Blog
LatestArticlesVideosHands-On History
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcast
Morning Brief
Books
More
AboutCharityReal EstateSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2022 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Dennis Hastert's Dirty Secret

April 11, 2016
Jon Boldt

Writer

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty to illegally structuring bank withdrawals and is facing six months in federal prison. Making headlines now, though, is the reason behind the illegal transactions – hush money for sexually abusing at least five young boys while teaching and coaching wrestling at Yorkville High School from 1965-1981.

Five things jumped out at Glenn as particularly bothersome regarding the story.

#1 Sexually Molesting Children

Prior to coming to Capitol Hill in the late ’80s, Hastert, 74, was a wrestling and football coach at Chicago’s Yorkville High School. At Yorkville, according to comedian Andy Richter, who attended the school from 1980 to 1984, the former congressman had a “'Lazyboy’-type chair in direct view of the shower stalls in the locker room where he sat while the boys showered.”

"He was a wrestling coach and a teacher at Yorkville High School before being elected to Congress. Prosecutors detailed sexual encounters with teenage boys, which included inappropriate touching and oral sex. The actions at the core of this case took place not on the defendant's national public stage, but in his private one-to-one encounters in empty locker rooms and a motel room with minors that violated the special trust between young boys and their coach," Glenn read.

#2 How Did Everyone Miss This?

With so many details coming to light now, Glenn wondered why no one noticed or spoke up.

“How did everybody in the town, everybody in the school, how did everybody miss this for so long?” Beck asked. “This predator is there, and, I mean, you could let your imagination run wild here on this guy. And how was that missed by everyone?”

#3 How Did No One in Congress Know About This?

Becoming Speaker of the House necessarily includes background investigations. It involves being elected in the first place to enjoy the privilege of becoming Speaker. How did Congress and the American voters miss this?

“Then how did we not see it? He’s elected into Congress. He becomes the Speaker of the House. None of us had an inkling that this guy was a slimeball,” Beck said. “How did he become the Speaker of the House with people doing deep investigations into his conduct without anyone seeing it?”

#4 How Did a Former Teacher Get Rich?

Hastert was a high school teacher who held elective office from 1981 to 2007. When he entered politics, he was worth $275,000. How did he leave Congress with an estimated $4 to $17 million-dollar fortune? It just shows the corruption in Washington, D.C.

“Seventeen million dollars! I have built a giant company, and I don't have $17 million. How does a man go to Congress and have $17 million?" Glenn shouted incredulously. "He was a teacher, and he left teaching to go to work in Congress,” Beck said. “And he had $3.5 million? We know he had more, because he’s not on Poverty Row now. He had $3.5 million that he took out of the bank for hush money.”

#5 Going to Jail for the Wrong Thing

Hastert is facing sentencing for financial missteps instead of for the alleged sexual misconduct. The former speaker has since apologized for those “transgressions.”

“Those aren’t mistakes — you molested — that’s not a transgression,” Beck said. “You molested a child. I don’t care how — you know, that’s not a misstep, a transgression. You molested a child.”

Enjoy this complimentary clip from The Glenn Beck Program:

Featured Image: Surrounded by U.S. Marshals, former Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on October 28, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Hastert plead guilty to bank fraud charges after he was accused of intentionally evading federal reporting requirements involving bank transactions. Hastert is alleged to have withdrawn more than $1.5 million dollars in several installments from bank accounts to make payments to an 'Individual A' to cover-up sexual abuse that reportedly took place when Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Tucker Carlson left SPEECHLESS when Glenn Beck reveals 'the next step in BANNING guns'

Image source: Video screenshot

Glenn Beck joined Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Thursday night to discuss Visa Inc.'s "horrifying" new plans to flag firearm sales by separately categorizing purchases at gun shops, a move that Glenn aptly described as "the next step in banning guns."

In what's been hailed as a major victory for gun control activists, Visa agreed to adopt the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) new set of standards by creating a special merchant category code for gun and ammunition sales.

In his appearance on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Glenn shared a letter written by Robert B. Thomson III, a senior vice president at Visa, showing that the credit card company initially pushed back on the ISO's new rules.

“We believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent,” Thomson wrote in the letter to pro-gun-control lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Just days later, however, Visa had agreed to comply with the ISO's plan to establish a new merchant category code for gun stores. So why did Visa suddenly flip?

As Glenn explained, it all comes down to pressure from America's largest union-owned bank, the Amalgamated Bank, one of the only unionized banks in the United States and a proud proponent of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing.

"This is the next step in banning guns," Glenn asserted.

"It's horrifying!" Tucker responded after several seconds of stunned silence.

"I'm so grateful you did the reporting on this," he told Glenn. "I'm not sure why it falls to you since we have a couple of very large daily newspapers in this country you'd think would want to report this, yet none of them did. So, Glenn Beck did."


On a recent episode of "The Glenn Beck Program," Glenn broke down the details of this latest attack on the Second Amendment and revealed how this is a step toward something even worse than federal gun registration. Watch the video clip below for more details. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Glenn Beck: Here's why Stacey Abrams' fetal heartbeat remarks are hilarious but TERRIFYING

(Left) Image source: video screenshot/ (right) Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has a new pro-abortion conspiracy theory: "There is no such thing as a [fetal] heartbeat at six weeks ... it is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have a right to take control of a woman’s body."

