Hastert's cash said tied to abuse report

In this July 31, 2000 file photo, House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill. gives a thumbs up after taking over as chairman of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Hastert’s career as House speaker both arose and ended amid the sex-related scandals of others. Now, eight years after leaving Congress, Hastert’s own legacy is threatened by an indictment charging financial misdeeds _ and cryptically referring to “misconduct” against an unnamed person.
In this July 31, 2000 file photo, House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill. gives a thumbs up after taking over as chairman of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Hastert’s career as House speaker both arose and ended amid the sex-related scandals of others. Now, eight years after leaving Congress, Hastert’s own legacy is threatened by an indictment charging financial misdeeds _ and cryptically referring to “misconduct” against an unnamed person.

WASHINGTON -- Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, was paying a man to not say publicly that Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, according to two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an FBI investigation into the payments.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the indictment of Hastert on allegations that he made cash withdrawals designed to hide those payments and for lying to federal authorities about the purpose of the withdrawals.

The man -- who was identified only as "Individual A" in the indictment -- told the FBI that he had been inappropriately touched by Hastert when Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach, the two people said Friday. The people briefed on the investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a federal investigation.

"It goes back a long way, back to then," one source said. "It has nothing to do with public corruption or a corruption scandal. Or to his time in office."

The FBI declined to comment.

It was not clear when the alleged behavior occurred. Thursday's indictment described the misconduct "against Individual A" as having "occurred years earlier."

According to court documents, Hastert was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville, Ill., from 1965 to 1981. The FBI was not able to substantiate the allegations beyond the man's statements.

Federal authorities unsealed an indictment of Hastert on Thursday, but it skirted the subject of what Hastert had done to the man that led to the payments.

The indictment said that in 2010, the man met with Hastert several times and that at one of those meetings Hastert agreed to pay him $3.5 million "in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against" the man.

The indictment said Hastert was structuring the cash withdrawals in increments designed to avoid bank reporting requirements. Federal prosecutors said in the indictment that Hastert, 73, had made cash withdrawals from banks in a way that was designed to hide that he was paying the person a total of $3.5 million. The indictment said that Hastert had made $1.7 million in payments so far.

The indictment also said Hastert, a Republican who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, had lied to the FBI about the transactions.

Yorkville is about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The indictment, announced by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said the recipient of the payments was from Yorkville and had known Hastert.

Kim Nerheim, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said Friday that Hastert's case had been assigned to Judge Thomas Durkin of U.S. District Court, who will schedule an arraignment for the former speaker, perhaps as early as next week.

Durkin, a former prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense lawyer who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2012, would accept a plea from Hastert and has set the calendar for the case, Nerheim said.

Hastert, who has been a lobbyist since leaving Congress, could not be reached for comment at his office in Washington. Nerheim said Friday that there was no lawyer of record for Hastert.

A statement released Friday by the Yorkville Community Unit School District confirmed that Hastert had worked for the district from 1965 to 1981 but said officials there first learned of concerns about him when the indictment was released Thursday.

"Yorkville Community Unit School District #115 has no knowledge of Mr. Hastert's alleged misconduct, nor has any individual contacted the District to report any such misconduct," the statement said. "If requested to do so, the District plans to cooperate fully with the U.S. Attorney's investigation into this matter."

At the White House, Josh Earnest, the press secretary said Obama supported efforts by lawyers in the Justice Department to hold public officials accountable.

"The president certainly believes they have an important job to do and expects them to do it," Earnest said.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael D. Shear, Michael S. Schmidt, Monica Davey and Carl Hulse of The New York Times and by Richard A. Serrano and Timothy M. Phelps of Tribune News Service.

A Section on 05/30/2015

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