FOX: Only in Obamaās America can an extorter legally sue a patriot.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is being used for $1.8 million by an alleged sex abuse victim who struck a deal with Hastert[.]
No, seriously ā hire a proofreader.
Wait now. The blackmailer is suing because he did not get all of his hush money?
Anyone who gets a character reference from Tom DeLay ā¦
[see Exhibit 11]
Sanctity of contract!
How did the blackmailer report the income to the IRS?
Si
Only in America can an ultra-right winger hide behind a fake name, exactly the way a KKK guy hides behind his sheet.
If heās not silent about it, isnāt the deal off?
Shouldnāt he be returning the money?
While in Congress, Mr. Hastert also was an outspoken advocate for severe punishment of anyone convicted of abusing minors. He helped push legislation in 2006 that required states to expand sex offender registers, as he declared that āprotecting our children from Internet predators and child exploitation enterprises are just as high a priority as securing our border from terrorists.ā
Wait a minute - do we have any indication that this victim of sexual abuse extorted Hastert?
@seanmalloy Do we have any indication that he didnāt report the money correctly?
@humpback do we have any indication that there was blackmail?
Ironically, in a sort of horrible way, the original politco article goes on to explain that contractually, the contract is probably null and void because oral agreements that take over a year arenāt recognized in Illinois as legally binding.
āIllinois law bars claims over oral agreements that canāt be fulfilled in the course of one year. Longer-term agreements are supposed to be reduced to writing.ā
āItās also unclear from the suit whether Doe was promising to keep silent just while Hastert was paying out or forever. A promise to never talk about the abuse would arguably extend the oral contract beyond a year, undermining Doeās ability to enforce the deal.ā
Such a strange twisted world we live in.
It aināt the crime, itās the cover-up - where did I hear that? And when is it NOT true?
If the person Hastert is suing committed some form of crime (blackmail, extortion), etc., nothing is stopping Hastert from making a complaint to the authorities. In fact, I would encourage him to do that, with a full disclosure of the underlying facts.
Damages per se are not necessarily āincomeā. Damages FOR ālost incomeā or ālost capacity to earnā, those are certainly income or income-related. But physical and mental trauma arenāt income.
The other thing is that Iām not sure you ever get an answer to your question, short of the IRS filing a public indictment for tax evasion. If the person here hasnāt reported ANYTHING to the IRS, I can see that as open to being argued as, āI didnāt have to report the non-income damages part, and I donāt have to report the parts that are arguably subject to being taxed as income unless and until I receive those fundsā.
Iām also not sure how you can be in the least confident in characterizing this person as a āblackmailerā, given how little we actually know about all this. Thereās nothing illegal, for example, in saying to someone, āIāll have to report this to the policeā and the other person replying, āLook, donāt do that; weāll both contact lawyers and work out a settlementā. If there was a car accident and local or state law REQUIRED reporting by the side claiming to be the victim, I can see that; but this isnāt a moving motor vehicle violation type scenario.
Well, um, Iām just left a little dumbfounded with this one. He was being paid hush money and that darned federal government stepped in because of a nosy bank worker. I feel horrible for the guy. Whatever happened that one night, I sure hope Hastert enjoy himself beyond belief because thatās one hell of a bill come dueāfinancially, reputation and the terrible weight on his familyās shoulder, not to mention the obvious (?) pain and torment he caused that teenager/now adult.
Since we donāt have certain facts in front of usālike did these two write things down at all, like the terms of this agreementāand does/will the law view this whole arrangement as extortion? Iām guessing if it is legally defined as extortion, the man is up creek without a paddle.
Mr. āfamily valuesā deserves the worst.
But those sorts of oral agreements can be ārenewedā. Eg. A makes an oral commitment to B to pay within a year, then as the year end approaches, B says, Hey, how 'bout it? And A then says, I agree all over again. I would expect that to start the year running all over again.
But hey, this business between this person and Hastert is bound to be full of facts and nuances we donāt know enough about to make pronouncements about. We will anyway, or many of us will anyway, but still.
I canāt help smiling; Hastert hoist miles high on his own petard. He so deserves it. Not just because he exploited/abused a young boy (as well as some others who likely never will come forward) over a period of Jekyl/Hyde years, but used his still squeaky clean grandpa image to land him in a position where he worked, often against the welfare of the American people, for a very very long time. I have no doubt he helped shape the present anti-democratic and dysfunctional House. Thank you Dennis Hastert; enjoy your payback yearsāin poverty, may I hope.