http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_officia.html

Officials: Hastert "In the Mix" of Congressional Bribery Investigation

May 24, 2006 6:24 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

Federal officials say the Congressional bribery investigation now includes Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, based on information from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government.

Part of the investigation involves a letter Hastert wrote three years ago, urging the Secretary of the Interior to block a casino on an Indian reservation that would have competed with other tribes.

The other tribes were represented by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff who reportedly has provided details of his dealings with Hastert as part of his plea agreement with the government.

The letter was written shortly after a fund-raiser for Hastert at a restaurant owned by Abramoff. Abramoff and his clients contributed more than $26,000 at the time.

The day Abramoff was indicted, Hastert denied any unlawful connection and said he would donate to charity any campaign contribution he had received from Abramoff and his clients.

A spokesman for Speaker Hastert told ABC News, "We are not aware of this.  The Speaker has a long history and a well-documented record of opposing Indian Reservation shopping for casino gaming purposes."

This week, Hastert has been outspoken in his criticism of the FBI for its raid on the office of another congressman under investigation, Democrat William Jefferson of Louisiana.

"My opinion is that they took the wrong path, Hastert said of the FBI.  "They need to back up, and we need to go from there."

ABC News' Rhonda Schwartz and Richard Esposito contributed to this report.

Great post and nothing new to Hastert followers...

Brian Ross is reporting this morning that despite DOJ and Hastert denials, that in fact he is 'in the mix' of the Abramoff investigation.  They are parsing words as usual.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/abc_news_update.html

It all revolves around that letter he wrote following the fundraiser thrown by Abramoff.  The same fundraiser that he forgot to pay for until Businessweek reminded him almost 2-years later.  Oops...

As the third largest recipient of Abramoff monies...and noted this week the largest recipient of all lobbiest monies in the House of Representatives...Denny stands out among the many Abramoff-tainted politicians.

PS...Brian Ross broke the story last week that his phones and other journalists were being tracked/bugged/whatever to track down leakers....He said in an interview I heard that the number of leads coming into him since that story was enourmous...Pissed of government workers were coming forward.  And last night...Ross reports on yet another leak on Hastert.  Way to go Brian...