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| HASTERT: Not in line for peaceful retirement |
If
he winds up cutting a plea deal, or going to trial and being found guilty, the “Hastert”
name will wind up going on the list many people rattle off of Illinois
political officials who ended up with criminal records.
ALTHOUGH
IT SHOULD be noted that the indictment, which is written in legalese meant to
be even more vague than usual as to what exactly the wrongdoing was, indicates
the alleged illegal activity took place AFTER Hastert retired from political
office.
It
also seems to indicate the actions that inspired the allegedly illegal activity
may have took place back before Hastert became a government official. Back in
the days when he was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville – which used
to be much more rural in character than the over-glorified Chicago suburb it
has become.
Does
this mean that Hastert was not a corrupt politician of any type? That he
operated honestly in government, but did improper things in his life before and
after his public service?
I’m
hearing some sleazy stories about what that activity could have been, but I don’t
quite trust the people I’m hearing from. I suspect they’re too eager to make
this worse than it really is, and are hoping that some reporter-type will be
too eager for a salacious story rather than what really happened.
SO
ALL I have to go by is the indictment, which says that back in 2010, Hastert
met with someone he has known for many years, “discussed past misconduct… that
had occurred years earlier,” and then began making payments to the person.
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| WALKER: Technically NOT a corrupt pol |
Hastert
faces charges of structuring currency transactions to evade reports, along with
making false statements to the FBI, because the indictment says the former
speaker deliberately made bank withdrawals of under $10,000 – the amount at
which banks are required to inform the government!
Some
$952,000 was withdrawn in such a manner, and some $1.7 million was paid by the
congressman (it was supposed to be $3.5 million in total), according to
investigators. It seems like someone was blackmailing the former House speaker,
but we don’t quite know yet what for.
Like
I already wrote, it seems this was outside of his government activity. Which
makes me think he belongs in a category with people like former Gov. Dan Walker
and former 10th Ward Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak.
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| Vrdolyak also prosecuted after his era |
VRDOLYAK
was long out of the City Council and was reduced to the level of being a
political consultant in select suburbs when he was prosecuted and wound up
serving a 10-month prison term for supposedly handling real estate transactions
and receiving part of the sales price as his fee.
While
Walker, who popped back into our public consciousness when he died earlier this
month, was prosecuted a decade after he left office. He became a business executive
found guilty of bank fraud for trying to cut corners in the way he tried to
accumulate personal wealth.
Of
course, we think of them as “corrupt” politicians and play up the stories of
their legal predicaments because that adds a jolt of “juice” to their tales.
That
could become the same for Hastert – who had quite a stint in Congress and was
one of only three Illinoisans ever to rise through the ranks to become House
speaker back in the days of George W. Bush as president.
SINCE
I DOUBT we’d care one bit if an ordinary schmoe were to make payments to try to
cover up something that may have happened three or more decades earlier.
How
many of us have actions from our younger days that we wish we hadn’t done, and
where our initial reaction to being confronted with the past might be to try to
cover things up?
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