Hastert Under Investigation; Hastert Not Under Investigation; Retraction Demanded...Mass Confusion On Story.

Take a ride with me through the circus that is the American mass media scene.

First we get this story from ABC:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI, which is probing corruption in Congress, ABC News reported on Wednesday.

ABC, citing high level Justice Department sources, said information implicating Hastert was developed from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government.

OK, so the story running right now is that the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, (R)Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI due to testimony given in the Jack Abramoff lobbyist corruption trial.

But, oops--wait a minute...the Justice Department says otherwise, and that Speaker Hastert is not the focus of an investigation at this time.

WASHINGTON May 24, 2006 (AP) -- The Justice Department denied a news report Wednesday that it was investigating House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

The statement by department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos came in response to a report by ABC News that Hastert was under investigation by the FBI to determine his role in a public corruption probe centered around convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

So now bigwigs at the Justice Department are saying nothing is going on.

What gives with this story?

It seems to me like the running of the original Hastert piece was another attempt by either the Bush administration or a high ranking GOP member to silence the often outspoken and forward-speaking Hastert.

Well, it failed miserably.

Now we have a very ticked Hastert demanding a retraction from the obvious "fake" and "erroneous" story smear campaign.

"The ABC News report is absolutely untrue. As confirmed by the Justice Department, 'Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.' We are demanding a full retraction of the ABC News story. The Speaker's earlier statement issued today accurately reflects the facts regarding this matter."

From the outside looking in, it looks like someone with power and influence in the GOP has targeted Hastert, and is trying to silence and destroy him politically.

I understand the party line on this issue.

The GOP finally has the Democrats in the middle of a major scandal story, and one of their faithful is "belittling" the issue, trying to derail an investigation and shut it down.

Where I think the GOP leadership misses the ball is the fact that Hastert is trying to protect his fellow Republican party members if (or when) a power shift in Congress and the White House happens. I think he realizes that the potential for abuses is huge, and that one day, the Dems may have the same power to use the FBI as a political weapon.

Let's also not forget the constitutionality issues in play here, and the fact that the White House is attacking Congress through proxy by using US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' power over the FBI and doing so while ignoring years of precedence and the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.

It's quite obvious that partisan politics are in play here as not one other Republican congressional office has been raided in current scandal investigations. Ron Ney, Bill First, Tom Delay, and Randall "Duke" Cunningham...not a single big-name GOP member's office has been raided in this fashion.

I hope Hastert gets his way, and these practices come to a halt. Things like this will do more harm than good and will continue to foster a lack of openness and secrecy that runs rampant in the political establishment.

Not to mention the era of "McCarthyism" that seems to be gearing up again, allowing the political party in power to use the FBI, CIA, and even NSA to attack the other parties' minority members.

Tags: [House Speaker Hastert under investigation: ABC], [Feds Say House Speaker Not Under Probe], [Hastert demands ABC retract story], [Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL)], [Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives], [ABC News], [Justice Department], [weekend FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La], [Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif], [Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department], [Constitution's separation of powers doctrine]