Dennis Hastert will not seek re-election
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 12:37:04 PM EST
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has announced that he will retire at the end of his term, ending 20 years in office.
He may have been the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history, but his legacy is forever tarnished by his bungling of the Mark Foley scandal and his fervent belief in putting partisan politics above the public interest.
How much does a scandal cost?
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Apr 27, 2007 at 09:26:28 AM EST
Have you ever wondered what exactly embattled, scandal-ridden politicians have to pay in legal fees? The Washington Post has a partial list of legals fees for the first three months of 2007 alone:
RNC: $500,000 last month alone. No official statement, but it's known that the RNC is still paying bills concerning the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal.
Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL): $4,800 paid and $5,149 unpaid legal bills. The FEC has cited his 2004 campaign for problematic contributions to the tune of $800,000.
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL): $70,000 paid and $20,000 unpaid bills. Two words: Mark Foley.
Mark Foley himself: more than $200,000. And much more to come, I'm sure.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH): $52,533. Well, this is news to me. Boehner has a long-running lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) stemming from an illegally-recorded phone call.
DSCC: $50,466. They say this is their normal quarterly retainer for help complying with election laws.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): $75,000. His office says they don't know what these legal fees are for. Yeah, that sounds strange to me, too. If you know anything about this, fill us in in the comments.
Former Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT): $120,000 from his leftover campaign funds. No concrete details, but Burns has long and storied ties to Jack Abramoff.
Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA): $132,025. The FBI is investigating contracts Weldon's daughter received while he was in office.
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA): $13,516 so far. And sure to skyrocket.
Hastert, Reynolds Testify in Foley Inquiry
By James Benton
Posted on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 03:00:35 PM EST
With elections less than two weeks out, Washington these days is fairly quiet as all of the House and a third of the Senate has gone home to campaign.
About the only members left in town these days are the ones testifying to the House Ethics Committee as it investigates former Rep. Mark Foley's digital wooing of House pages.
Yesterday, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-IL, and Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-NY, went before the committee. Hastert became the first Speaker to go before the committee since Newt Gingrich did in 1997 during its investigation into Gingrich's book deal.
Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, appeared before the committee just before Hastert. Reynolds has said he personally told Hastert that Foley had sent suspicious e-mails to a teenager in Louisiana. Hastert has said he didn't recall that conversation.
Friday the 13th: Judgment Day for Ney
By James Benton
Posted on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 01:35:56 PM EST
The doors opened at 10 a.m. sharp, and Rep. Bob Ney, R-OH, walked in. He patted a reporter acquaintance on the shoulder, then strode to the front and took a seat, joking and talking with the other men at his table.
In happier times, it could have been a friendly conversation over lunch in a House cafeteria. Or it could have been a power lunch with pals at Signatures, the restaurant just a couple blocks up Pennsylvania Avenue.
But things were different on this Friday the 13th. Abramoff, fallen from grace, awaits sentencing in Washington and Florida on corruption and wire fraud charges. Ney's conversation partners were attorneys. And the table at which he sat was not in a House cafeteria, but a federal courtroom at the foot of Capitol Hill.
A card on the table said all you needed to know in huge block letters: "DEFENDANT."
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