Expert: Hastings Conversation Likely Was Code

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In my earlier post on Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), I mentioned a cryptic conversation between the onetime federal judge and his friend which authorities later claimed was a “coded” dialog.

I linked to a Nov. 1 article by Roger Shuy, an academic specialist in linguistics and code. In the piece, Shuy identifies himself as the expert Congress asked to review the FBI recording of Hastings’ odd chat and determine if he was really talking in code or not.

Shuy determined that he was. Read the post; it’s a good story, and the expert’s reasoning is interesting to follow.

I just got off the phone with Shuy, who has since left Washington for the wide Western expanses which, he said, are ideal for writing books.

“I always liked Alcee Hastings,” Shuy told me. “When they asked me to do this, I said, ‘Okay, but I hope you’re wrong.’ But I don’t think they were.”

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