Dennis Hastert Pleads Not Guilty to Lying About Hush Money

[Mira]

Source: NYTimes

Dennis Hastert Pleads Not Guilty to Lying About Hush Money
After days of silence, J. Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he illegally structured bank withdrawals and lied to the authorities about millions of dollars he had promised to pay someone for misconduct that occurred decades ago.
It was the first time Mr. Hastert had appeared in public since the charges were announced last month, and he was met with a crush of news media in the federal courthouse here.
In late May, Mr. Hastert, 73, was indicted on charges of structuring cash withdrawals and lying to federal investigators in connection to what prosecutors described as an arrangement to pay a person, identified only as Individual A, a total of $3.5 million in exchange for not making public misconduct against that individual.


Read more: RE » http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/us/politics/dennis-hastert-chicago-court-appearance-for-arraignment.html?emc=edit_na_20150609

[TwilightGardener]

1. On the one hand, I don't care what happens to this creep.

On the other hand, I do think (having read an Atlantic article on the subject) that the investigation into his withdrawals may be a little bit o' government overreach.

[Angry Dragon]

2. If it goes to trial it will come out about his secret sex life

[Kingofalldems]

3. I don't even care about this charge.

He's got a whole lot more legal issues from his past.

He needs to pay if the stories are true.

[George II]

4. What pissed me off about pleas like this is that they don't have to give the rationale...

....behind the plea. On what grounds is he "not guilty"? NONE. The laws about large cash withdrawals are clear and distinct, and there's a reason for them - this one is a case in point.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. The defendant doesn't have to prove innocence. That's presumed.

If there are grounds for the charges, it's up to the prosecutor to bring them up.

Eventually, the defense has to show its hand, but not yet.

I'm guessing that the laws about cash withdrawals may not be all that clear, there may be loopholes. Like when pallets of cash need to be flown to Iraq.

[George II]

11. Well, assuming he's under oath when he enters his plea....when it's proven that he's guilty...

....can he then be charged with perjury? But not sure he's under oath.

[Roland99]

5. This could get interesting....

[bluestateguy]

6. The bank fraud charge is just the trojan horse

It's what they can charge him with that will stick.

Anybody who thinks this case is about bank fraud and lying to the FBI isn't really in on thee joke.

[rocktivity]

7. He had the option of telling the FBI the truth

which would have had his blackmailer looking at jail time instead of him.

When you have to choose between bad and worse, ALWAYS CHOOSE BAD.


rocktivity

[George II]

12. i.e., it's not the crime it's the cover up - as RMN.

[Jim__]

9. He's looking old, isn't he?

[center][/center]

Been a rough couple of weeks.

[wordpix]

10. wow I don't even recognize him

I always feel sorry for very old feeble people, like my mom who had Alz. disease for several years. OTOH, this guy is a creep if he was engaging in sex with young boys. He should pay.