|
 The decision by Wheaton College to change the name of the J.
Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy is
part of the early fallout from a scandal that is still unfolding.
Hastert, 73, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives from
1999 to 2007, was indicted on Thursday for withdrawing hundreds of
thousands of dollars in cash in small increments to evade reporting
rules on large bank movements, and then lying to the FBI about the
money. [ID:nL1N0YJ2T1]
The federal indictment said Hastert paid the money to someone to
conceal and compensate for past misconduct. Hastert promised a total
of $3.5 million to the person in hush money, it said.
The cash exchanges had to do with sexual contact decades ago with a
male former student of Hastert when he was a high school coach and
teacher in Yorkville, Illinois, various national media have
reported, citing unnamed law-enforcement officials. [ID:nL1N0YK1WF]
"The secret was big enough in his mind that he was willing to pay
millions of dollars," said Jeffery Cramer, senior managing director
of Kroll Investigations and former federal prosecutor in Chicago,
who is not involved in the case.
Hastert has not made any public statements since the charges were
made public on Thursday, nor has a defense lawyer surfaced.
 According to financial disclosure forms from his last year in
Congress, 2007, Hastert lives on a rural property in Plano,
Illinois, near his hometown of Yorkville. He also owns a farm in
Wisconsin, a 50 percent stake in a commercial building in
Plainfield, Illinois, and a townhome in Washington. He was worth
between $3 million and $12 million.
Reuters was not able to reach Hastert, who did not return phone
calls. His home in Plano, southwest of Chicago, is not visible from
the road, and a fence announces that trespassers will be prosecuted.
He is due to be arraigned this week in Chicago, before federal Judge
Thomas Durkin. The magistrate on the indictment recommended bail of
$4,500, but that can change at the court appearance.
'DENNY' OF YORKVILLE
The Chicago Tribune reported on Sunday that federal sources said
that a second man "accused Hastert of past sexual misconduct." The
newspaper did not name its sources. Any allegations of sexual abuse
from the 1960s or 1970s would not lead to prosecution since the
statute of limitations has run its course.
In Yorkville, 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Chicago, a rural city of
17,000 where chickens and horses roam the farmland and everyone
still knows everyone by name, acquaintances had trouble believing
the charges.
Area residents know Hastert as "Denny" and were quick to cite his
good character and approachability despite having risen so high.
Several residents over the age of 50 said almost everyone who grew
up in the area had some sort of experience with Hastert, a teacher
and coach at Yorkville High School in the 1960s and 1970s.
"There was never an inkling of anything wrong. He was always revered
as a great coach and great guy," said a man in his 50s who played
football at Yorkville as a freshman when Hastert was assistant coach
on the sophomore team. He did not want to give his name for
publication.
Another man in his early 50s, eating at a Dairy Queen, said he
thought so highly of Hastert that he crossed party lines to vote for
him.
[to top of second column] |
"I'm a democrat and I voted for him," the man said. "Everyone is
innocent until proven guilty. He is a good guy. Maybe he just feared
the allegation would ruin him."
WEALTHY LOBBYIST
Hastert's years as speaker were book-ended by two sex scandals
involving other lawmakers. But he was always seen as above the dirt.
Hastert was propelled to the speaker's chair in 1999 following the
departure of predecessor Newt Gingrich. He was considered by fellow
Republicans to be a patient listener, kept a lower profile and was
seen as having a softer edge than the abrasive and hard-charging
Gingrich.
Gingrich stepped down three days after the 1998 elections, which
took place amid House impeachment proceedings against President Bill
Clinton over his sexual affair with a female intern. Gingrich's
would-be successor, Representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana, then
was forced out by another sex scandal before he even assumed the
speaker's post.
Shell-shocked House Republicans reached a consensus within hours
that Hastert, often referred to as "the coach" and known to talk in
sports metaphors about his "squad," should be the next leader.
Another sex scandal cast a shadow over Hastert's last months at the
helm of the House in 2006 and 2007. Republican Representative Mark
Foley of Florida was caught sending inappropriate emails to
congressional pages, the teenagers who run chores and errands for
members of Congress.
Hastert said he did not know of the extreme nature of the emails
until they were reported in the press and thought earlier signs of
trouble had been addressed. The House ethics committee said, without
finding any wrongdoing, that the House leadership had responded
inadequately to the problem.
After he left Congress, Hastert became a well-compensated lobbyist.
In 2014, according to public filings, Hastert earned $105,000 cash
and $100,000 in stock awards for serving on the board of the
exchange operator CME Group Inc, as well as $22,500 cash serving on
the board of REX American Resources.
Hastert resigned on Friday from both of those boards, from the
Washington lobbying firm Dickstein Shapiro, and from the board of
advisers to the center that once bore his name at Wheaton, in
Chicago's Western suburbs.
(Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis, Richard Cowan
in Washington, and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Writing
by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
