Hastert denies involvement in corruption scandal (seeks retraction) - FT

[rndmprsn]

my oh my...the first denial. so a la nixon..."i'm not a crook!"

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/56d2036c-eb81-11da-823e-0000779e2340.html

Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, on Wednesday night denied he was under investigation by the FBI as part of its ongoing corruption probe of Congress.

ABC News - citing unnamed justice department sources - on Wednesday said information allegedly implicating Mr Hastert was developed from lobbyists who have already pleaded guilty and are co-operating with the government.



Following the report, a spokesman for Mr Hastert issued a statement calling for a retraction of the story,

“The ABC News report is absolutely untrue. As confirmed by the Justice Department, ‘Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department,” the statement said.

Mr Hastert’s alleged involvement in the corruption scandal would further taint congressional Republicans, who have already seen Tom DeLay, their former majority leader, step down amid allegations of wrongdoing.

At the centre of the broad federal corruption probe is Jack Abramoff, a powerful Washington lobbyist with ties to top Republicans in Congress.

[onehandle]

1. It may not be true.

I'd quiet the noisemakers for now.

[mcscajun]

2. The first denial came from the Justice Department

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&refer=top_world_news

We'll have to wait and see how this story sorts itself out between now and the weekend.

[aquart]

3. Since the AG is such an indictable piece of slime himself...

Is there the smallest chance that prosecutors are not keeping him updated?

[democrat in Tallahassee]

4. stupid question: is the justice dept. the same as the FBI? It says

he is not under investigation by the Justice Dept, but is the FBI investigating him? ARe they interchangeable?

[kwvining]

5. Well,

The FBI is part of the justice department. Denying they are investigating someone is standard practice, for example, officially Rove is not under investigation by the FBI in the Plame scandal. The indictments always come when "new information" gets discovered.

Myself, I am praying to God this turns out to be true, and I'm an atheist for Christ's sake. But these reports do one good thing - they highlight the fact Bastert took over $100,000 from Abramoff. Play it up, DUer's.