Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may have been a serial sexual abuser of teen boys he supervised as a high school teacher and wrestling coach, but there's no shortage of politicians singing his praises in letters to the federal district court judge seeking no jail time for the once powerful politician after he pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators and structuring $1.7 million in hush money payments to one of his victims to avoid federal currency law reporting requirements.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay described Hastert as a "man of strong faith" and "great integrity," one of 41 letters the sentencing judge received. Hastert's attorneys withdrew another 20 or so letters written to the judge after the judge made clear their letters would be made public since the authors did not want their letters to become public. "We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few," Delay wrote to Judge Thomas Durkin. "He is a good man who loves the Lord. He gets his integrity and values from him. He doesn't deserve what he is going through."
Former CIA Director Peter Goss, former Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner, several former congressmen and retired federal law enforcement officials were among those writing letters of support. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Ewing (R-IL) says he and Hastert were as "close as brothers" and he knew Hastert to be a man of "faith, integrity and honesty." Former State Sen. Doris Karpiel called him the "best kind of public official." "Further punishment will serve no real purpose," she said since he had already "lost his good name."
Hastert's wife and children also wrote letters of support. Jean Hastert says she has never known a "more honorable and devoted man" who "spent his life in service to others." "If one of his students or wrestlers ever needed anything of him, he would be there for them, and he was never happier than when he could watch someone he helped succeed," Jean Hastert wrote. Hasert's wife, incidentally, was a high school girls PE teacher at the same high school where her husband was a serial sexual abuser of teen-age boys. His family expressed concerns about his deteriorating health if he is imprisoned. "He now has [a] myriad [of] medical issues and he should be with his family and not in the medical division of a correctional institution," son Joshua Hastert wrote.
7 comments:
Are there no heinous, illegal actions career politicians engage in which they are hardly ever- if at all- fully held accountable as would be for us unclean everyday overtaxed citizens?
Like most all politicians Dennis Hastert used his position to create privilege and massive personal wealth; like some politicians he is a sexual predator. That wife "Jean Hastert says she has never known a "more honorable and devoted man" who "spent his life in service to others" is beyond unbelievable.
That's like saying Indianapolis' most corrupt mayor ever- the prickly, churlish Greg Ballard who broke civil and criminal laws in the light of day and the City Prosecutor and the worthless Indianapolis City County Councilors did absolutely nothing- was an exemplar of civil obedience, warmth, wit, intelligence, a superb steward of the peoples' property and tax money, and stellar at civic leadership.
When third rate "institutions of learning" like University of Indianapolis award crooks like ex-mayor Greg Ballard paid positions for "civic leadership"... I shouldn't be surprised at all the tripe the Hastert family wrote and to see all the career politicos rushing to Hastert's side.
Are wife Jean Hastert, the Hastert children, and all those career politicians willing to stand before the sexually abused men and repeat their glowing attributes of Dennis Hastert with the same confidence they have behind their pens?
Can someone please comment and answer the question asked in this blog: http://unboughtandunbossedrepublican.blogspot.com/2016/04/where-have-all-real-republicans-gone.html
Hey Anon 10:34 Be careful what you ask for. Here's your answer. I'm guessing you won't like it.
While governor of California, Reagan passed the largest tax increase in state history. He also voted pro-abortion. I know. I'm old enough to remember and unlike the average voter, I do my research. Reagan, like most intelligent people, changed his mind on these matters as he became wiser and more mature.
So what would you do, Anon 10:34? Would you have disqualified Reagan because he failed your conservative purity test? If people then thought like you think today, Reagan would not have been the nominee and that would have been tragic.
Maybe Trump is a liberal. Maybe not. Maybe he once was and has changed just like Reagan. As I said, I'm old enough to remember how Reagan energized people. Trump is doing much the same. He has brought people to the party just like Reagan did. Reagan won every battleground state and Trump can too. He's right on immigration. He's right on trade. He's right on foreign policy. I'm willing to take a chance.
See, here's the thing. I simply do not believe anything Cruz says. He torpedoed Ben Carson. That was evil. His alleged mistress, Amanda Carpenter, proposed a blacklist of Trump supporters. That's what commies do, not conservatives. Cruz simply tells you what you want to hear. Is any of it true? I doubt it. Then there are the globalist ties to Goldman Sachs and Bushville. That scares me to death. Haven't we had enough of this failed neocon nation building? How many more trillions are we going to blow before we admit that it is bad money chasing other bad money?
Big tent. Battleground states. Beat Hillary. There's only one candidate who has a chance. Do you wonder why the mainstream media gives Cruz a pass? It's because they know he's no threat. Trump is, and it scares them to death. That's reason enough to give him a chance. Please think this through very carefully before you vote for your Goldman Sachs bought and owned hero.
Ripped from the headlines!
Hey this theme (HS wrestling coach sexually abusing his HS wrestlers)
was an episode on Law & Order SVU reruns this week.
Several state Hastert is a man of faith. If such is true, it proves faith has nothing to do with morals
Have any of the abused, or their surviving families, added their support? Do they get to make a victim impact statement??? Those should be put side by side of these letters.
The victims will be allowed to speak if they so choose.
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