On the radio program Thursday, Glenn Beck and producer Stu Burguiere agreed Abrams' latest "misinformation" is not just ridiculous but could be dangerous if people are actually willing to believe her.

"If you want to defend abortion, go ahead and defend it. Defend what you're actually doing. Stop denying what is reality," Stu said. "If this is such a great defensible policy, then just come out and defend it, but they never can ... you notice how they can't go to the actual thing they say is so important. They keep defending these other things that aren't true."

Glenn said the pro-choice movement was successful for a long time because most people want the decision to be up to the woman and her doctor and that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. But when leftists began "celebrating" their abortions or calling for "abortion on demand" at any point in the pregnancy, that's when they start to lose support.

"Because they've celebrated abortion and are losing regular people, you can't put that genie back in the bottle. So, what do they have to do now? They have to take the insane step of discrediting medical machines and technology," Glenn said.

"This is after two years, by the way, of them claiming the biggest scandal in the world was people suggesting the voting machines were hacked — after they previously said that voting machines were hacked in elections they [Democrats] lost," Stu pointed out.

"Honestly, gang, think this through because this is where life gets very scary. This is where you go to authoritarian rule and you can kill millions of people because you're truly now discrediting things that everyone knows is true," Glenn warned.

"So, if you disagree ... you can say that is an evil magic box that has made up sounds in it to convince people. If they will buy that, you're at the Salem witch trials. 'If she doesn't float, she wasn't a witch.' That's what you're looking at right now — and what's frightening is, [Abrams] can say this with a straight face and no one discredits her," he continued.

"You don't think that they can convince those people that you are a terrorist because of the way you vote? [...] You don't think they can convince half the country that you should be eliminated, liquidated, put into a camp, whatever authoritarians love to do? ... We are headed towards dangerous, dangerous times. We better wake up and stand together because this is frightening — it's hilarious — but because people are taking it seriously, it is terrifying," Glenn added.

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Exit ramp: How to FIGHT the progressive 'road to serfdom'

A big question Glenn Beck has always had about “The Amazing Do-Over” is: How do you get the most powerful and wealthy nation that has ever existed to accept, “You will own nothing … and be happy”? A foundational principle of this country from its very inception has been land ownership. We worked hard, were fiscally responsible, and stayed away from high debt, but the progressive era began to erode all of that.

The Clinton Global Initiative recently gathered the ruling class to tell the plebes how to run their finances and called anyone who dared challenge their ideas “climate change deniers.” Glenn argues we are dangerously far down the “Road to Serfdom” and exposes the progressive playbook to keep us in line. It’s a 600-year-old medieval model that’s been the plan all along.

We’re already feeling economic pain, and yet they’re playing “Game of Thrones” with our lives. Turning us into serfs is their ultimate goal. How do they finish the complete restructuring of the American financial system and our way of life?

On Wednesday night's "Glenn TV," Glenn connects it all on the chalkboard and details the solution to fighting back against the ruling elites.

Watch the full episode below:

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Comedian Jim Breuer has Glenn Beck in stitches with HILARIOUS (but powerful) message about finding faith

Image source: Video screenshot

These days, it seems like everything is about politics, and comedy has been one of the biggest targets. Many comedians are walking on eggshells, but stand-up comedian and "Saturday Night Live" alum Jim Breuer isn't one of them.

Breuer joined Glenn on the latest episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast" to talk about why he’d rather be funny than fearful and what inspired his hilarious comedy special, “Somebody Had to Say It," which has garnered almost 1.5 million views as of this writing.

Breuer made it clear that he does not consider himself to be political. "I'm not. I'm 100% not [political]," he told Glenn, before explaining how people started calling him political when he dared to ask questions about a certain shot that we're not allowed to mention, let alone question.

"When did medicine become political?" Breuer asked.

"What kind of price have you paid for being called political?" Glenn asked Breuer.

"To be dead honest with you, once COVID really kicked in, and ... once you realize we're not going to be here, that we're on borrowed time, and I do have God in my life ... you come to terms with reality on a deeper level. And when COVID kicked in, I said, 'You know what? All bets are off.' I already knew I wasn't in control. But now, not only am I not in control from the natural order of life, but now the puppet masters ... are in control," Breuer answered.

"It made me realize I don't have time to worry about what people think of me. I know where I'm at in life. I know where I'm at spiritually. I know where I'm at with my family," he added.

"That's tremendous power," Glenn said. "But it spooks the hell out of people."

"But it shouldn't!" Breuer exclaimed. "I'm excited that other people get this ... but they're stuck. We ain't got time for stuck. To me, this is the time of, 'You gotta rise.' For years and years and years, you allow fear to control your life. Fear of dying. Fear I might get sick ... everything's based out of fear. It's time for the fearless."

Breuer also revealed his secret for dealing with tough times, and he’s seen his share. But he also said he's seen miracles, including the incredible (and hilariously told) story of how he found faith, how God saved his marriage, and why one family friend was convinced his wife belonged to a cult.



Watch the full episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast" below:

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.