05 FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds Overhears Wiretap: "Denny Boy" Hastert-$$$ For Political Favors+info

[kpete]

A September 2005 article in Vanity Fair revealed that during her work, former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds had heard Turkish wiretap targets boast of covert relations with Hastert. The article states, "the targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. Following his congressional career, Hastert received a $35,000 per month contract lobbying on behalf of Turkey:

But that isn't the half of the allegations against Hastert. Vanity Fair's September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers. From Vanity Fair: "Edmonds has given confidential testimony inside a secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on several occasions: to congressional staffers, to investigators from the OIG, and to staff from the 9/11 commission," Rose continues. "Sources familiar with this testimony say that, in addition to her allegations about the Dickersons, she reported hearing Turkish wiretap targets boast that they had a covert relationship with a very senior Republican indeed - Dennis Hastert, Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House since 1999. The targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. "The Dickersons," says one official familiar with the case, "are just the tip of the iceberg." "Some of the calls reportedly contained what sounded like references to large scale drug shipments and other crimes," writes Rose. "One name, however, apparently stood out - a man the Turkish callers often referred to by the nickname "Denny boy." It was the Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. According to some of the wiretaps, the FBI's targets had arranged for thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert's campaign funds in small checks. Under Federal Election Commission rules, donations of less than $200 are not required to be itemized in public filings.

More:
http://www.bidstrup.com/arc20060501.htm

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/09/edmonds200509
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/08/03/607/55336/otherpolitics/Vanity-Fair-Reports-on-Alleged-Turkish-Bribes-of-Hastert
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-friedman/fbi-whistleblower-hastert_b_277704.html

[annabanana]

1. kickety kick for ANOTHER

thing that DU was talking about at the time...

eg: no damn surprise to us..

[Snotcicles]

2. Yeah I remember her, and old John Ashcroft getting that gag order against her. nt

[octoberlib]

3. The Republican Party

is one big organized crime family.

[rurallib]

4. So glad we can finally hear the full story from Sibel Edmonds

Too bad those who gag ordered her and kept her story shut down won't face charges. There should be some consequences to her actions.

[Fred Sanders]

5. Hilarious how the Press is trying to complicate the issue. CNN is making me thirsty. The issue as always is...corruption.

Corruption...... massive, rotting, corrosive, destructive, slimy, deadly, costly, corruption....yes, it is time to dare to speak of the unspeakable in America.

[NCjack]

6. We need a public trial for "Denny Boy". nt

[cascadiance]

7. My tribute to Dennis 'Fat Bastert' back in the days he was a target of Sibel's...

Go to this page on Lukery's old site that talks a lot about what Sibel Edmonds was saying about Hastert, Randy Duke Cunningham, and other corrupt Republicans in those days...



http://wotisitgood4.blogspot.com/2006/10/dennis-fast-bastert.html

Another thread in a link on that page has Daniel Elsberg's comments on Hastert as well as Sibel's too.

http://wotisitgood4.blogspot.com/2006/10/more-hastert-ellsberg-sibel.html

[johnnyreb]

8. Brad Blog, May 28 2015, 11:04pm PT:

http://bradblog.com/?p=11202

I'll be on the road for a few days as of Friday for some long-scheduled family obligations, so I won't be able to delve much into this for the moment. However, we covered a number of questions about Hastert and criminality in some detail here as far back as 2006. At the time, many seemed to think such questions were outlandish. Much of our coverage stemmed from allegations made about Hastert by former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. She had charged, years ago, that Hastert was mixed up with shadowy Turkish interests and even suitcases full of cash, generally speaking. For example, from the 241-page transcript [PDF] her sworn video taped testimony during a 2009 case, Edmonds claimed Hastert was involved in...

The acceptance of large sums of bribery in forms of cash or laundered cash ... to make it look legal for his campaigns, and also for his personal use, in order to do certain favors ... make certain things happen for foreign entities and foreign governments' interests, Turkish government's interest and Turkish business entities' interests ... other activities, too, including being blackmailed for various reasons. ... he used the townhouse that was not his residence for certain not very morally accepted activities. ... foreign entities knew about this, in fact, they sometimes participated in some of those not maybe morally well activities in that particular townhouse that was supposed to be an office, not a house, residence at certain hours, certain days, evenings of the week.

While Edmonds offered a number of claims that seemed "outlandish" (to some) at the time, the former House Speaker did, in fact, end up going to work as a lobbyist for Turkey shortly after leaving Congress. (As of this afternoon, the D.C.-based lobbying firm, Dickstein Shapiro has removed him from their website, according to Politico.) And now the former Republican U.S. House Speaker from Illinois has been indicted on charges related to huge payoffs to cover up "prior misconduct" of some sort.

As folks are poking around tonight trying to fill in unexplained details from the indictment, here are a few BRAD BLOG stories from years passed that may prove to be worth looking at again while I'm otherwise "gone" for a few days...

(more)

[kpete]

11. skeletons

coming out of the closet..........Denny Boy's closet that is

[herding cats]

9. I remember bartcop reporting on this at the time.

I miss Terry, he'd be having such fun with this now.

[Babel_17]

10. More validation for her, excellent.

Maybe this will clear a path for a look back at her incredible narrative.