Land Deal Gives Hastert 300% Profit

June 16, 2006 11:00 AM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) realized an estimated $2 million dollar profit last year on an Illinois land deal that included acreage near a future interstate highway Hastert pushed to build.

The land was sold just five months after Hastert inserted a $207 million appropriation bill for the Prairie Parkway highway during a closed-door Congressional budget conference.

The deal, representing a 300 per cent return on investment, was reported in Hastert's financial disclosure form filed this week, although the role of a secret trust set up by Hastert to sell the land was not disclosed.

A spokesman for Hastert, Ron Bonjean, confirmed the details, which were first reported by Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation, an on-line political watchdog group. The Speaker's spokesman said land in the Plano, Illinois area is "booming," and the future highway had no impact on the price.

Hastert and partners sold the land to developers who plan a large residential sub-division about five miles from the new highway.

Local citizens fighting the highway project were outraged to learn of the Hastert deal. "I think he clearly has his own personal interest and not the public's by buying and selling land to developers for personal profit, when it has a negative long-range effect on the community," said Jan Strasma, head of community group Citizens Against the Sprawlway.

Hastert's spokesman said that Hastert had been a proponent of the highway for 20 years, and there was nothing improper in the deal.

According to Hastert's disclosure form and county property records, a 69-acre parcel was put into a trust, Little Rock Trust #225, on May 2, 2005.

Two months later, in July 2005, Hastert pushed the highway appropriation bill through a conference committee.

On Aug. 6, 2005 President Bush appeared with Hastert at a ceremony in Illinois to celebrate the new highway's funding.

On Dec. 7, 2005 the trust sold the parcel of land to the developers.

The spokesman said, for tax reasons, Hastert used part of his $2 million profit to buy a 275-acre farm in Wisconsin that Hastert intends to use as a future retirement home.

June 16, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (73)

Hastert: Letter Just a Coincidence

May 25, 2006 6:33 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

ABC News' story about Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert set off a wave of reaction from Chicago talk radio to the wells of the Capitol.  There it seems to have added fuel to the fire in the dispute between the executive branch and Congress.

The Department of Justice issued two separate denials of our report that officials had told us Speaker Hastert was "in the mix" of the investigation into Congress.

The Speaker and his colleagues suggested the FBI was out to get him with a bogus story.

As he gaveled the House to order this morning, Hastert was praised, and ABC News was denounced by his Republican colleagues.

"This non-credible journalism I think degrades freedom of speech and the reputation of journalists," Congressman Lee Terry, a Republican from Nebraska, said.

On WGN Radio in Chicago, Hastert said the story was a leak planted by the FBI to intimidate him.

"It's just not true, you know. The Justice Department said there is no investigation, and this is one of the leaks that come out to try to, you know, intimidate people, and we’re just not gonna be intimidated on it," he said.

As for the facts of ABC News' story itself, this is what we've confirmed today:

That the FBI interrogation of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff included specific and repeated
questions about his relationship with Speaker Hastert along with other members of Congress.

That, although Hastert is not a formal target, the FBI has been looking into a letter Hastert and others sent to the Secretary of the Interior urging her to block an Indian casino that would have competed with casinos represented by Abramoff.

That a few days before the letter was sent, Abramoff hosted a fundraiser for Hastert at a restaurant he owned.

The Speaker today said the letter repeated long held views about certain Indian casino rules.

"So it was a letter saying this precedent shouldn't be set," Hastert told reporters today. 

When questioned about the letter's timing after a fundraiser for Hastert at a restaurant owned by Jack Abramoff, Hastert replied, "That's a coincidence."

But long before ABC News' story aired, public interest groups had asked the Department of Justice to investigate Hastert and other members of Congress in light of the contributions they had received from Abramoff.

"That's very unusual activity, and we believed it needed to be and needs to be investigated," said Fred Wertheimer, President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to pursuit of democracy for all Americans.

May 25, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (45)

Hastert: Timing of Letter and Fund-Raiser Just a Coincidence

May 25, 2006 4:47 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said today that is was "a coincidence" that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff held a fund-raiser for Hastert the week Hastert sent a letter to the Secretary of Interior that benefited some of Abramoff's clients.  The fund-raiser was held at a restaurant owned by Abramoff.

Here's the full transcript of his comments, including his reaction to the ABC News story about him:

Reporter: Mr. Speaker, you did right a letter to the Interior Secretary trying to quash the building of this casino that would have competed with the one represented by Jack Abramoff.

