editorial comment Drug groups with money? paraphernalia does remember the DEA funding the Taliban a few years back. We know where that money went....

Public hostilities between House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and George Soros, the billionaire donor to the Democratic Party, went into overdrive yesterday.

In a letter, the Speaker chided the activist philanthropist for his efforts to legalize recreational drug use and received in return a second demand for a public apology.

The spat began on Sunday television, when Hastert cast aspersions on Soros’s financial sources. Yesterday, the Speaker neither apologized nor backed up his suggestion but said he was referring to drug-legalization pressure groups rather than criminal cartels.

That cut no ice with Soros, who is considering suing Hastert for slander, said his spokesman, Michael Vachon. Hastert spokesman John Feehery did not return a call for comment.

In his letter yesterday, Hastert wrote: “I never implied that you were a criminal and I never would, that’s not my style,” adding that he was criticizing the nonprofit organizations Soros has funded, including the Drug Policy Foundation, the Open Society, the Lendesmith Center and the Andean Council of Coca Leaf Producers, as well as several ballot initiatives to decriminalize illegal drug use.

On Fox News on Sunday Hastert did not criticize Soros’s choice of where he donates money. Instead, Hastert said: “You know, I don’t know where George Soros gets his money. I don’t know where — if it comes from overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from.”

Unhappy with Hastert’s response, Soros wrote: “I can only assume that you launched your bogus charge in a feeble attempt to deflect my criticism of the administration’s failed policies. … You are attempting to stifle critical debate and intimidate those who believe this administration is leading the country in a ruinous direction. Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.”

Hastert concluded his letter by criticizing the so-called 527 political outfits, which can receive unlimited amounts of money.

“[They] set a dangerous precedent for political discourse because we don’t know where the money comes from. … Funding for some of the 527s might come from foreign sources or worse.”

Soros concluded, “Your reply willfully misrepresents my positions on drug policy. … Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives

by Jonathan Kaplan

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