Lots of rumors swirling around today about the rumor that House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-Ill) is under investigation for alleged ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The Justice Dept is denying it:
WASHINGTON May 24, 2006 (AP)— The Justice Department denied a news report Wednesday that it was investigating House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The statement by department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos came in response to a report by ABC News that Hastert was under investigation by the FBI to determine his role in a public corruption probe centered around convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Amid a furor surrounding the weekend FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., ABC quoted federal officials as saying information implicating Hastert was developed from convicted lobbyists now cooperating with the government.
Hastert, R-Ill., sharply criticized the raid and, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., demanded that Justice Department officials return all the documents seized from Jefferson’s office.
Asked if he was being investigated, Hastert said late Wednesday that he has not received any notice from the Justice Department that he was being investigated as part of the Jack Abramoff probe.
“You’ll have to ask the Justice Department,” he told reporters, as he walked from his office to the House chamber. “Somebody leaked it out.”
Pressed by reporters, Scolinos said: “Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.”
Hastert’s office later issued a statement calling the ABC report “absolutely untrue” and demanding a full retraction. ABC had no immediate comment.
Allahpundit has a link roundup and notes ABC’s rewriting and shifty reporting on the issue.
PM Update 10:00 PM ET: He’s now claiming the Justice Dept is retaliating against him - for his stance against the search of Rep. Jefferson’s office - with this ‘leak.’
| Email This Post | Print This |
Hastert’s lawyers just sent the smackdown to ABC…..
from Drudge…
David Westin
George Stephanopoulos
Brain Ross
ABC News
7 West 66th St.
New York, NY 10023
RE: False Story Regarding Justice Department Investigation
Dear Mr. Westin, Stephanopoulos, and Mr. Ross:
At 7:25 p.m., the Statement of the Department of Justice confirmed:
“Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.”
At 10:21 p.m., you wrote:
“Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation,” one federal official said tonight.”
This statement is false, and your republication of it after actual knowledge of its falsity constitutes libel and defamation. ABC News’ continued publication of this false information, after having actual knowledge of its falsity, evidences a specific and malicious intent to injure and damage Speaker Hastert’s reputation by continued repetition of a known falsehood.
We will take any and all actions necessary to rectify the harm ABC has caused and to hold those at ABC responsible for their conduct.
Please advise regarding who will accept service of process to remedy this international falsehood.
Very truly yours,
J. Randolph Evans
Stefan C. Passantino
Counsel to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert
Comment by Fat Tone @ 5/25/2006 - 12:32 pm
How much you wanna bet after the retraction, done at 3:00 AM EST, you will hear some stupid Dan Rather comment about how the spirit of the documents were true. Will these BB brained individuals never learn.
HA Rush just revealed that Brian Ross was the BB brain behind the NBC GMC truck exploding gas tank story where they used an explosive charge to ensure the gas tank blew. Time to move on to CBS Brian, you are running out of vehicles for your drive by stories. - Lorica
Comment by Lorica @ 5/25/2006 - 1:00 pm
What is it with liberals and lack of due diligence? Laziness doesn’t work people!
You can’t just say whatever you want. Well. . . You can but it won’t lend you more readers or voters unless you are more responsible with your words.
Comment by Baklava @ 5/25/2006 - 1:51 pm
Lorica,
That wasn’t an explosive charge used on those Chevy trucks, but Estes Model rocket motors and open to the air fuel tanks.
Just being accurate.
Comment by PCD @ 5/25/2006 - 2:06 pm
Yeah. Keep the lid off any gas tank and see what happens in an accident.
Attack pieces that pass for Journalism. And it continues.
Comment by Baklava @ 5/25/2006 - 2:09 pm
Liberalism = Lies and liars
Journalism = repeating the lies of liars and persecuting those who tell the truth. IE. The Swifties.
Comment by PCD @ 5/25/2006 - 2:30 pm
Inaccurate But True - Part 1,000,000,001
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 5/25/2006 - 2:48 pm
- Hastert has his fat tush in a world of hurt stemming from his willingness to lead this stupid “you can’t look in our private offices” BS. The wall of backlash email on FOX is amazing. They say it 100 different ways, but they all come down to the sentiment:
“Who the hell do you people in Washington think you are?”
- Add to that hes woefully wrong. Nothing in the “immunities” clauses have anything to do with properly supported warrant based law enforcement, and the more he argues that the worse it gets.
- Aside from that, I think that may have been what triggered Rose & company. they made a guess that some sort of wrong doing was behind Hastert’s yammering. Shows how desperate the left wing press is for raw meat. They’re worried by the time elections roll around things will be a bit better in Iraq, and the border thing could be improved, gas prices down in the fall, and Bushes numbers recovering, all bad news for the Dembulbs. All of which means they have to keep coming up with “AnythingGates”,
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 5/25/2006 - 8:34 pm