Hastert's motivation for the FBI inquiry...

[Hailtothechimp]

could not be any more transparent.

He doesn't want to protect the pages, or else he would have done so already.

He doesn't want to uncover MORE examples of Republicans giving attention to pages. That only makes this worse.

He only wants one thing: A Dem who has acted improperly.

That would trigger the Abramoff defense of "But the Dems do it too!" This chestnut is not available to them right now. And I hope it will not be, either.

This is a REPUBLICAN scandal, from start to finish. No Dems knew about this and failed to act. And no Dems did any of this page buggering, either. No Dems paid, or received, campaign contributions as hush money. If they did, it would be the answer to a lot of Republican prayers right now. Imagine that.

Hastert needs the head (literal or figurative) of a Dem if he wants to survive. THAT's what he wanted Louis Freeh to bring to him.

[MADem]

1. Actually, I thought he wanted it to tamp down this mess

"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."

The FBI has had this shit since JULY. They're infested with Bushbots, and completely cronied. That's why there was no investigation between July and now. Someone dumped the case in the public domain, so now they HAVE to get moving.

But whatchawanna bet they'll use the "Ooops, can't talk--ongoing investigation!" excuse as often as they can get away with it....if they can.

[LeighAnn]

2. They'll find somebody... ala Gary Conditt

Remember how long they dragged that out? Doesn't matter whether a person is guilty or innocent, they will be able to drag out the accusations until after the first Tuesday in November. They'll make up something about someone. If there was something, it would probably already be out. Prediction: An accuser will come out of the woodwork alleging something so disturbing about a Dem that it will boggle the human mind, but it will be found out to be a bogus charge, post-election.