Discussion: Court Doc: Hastert's Lawyers Say A 'Groin Rub' Isn't Sexual Assault

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Once again, the GOP bedroom police fail. (And remember, in 1998, Hastert wanted to impeach the President over a blow job.) (From an adult woman.)

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So basically Denny Hastert has decided to got the catholic bishop route. So much for remorse.

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Hastert is a creep and a sexual predator, but this whole breathless “X’s lawyers argued something distasteful” genre needs to die. Criminal defense lawyers defend their clients, and part of that work may involve making arguments that are distasteful. Does that mean that his lawyers are bad people or that they did something wrong by making those arguments? Absolutely not.

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(looks at headline)

Alrighty, then. I’m off to the high school.

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Actually, a “groin rub” is sexual assault if you include an unwelcome or illegal handi-J in the process. I’m guessing that’s the rub, as it were. Thus the hush money and lawsuits and legal problems, and what have you.

Oh, and GFY, you old pervert!

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Now, Meri, you know the girls’ soccer team coach has a restraining order out on you, right? You’ve tried this just one too many times. /s

On Topic: I was not a jock in school (though I sure did like hanging out in the locker rooms a few extra minutes after gym class), so I’m a little confused here. Is the one guy saying Hastert was massaging/treating him for a groin pull and “rubbed” him a bit too much? This one seems a little ambiguous to me, so I’m not sure what to think of it. Anyone?

“While undoubtedly many would consider this episode as described by
[Individual A], consisting of a groin rub for a groin pull and a
massage, to be misconduct, we are not so certain that the incident
qualifies as sexual misconduct, especially for a coach and trainer
forty-two years ago,”

Oh, is that what they’re calling it now?

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“While undoubtedly many would consider this episode as described by
[Individual A],consisting of a groin rub for a groin pull and a
massage, to be misconduct, we are not so certain that the incident
qualifies as sexual misconduct, especially for a coach and trainer
forty-two years ago,” Hastert’s lawyers wrote.
…
Are we talking Quid Pro Quo here…so to speak?

Ummmm… I would call this behavior, assuming it was not consensual, more than worthy of a firing offense for any coach. And an investigation for sexual assault. I do not give a rats patoot if it happened 42 years ago or yesterday morning. Time does not, nor should it, remove the odious nature of this sort of conduct. No coach, trainer, parent, teacher or any mentor of youngsters should behave inappropriately. Are the lawyers, by their statement condoning this behavior by coaches and trainers? The language used would indicate it.

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Beatty, I’m thinkin’ “groin pull” meant something else to Mr Hastert at the time than a simple injury.

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I believe that the incident in question happened in a hotel room that the coach had reserved for himself and that athlete, with all the other wrestlers in other rooms.

The ambiguity should be fading now.

Edited to add:
Agents confronted Individual A, who told them that when he was a wrestler for Hastert’s high school team in the 1970s, the coach had invited him to attend a wrestling camp with other boys that included a two-night stay in a motel. Hastert, the only adult on the trip, told Individual A he would be sharing a room with the coach while the other boys slept in another room, according to the court filing.

Individual A said that when it was time for bed, went to Hastert’s room, where the coach told him he wanted to “check on” a groin pull he had complained about. According to Individual A’s account, Hastert told him to lie on the bed and take off his underwear, then began massaging his groin area in a way that was clearly inappropriate, the filing stated.

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As Mrs darr has pointed out in our discussions of Mr Hastert’s behavior…exactly where did the millions of dollars in hush money come from? This cash began showing up well before he became an important politician. I think Mrs darr has a very valid point…who funneled this money to Hastert and where/from whom did it come from?
“Follow the money” was the mantra during Watergate.

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Gosh, who knew? We used to call it ‘copping a feel’…

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Thanks for that. Yeah, in a hotel room, eh? Context is everything.

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You are married to one smart cookie, @darrtown. That is an excellent point – and it deserves a follow-up by some good investigative journalists.

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It is one of many reasons I was attracted to her.
(tip 'o the hat)
I would like to know myself where the cash came from. Hastert didn’t have it to start with.
edit
Hastert was 1st elected in 1987 and resigned from Congress when the dems got a majority (that was the public excuse). He knew trouble was brewing and pulled banking shenanigans to hide a large inflow of hush money. His bank ing irregularities are what led to his present troubles but it still does not reveal where the cash came from.
Silly republicans.
For a short time we lived near Hastert when he was a high school teacher. My son was a student at that high school and tells of playing soccer thru Hastert’s front yard. The thought makes him queasy these days.

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So the Hastert Rule should be “don’t share a hotel room with Denny if you’re a teenage boy.” Nice family values there repubs!

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A “groin rub” may not be strictly illegal in Illinois, but if someone did it to one of my kids, I’d break their arm.

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Typical Republican - all wrapped up in scandal and afraid to take personal responsibility for himself but expects it from everyone else. It says a lot that he was the longest serving Speaker of the House.

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He made a bunch of money apparently from buying and selling real estate near a expressway he was promoting .

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-archives-how-hastert-benefited-from-real-estate-sale-20150528-story.html

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