying at sentencing who says Hastert sexually...

Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to the FBI in a hush-money scheme, agreeing to a deal with federal prosecutors that recommends he serve no more than six months in prison and averting a trial in the case. A judge, however, could go beyond that recommendation and give the former House speaker up to five years behind bars.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday indicted former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert on charges of purposefully withdrawing less than $10,000 in order to evade... Violations: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2); Title 31, United States Code,Section 5324

Are key Republican leaders in D.C. from the Senate, House and Supreme Court being blackmailed? Tell me you haven’t thought the exact same thing? Something is very wrong. Something smells rotten in DC. Rotten like a dead fish left at the front door of a Congressmen’s office by the Obama Crime Family. Rotten like a photo of a Supreme Court Justice with his robe down at his ankles. Because what’s happening just isn’t normal. Please tell me how it’s possible that President Obama and his socialist cabal suffered the most massive and historic defeat in modern political history only 9...

House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) this past week again showed he will punish conservative House members for not supporting deals he strikes with President Obama and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). This does not bode well for the package of immigration bills to be debated on the House floor sometime after the July Fourth recess. House Republicans have been writing and “marking up” more than a dozen immigration bills over the past year, and Republican leaders have been promising a “package of little bills” as an alternative to the “comprehensive” bills favored by the amnesty lobby.

Can’t believe it… The timing here is just eerie, especially after what happened a few days ago… America’s most respected newspaper, The New York Times, just published an article titled: “When It’s a Crime to Withdraw Money From Your Bank.” The NYT article details how Federal lawyers (from Obama’s Federal Bureau of Investigation), are prosecuting a former Republican representative for withdrawing his own money from his own bank account. DEVELOPING: Senator: “go to the ATM machine… draw out everything it will let you take” The Republican politician, former Speaker of the House under President George H. Bush, now faces a...

Things on Capitol Hill seldom happen by accident. We just need look at what’s happening now and what just happened. King v. Burwell may well be determining the fate of ObamaCare and the president is colluding with the Republicans to secretly pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership being rammed down the already sore throats of the American people, reminiscent of the way Democrats wrote-but-didn’t-read the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Why are Republicans going along to get along? It may be as simple as a message sent with the recent events involving former Speaker Dennis Hastert....

Contradicts local officials in Yorksville, Illinois who stated no complaints of misconduct From Eric Dondero: First some context via the Chicago Tribune on Friday, "Ex-Yorkville school chief recalls no misconduct complaints against Hastert": James Garnett, who was superintendent of the Yorkville school district for five of the years Dennis Hastert taught there, said Friday there were no complaints of misconduct lodged against the now-indicted House speaker during that time. Hastert, who represented the far western suburbs in Congress, was accused Thursday by federal prosecutors of agreeing to pay $3.5 million in hush money to a longtime acquaintance to cover up...

Steve Reinboldt was the student equipment manager when Hastert worked at Yorkville High school in Illinois in the 1970s and 80s His sister Jolene Reinboldt said Steve told her he was gay 8 years after high school and at the same time revealed his first same-sex experience 'was with Dennis Hastert' Steve Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995. His sister confronted Dennis Hastert with the allegations when the politician turned up to Steve's funeral Hastert, 73, has not responded to the allegations He was indicted last week on accusations he agreed to pay $3.5m 'hush money' to ensure someone...

It took 20 years for Jolene Reinboldt to have anyone take her story seriously. After her brother Steve died of AIDS in 1995, she was shocked to see Dennis Hastert, her brother’s teacher and coach in high school, show up for the viewing. She followed Hastert out to the parking lot and told him she knew his secret, and then tried for years to get law enforcement and news agencies to investigate it, all to no avail. Two weeks ago, though, the FBI came calling and wanted to hear her story for themselves as part of an investigation into...