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 Law enforcement officials have said Hastert was using the money to
try to cover up sexual abuse of a male decades ago when the former
Republican congressman worked as a high school wrestling coach and
teacher, according to media reports.
Hastert's attorneys, Thomas Green and John Gallo, entered the plea
on his behalf in a brief arraignment hearing before Judge Thomas
Durkin in Chicago's federal courthouse.
Hunched over, with a shock of white hair, and speaking in a whisper,
the 73-year-old Hastert, once second in line for the presidency,
stood between his two lawyers and said: "Yes, your honor," when
Durkin asked him if he understood the conditions of his pre-trial
release.
Durkin set a $4,500 appearance bond and ordered him to surrender his
passport and remove firearms from his property.
Since he was indicted on May 28, Hastert has not made any public
statements about the charges or the allegations that the payments
amounted to hush money.
 Dozens of television cameras and reporters jostled Hastert and his
team of lawyers as he entered and left the building. Neither Hastert
nor his attorneys stopped to answer questions.
According to the indictment, Hastert 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.
Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville
High School in the 1960s and 1970s.
Hastert had not been seen in public since the indictment. ABC News
filmed Hastert early on Tuesday as he and his wife were driving away
from their farm in Wisconsin, stopping at a gas station in their
black SUV and arriving at their home in the Illinois town of Plano,
about an hour's drive from Chicago.
RESIGNED FROM LOBBYING FIRM, BOARDS
Hastert led the House for eight years before leaving Congress in
2007. He was the longest-serving Republican speaker.
After the indictment, Hastert resigned from the Dickstein Shapiro
lobbying firm in Washington 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 a policy center.
He hired Green, a prominent white-color criminal defense attorney
from Washington, to represent him.
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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.
Hastert then told the FBI he was keeping the cash for himself, which
the indictment said was a false statement.
The person receiving the payments has yet to be identified. But the
identity of another alleged victim has emerged. The sister of a
former student at Yorkville High School told ABC News on Friday
Hastert had sexually abused her brother, who is now dead.
It was not clear whether Durkin will continue to preside over the
case. Durkin said he did not have close ties to the parties, a
financial interest or conflict, but made campaign contributions to
Hastert years ago through a partner in the law firm where Durkin
worked. He has offered to disqualify himself.
Prosecutors and Hastert's attorneys have until Thursday to decide
whether they will waive the disqualification, he said.
Afterward, the case will be transferred to another judge, or Durkin
will establish a pre-trial calendar with lawyers.
(Additional reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Mohammad
Zargham and Peter Cooney)
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reserved.]
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