“This case just smells,” Dershowitz said. “I’m shocked that a prosecutor would allow this kind of case to be brought knowing that it will reveal the secrets, that it would open doors up to things that are alleged or have occurred almost half a century ago. … This is not a case that should’ve been brought in federal court”…
“Paying hush money is not illegal,” Dershowitz said. “He didn’t want anybody to know about it, so he took money out in small amounts and the banks wouldn’t report it. That is not within the heartland of what this statute was intended to cover – and then to have an indictment which essentially reveals that which Hastert was trying to conceal puts the government in the position of essentially being part of the blackmail – and it’s just not right.”
Dershowitz called the case “an abusive prosecutorial discretion” for using the structuring statute “to try to go after somebody who was trying to solve a rather personal problem….”
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