Turkish Delight

I'm posting this story for three reasons: 1) I think I'm being just too clever for words with that title, 2) it's always a pleasure to see the possibility of corruption catching up to GOP leaders, and 3) Sibel Edmonds is smokin' hot. Ahem. On to the story:

Vanity Fair’s September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers, Raw Story can reveal. . . . Edmonds has given confidential testimony inside a secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on several occasions: to congressional staffers, to investigators from the OIG, and to staff from the 9/11 commission," Rose continues. "Sources familiar with this testimony say that, in addition to her allegations about the Dickersons, she reported hearing Turkish wiretap targets boast that they had a covert relationship with a very senior Republican indeed—Dennis Hastert, Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House since 1999. The targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. “The Dickersons,” says one official familiar with the case, “are just the tip of the iceberg.”

"Some of the calls reportedly contained what sounded like references to large scale drug shipments and other crimes," writes Rose. "One name, however, apparently stood out—a man the Turkish callers often referred to by the nickname “Denny boy.” It was Dennis Hastert. According to some of the wiretaps, the FBI’s targets had arranged for thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks. Under Federal Election Commission rules, donations of less than $200 are not required to be itemized in public filings.

UPDATE: I mean she's seriously hot. And who does the right elevate as purty right-wing ladies? The skeletal and boozy Ann Coulter, the rather freakish-looking and alarmingly bigoted Michelle Malkin (the glamour shot that appears on her homepage and columns is truly awful), and the probable winner in the looks department, Canadian Rachel Marsden, who also has a disconcerting history of stalking men and subsequently accusing them of harassment and rape. She's a little odd-looking, too, though. But that hasn't stopped Fox News from giving her plenty of airtime. Just thought I'd reiterate how totally fine Sibel Edmonds is. And the right-wing should probably stop promoting mediocre-looking propagandists with criminal records.