Justice Dept. denies Hastert under investigation

[quaoar]

No link yet. This just moved.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department took the unusual step Wednesday of declaring that it was not investigating House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

The statement by department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos came in response to a broadcast report that Hastert was being investigated as part of a lobbying scandal and amid the furor surrounding the weekend raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.

Hastert had sharply criticized the raid and called on Justice Department officials to return all the documents that had been seized.

Asked if he was being investigated, Hastert said late Wednesday that he has not received any notice from the Justice Department that he’s being investigated as part of the Jack Abramoff probe.

OK, here's a link to the AP story, even though it's from Fox:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196871,00.html

[Tiggeroshii]

1. Hmm.. n/t

[quaoar]

2. Here's the Reuters version

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-05-25T001634Z_01_N24347641_RTRUKOC_0_US-CONGRESS-HASTERT-JUSTICE.xml&archived=False

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday denied a report that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI in connection with a corruption probe.

ABC News, citing high level Justice Department sources, said information implicating Hastert had been developed from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government.

But department officials, who asked to not be identified, said the story was not accurate and that Hastert was not under investigation. "The story is wrong. Hastert is not under investigation," one official said.

[Langis]

3. Where is this from? N/T

[quaoar]

4. The story in the original post

is from the Associated Press.

The second one I posted is from Reuters.

[quaoar]

11. AP update: Hastert demands retraction

Hastert’s office later issued a statement calling the ABC report “absolutely untrue” and demanding a full retraction. ABC had no immediate comment.

[quaoar]

13. Here's a statement from Hastert

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=66384

WASHINGTON, May 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Ron Bonjean, Communications Director for Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) issued the following statement regarding the ABC Nightly News story that aired this evening:

"The ABC News report is absolutely untrue. As confirmed by the Justice Department, 'Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.' We are demanding a full retraction of the ABC News story. The Speaker's earlier statement issued today accurately reflects the facts regarding this matter."

[quaoar]

12. Here's an AP link

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196871,00.html

[leesa]

5. Interesting...no wonder he's so damned concerned about the FBI having

access to Congressional records!

[onehandle]

6. WTF? nt

[Robbien]

7. ABC broke the original Hastert story. Interesting connection

The Hastert story was in ABC's Brian Ross blog. Brian Ross also reported in his blog last week that: a government official informed reporters Brian Ross and Richard Esposito that phone records involving the two men were obtained by the federal government.

Interesting.

[neuvocat]

8. Maybe Hastert made them back off somehow.

I wouldn't doubt it a bit. Hastert comes out swinging against Bush, Bush tries to punish him with the FBI. Hastert then says "up yours" and has something to make Bush back down.

[mcscajun]

9. LINK

Justice Department Denies ABC Report of Hastert Investigation

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Justice Department said it isn't investigating U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert in connection with a lobbying scandal.

"Speaker Hastert is not under investigation," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos.

The statement was issued tonight in response to an ABC News report that Hastert had come under scrutiny by prosecutors investigating the activities of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Hastert's spokesman, Ron Bonjean, also issued a statement denying the report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aiGNp04DLQoY

[hiley]

10. Fascism: Power Surge – The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush

Experts are very concerned about raiding the HOUSE.
Randi spoke about this today, it is well worth listening..
I don't care for Hasert and hope that he will be investigated & charged with appropriate crimes.
Rep. Jefferson should also be charged but Bush is trying to change more precedents..
Bad.

The America we know, love and have died for is over.

NOTE: For those who don’t understand why a surprise Justice Dept. raid on a Congressional office is a big deal, imagine the Capital Police raiding the White House without the cooperation or knowledge of anyone in the Executive Branch. They’d be shot…or worse.

Even the ultra-conservative CATO Institute is screaming. Their latest report on our slide into Fascism: Power Surge – The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush
PDF
http://cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/powersurge_healy_lynch.pdf

Today we connect the dots, for in the recent words of former Nixon White House council John Dean:

“A nation that loses control of its check on its commander in chief, is something other than a democracy.”

<clip>

http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/live/

Today's show is archived at http://whiterosesociety.org/Rhodes.html

[TheDebbieDee]

14. Sounds like the DOJ was trying to flush out a leak.........

I gues they were successful and some poor source will be out on their ASS!

[Eugene]

15. A VERY unusual step.

The Justice Department does not confirm or deny open investigations
as a matter of policy. That makes such a strenuous denial very
interesting indeed. They have something they are not telling
us about.

[quaoar]

16. I imagine

that they denied any investigation so as not to give hastert the impression that they leaked the story to retaliate against him because he's opposing them over the search of jefferson's office.

[quaoar]

17. Raw Story says ABC stands by the story

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Update_ABC_News_says_Hasert_story_0524.html