|
 According to an indictment, Hastert, 73, was trying to evade
detection of $3.5 million in payments he had promised to make to
someone from his hometown of Yorkville, Illinois, to conceal past
misconduct against the person.
Law enforcement officials have said that the misconduct Hastert was
trying to cover up was sexual contact with a male, according to
reports in national media outlets.
The Illinois Republican, who has not appeared in public or made any
statements since he was indicted on May 28, was a high school
teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in the 1960s
and 1970s.
Thomas Green, a prominent Washington, D.C., white-collar defense
attorney with the Sidley Austin law firm, will represent Hastert,
according to court documents and the law firm. Green declined to
comment on the case.
 Hastert led the House for eight years before leaving Congress in
2007. He was the longest-ever serving Republican Speaker.
After the indictment, Hastert resigned from the Dickstein Shapiro
lobbying firm in Washington, where he worked, and from the boards of
exchange operator CME Group Inc and REX American Resources.
His alma mater, Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, removed his
name from its policy center.
Hastert lives on a rural property in Plano, Illinois, near
Yorkville. He also owns a farm in Wisconsin and other Midwestern
properties.
According to the indictment, Hastert withdrew $1.7 million in cash
from his bank accounts from 2010 to 2014. He is charged with
"structuring" $952,000 of those withdrawals, taking the funds out in
increments of under $10,000 to evade the requirement that banks
report large cash transactions.
[to top of second column] |
Hastert then told the FBI that he was keeping the cash for himself,
which the indictment said was a false statement.
The person receiving the payments has yet to come forward or be
identified. But another possible victim has emerged. The sister of a
student at Yorkville High School told ABC News on Friday Hastert had
sexually abused her brother, who is now deceased.
The arraignment is before District Judge Thomas Durkin in the
federal courthouse in Chicago. The District Court for the Northern
District of Illinois announced special media guidelines for
proceedings including an overflow room for reporters.
(Additional reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Eric Walsh)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
