This just out: Rawstory is now reporting:
WASHINGTON, May 24 -- Ron Bonjean, Communications Director for Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) issued the following statement regarding the ABC Nightly News story that aired this evening:
"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."
ABC News
adds to the story:
Asked if he was being investigated, Hastert said late Wednesday that he has not received any notice from the Justice Department that he was being investigated as part of the Jack Abramoff probe.
"You'll have to ask the Justice Department," he told reporters, as he walked from his office to the House chamber. "Somebody leaked it out."
Pressed by reporters, Scolinos said: "Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department."
Hastert's office later issued a statement calling the ABC report "absolutely untrue" and demanding a full retraction. ABC had no immediate comment.
Also, did anyone read
Robert Novak's column the other day:
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, a 64-year-old ex-high school wrestling coach, ordinarily is not a shouter. But according to Capitol Hill sources, he engaged in a high-decibel rant last week when he met with Vice President Dick Cheney. The speaker was enraged by the sacking of his friend and former colleague, Porter Goss.
Hastert was so vituperative that a private session with President Bush in the living quarters of the White House was scheduled immediately (although Hastert aides said the meeting had been planned previously). The speaker toned down his volume on the hallowed ground and did more listening than talking. But the president did not slake Hastert's wrath over the abrupt sacking of Goss as CIA director.
That wrath reflects the feeling in the House Republican cloakroom that Goss, who gave up a safe congressional seat from Florida for a thankless cleanup mission at the CIA, is being made a scapegoat for the government's intelligence mess. But Hastert's discontent goes beyond the CIA. The GOP mood on Capitol Hill, particularly the House, is poisonous. With pessimism rising over a contemplated loss of their majority in the 2006 elections, Republican lawmakers blame their parlous condition on Bush's performance.
The plot thickens.....