Hello Blogosphere,
We took Mr. Hastert to task here in Illinois to let voters know that he is tied to Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay and the casino business.
Yesterday, Friday, May 26, 2006, we held two press conferences; one in front of Hastert's office in Batavia, IL and one in front of the Sycamore Court House. We let voters know that Dennis Hastert is one of the ringleaders in the culture of corruption in Washington and we asked people to vote Democratic on Nov. 7, 2006!
![](http://www.john06.com/images/CC_Batavia.jpg)
As the ongoing battle between Bush and Hastert continues, we will continue to remind voters that Dennis Hastert SHOULD be investigated for using his power as Speaker to control competition between rival casinos. Regardless of whether or not he is under investigation, he should be under investigation!
Read on to see how "Denny" responded...
I would like to thank everyone who came out and supported our campaign. An especially BIG thanks to Jennifer, Joe and Lisa for making this happen on such short notice. I would also like to thank the press for covering the event.
![](http://www.john06.com/images/CC_Press.jpg)
You can read the Beacon News, The DeKalb County Chronicle, The Daily Herald, and The Elgin Currier News articles on-line. The Kane County Chronicle and Elgin Herald did not have on-line copies, so here is a scan.
![](http://www.john06.com/images/kcchronicle-5-27-06.jpg)
While the newspaper articles covered the more controversial points of my statements, I hope that the core of my message was not lost. Basically, I held up a check made out to Dennis Hastert from Jack Abramoff and friends in the amount of $21,500 (I know the full amount is $75,000). Then I held up the letter from Hastert to Interior Secretary Gale Norton while I pointed out that the letter followed the money trail by seven days.
![](http://www.john06.com/images/CC_Batavia2.jpg)
Holding the two next to eachother, I said, "What Dennis Hastert is calling a coincidence, I am calling corruption. The American people are smart enough to see through this."
After the first press conference, one of Hastert's aides scrambled to write an open letter to me.
![](http://www.john06.com/images/Open_Letter_to_John_Laesch_small.jpg)
Here is a link to the full sized image.
We also traveled to DeKalb County and held a similar press conference.
We responded and contacted the press (most had already gone to print) and reiterated our point that, "this should be an investigation if it is not already."
This has been posted at My Website, IllinoisDemNet, DailyKos and MyDD.