Speaker Hastert: Well, you know, I'm not sure what Abramoff's connection was, I really don't.  Jim McCreary from Louisiana asked us, and 33 of us signed a letter because we also have underlying concerns, and this is venue shopping by tribes, in areas that they weren't necessarily in before, to put casinos down. We have a problem in Illinois with Miami Indians. In central Illinois, we also have a problem in my own district with the Kansas Potawatomi's who want to do the same thing. So it was a letter saying this precedent shouldn't be set.

Reporter: And the fact that it was written after you had a fund-raiser at Jack Abramoff's restaurant?

Speaker Hastert: That's, that's a coincidence.

Reporter: What do you make of the fact that this investigation got out there the same time you have a conflict with the FBI over the Jefferson raid?

Speaker Hastert: Well, you know, first of all, what we want to do is not protect people that broke the law, what we need to protect is the division of powers in the Constitution of the United States, and that's one of the things I talked to the President about, that's one of the things that we're concerned about in this issue, and it's an ongoing discussion that we have.  Now I don't know if this leak out of the Justice department or wherever it came was a coincidence or not, but I'll let anybody else connect the dots. 

Reporter: Trying to intimidate you?

Speaker Hastert: I wouldn't say that. I don't know.

Reporter: What is your remedy from ABC News right now? What would you like to see from them?

Speaker Hastert: That's something my lawyers are taking care of right now, thank you.

May 25, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (21)

Second DOJ Statement after Midnight

May 25, 2006 9:28 AM

Brian Ross Reports:

Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, "With regard to reports suggesting that the Speaker of the House is under investigation or 'in the mix,' as stated by ABC News, I reconfirm, as stated by the Department earlier this evening, that these reports are untrue."

May 25, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (50)

ABC News Update on Hastert Story

May 24, 2006 10:21 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

Richard Esposito and Rhonda Schwartz contributed to this report.

Despite a flat denial from the Department of Justice, federal law enforcement sources tonight said ABC News accurately reported that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" in the FBI investigation of corruption in Congress.

Speaker Hastert said tonight the story was "absolutely untrue" and has demanded ABC News retract its story.

Law enforcement sources told ABC News that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has provided information to the FBI  about Hastert and a number of other members of Congress that have broadened the scope of the investigation. Sources would not divulge details of the Abramoff’s information.

"You guys wrote the story very carefully but they are not reading it very carefully," a senior official said.

One focus involves a letter Hastert wrote in 2003 urging the Secretary of the Interior to block an Indian casino that would have competed with tribes represented by Abramoff.

The letter was written within days of a fund-raiser held for Hastert at Abramoff’s restaurant in Washington.  Federal campaign records show more than $26,000 was raised at the time from Abramoff and his clients.

Hastert has denied doing anything unlawful and says he has a long history of opposing certain types of Indian casinos.

ABC’s law enforcement sources said the Justice Department denial was meant only to deny that Hastert was a formal "target" or "subject" of the investigation.

"Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation," one federal official said tonight.

The investigation of Hastert’s relationship with Abramoff is in the early stages, according to these officials, and could eventually conclude that Abramoff’s information was  unfounded.

Officials said the next logical investigative step would be for the FBI to seek a wide range of documents from the members of Congress named by Abramoff, including letters and business documents.

A spokesman for Hastert said the office had received no subpoenas or requests for documents.

Link: Click here to read the statement issued by the Office of Speaker Dennis Hastert.

May 24, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (252)

DOJ Statement

May 24, 2006 9:36 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

STATEMENT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

"Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department."

May 24, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (16)

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.

Link: Click here to read Brian Ross' latest report on the bribery investigation into Rep. Jefferson.

Link: Click here to see the charges on Abramoff's AmEx Bill.

Link: Click here to check out the bribe menu of convicted Congressman Duke Cunningham.

Link: Click here to read Brian Ross' story on Abramoff accepting a plea bargain.

Link: Click here to read Brian Ross' report on "Delay's Lavish Island Getaway" arranged by Abramoff.

May 24, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (183)

Hastert: No. 1 Recipient of Abramoff Money

May 24, 2006 6:22 PM

From Our Sources:

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, House Speaker Dennis Hastert is the  No.1 individual recipient of money from Abramoff and his clients, with a total of $68,300 contributed to his campaign committee and leadership PAC from 1998 to 2004.

Click here to see the list of "Jack Abramoff and his Clients: Campaign Contribution Recipients."

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

May 24, 2006 in Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert | Permalink | User Comments (28)