Remembering our "Planet Denny" Hastert as the fellow he was: Once a crook, always a crook

So, we find out here in 2008 that back in August 2007 former House Speaker "Planet Denny" Hastert, whom we might think of as the ringmaster of the former Republican Congress's celebrated Carnival of Corruption, signed an agreement including a financial settlement and fine to get himself out of "hot water with the Federal Elections Commission" (FEC).

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into hot water with the mostly toothless FEC? Especially for a powerful pol like a speaker of the House. Of course it may not be the same when you're a former speaker of the House.

The problem arose from legal bills Planet Denny racked up while being investigated for doing nothing with all the information he sat on for so long regarding former Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate behavior (to put it politely) with House pages. You weren't expecting our Denny to dip into his own pocket to pay those bills, were you? And it turns out that what he did, having his reelection campaign pay them, was actually this close to being legal.

FEC Adds Fine to Hastert's Legal Bills in Mark Foley Case

By Mary Ann Akers and Paul Kane
Thursday, January 3, 2008; Page A17

As if the House page scandal involving former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) hadn't done enough damage to Republicans, now we discover that legal bills arising from it landed former speaker J. Dennis Hastert's campaign committee in hot water with the Federal Election Commission.

According to FEC documents, Hastert (R-Ill.) failed to disclose in early January 2007 that his 2006 reelection campaign had run up $147,000 in legal bills stemming from his connection with the Foley investigation. Hastert agreed to settle the matter and pay a $1,000 penalty.

One of Hastert's campaign lawyers signed the agreement Aug. 20, three days after he publicly announced he would not run for office again, and it was filed with the FEC in September. Hastert officially resigned Nov. 26.

The FEC allows lawmakers under investigation for matters of official conduct to pay attorneys with campaign funds. But they must disclose the payments and any outstanding debt in filings with the FEC.

And while we're on the subject of the House seat (IL-14) vacated by Planet Denny, remember that the primary for the special election to fill the seat is coming up on Feb. 5. On the Democratic side, John Laesch, whom Howie just called "perhaps the best candidate running for Congress anywhere," is pitted against "right-of-center hack" Bill Foster. You can support Laesch and all the other Blue America-endorsed candidates on the Blue America '08 page.

#

UPDATE: NOR IS HASTERT THE ONLY REPUBLICROOK WHO WILL NEVER SEE THE INSIDE OF A CELL

Former Montana Senator and paragon of unmitigated corruption, Conrad Burns, claimed Bush's suspect Justice Department has found him innocent. What a joke!
- Howie