If Feds Are Curious About Hastert, It’s Not Hard to Understand WhyIt was a shock to most when ABC reported yesterday evening that the Justice Department was investigating House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). But a look at the record shows the Abramoff scandal has been camped outside Hastert’s door for some time.
The crux of Hastert’s troubles is a 2003 letter to then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton which the GOP leader co-signed, along with three other party members, concerning an Abramoff tribal client. As long ago as September 2004, the Washington Post telegraphed how fishy that missive was:
V. Heather Sibbison, a lobbyist at the time for the Jena Band, said: “I do this for a living, and I have never seen a letter like that before. It was incredibly unusual for that group of people, who do not normally weigh in on Indian issues, to express such a strong opinion about a particular project not in any of their home states.”
Ths January, when Abramoff pleaded out and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, the Chicago Tribune‘s Mike Dorning told us what bad news that was for Hastert. A week before the quartet sent their letter, he noted, Abramoff had hosted a fundraiser for Hastert. “The guilty plea by lobbyist Jack Abramoff could bring renewed scrutiny of a letter sent by House Speaker Dennis Hastert,” he wrote, and explained why:
Indian tribes represented by Abramoff donated more than $20,000 to Hastert around the time of the fundraiser, which was held at Signatures, a Washington restaurant owned by Abramoff. Hastert’s campaign committee did not pay the tab for the June 3, 2003, luncheon fundraiser until last year, following media inquiries about the unpaid check.
Given all that, it would almost be curious if the Justice Department truly had no interest in Hastert.
