Criminal invetigation

The REAL Hastert Scandal: Pedophilia, Drug Money and Blackmai

In May of this year a federal grand jury indicted former Speaker of the House John Dennis Hastert. The charges: that he had “structured” withdrawals of over $950,000 from various bank accounts to skirt bank reporting laws and that he had lied to federal agents about these withdrawals. According to the indictment the withdrawals were part of a bid to pay $3.5 million in blackmail to cover up “past misconduct” from his time as a high school teacher in Illinois.

The story seemed perfect fodder for the tabloid corporate press. It featured a former high-ranking politician, blackmail and intrigue, and just enough details about Hastert’s former life as a teacher and wrestling coach to suggest that the “past misconduct” referred to a salacious scandal of sexual abuse of a minor. But for some reason the story faded from the headlines almost as quickly as it appeared. And now that Hastert’s legal team has announced that they are seeking a plea deal with prosecutors in order to avoid a trial, it seems the story is likely to disappear completely.

But a series of revelations from FBI whistleblowers reveal that this story is just the tip of a very seedy iceberg, one that implicates Hastert, his top aide, other Congress members and government officials in a criminal network involved in sexual intrigue, foreign espionage, blackmail, and drug money.