O Denny Boy

The Turks, the Turks are callin' ye...

...Vanity Fair last fall ran an article in which Sibel Edmonds, the former FBI translator blocked by a government gag order from telling what she knows about the FBI operations around the time of 9-11, describes how, in her days as an FBI interpreter, she ran across wiretaps of Turkish officials discussing campaign contributions to various politicians, including Hastert.

"Some of the calls reportedly contained what sounded like references to large-scale drug shipments and other crimes," wrote Vanity Fair. "To a person who knew nothing about their context, the details were confusing and it wasn't always clear what might be significant. One name, however, apparently stood out--a man the Turkish callers often referred to by the nickname 'Denny boy.' It was the Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert.