The L.A. Times is reporting Dennis Hastert, the former Republican House Speaker, paid over $1 million over alleged sexual misconduct.
Dennis Hastert, the fourth-longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of the U.S., allegedly was paying $3.5 million to a man over sexual misconduct that occurred when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois, according to a report in today’s L.A. Times. The indictment states Hastert paid approximately $1.7 million of the $3.5 million promised.
Hastert was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday, on charges related attempts to evade cash reporting requirements and lying to the FBI.
The L.A. Times refers to “two federal law enforcement officials,” but would not name them.
“One of the officials, who would not speak publicly about the federal charges in Chicago, said ‘Individual A,’ as the person is described in Thursday’s federal indictment, was a man and that the alleged misconduct was unrelated to Hastert’s tenure in Congress. The actions date to Hastert’s time as a Yorkville, Ill., high school wrestling coach and teacher, the official said.”
“It goes back a long way, back to then,†the source said. “It has nothing to do with public corruption or a corruption scandal. Or to his time in office.† Thursday’s indictment described the misconduct “against Individual A†as having “occurred years earlier.â€
Asked why Hastert was making the payments, the official said it was to conceal Hastert’s past relationship with the male. “It was sex,’’ the source said. The other official confirmed that the misconduct involved sexual abuse.
Also in the news today was an odd call recorded when Hastert was on a C-SPAN program in 2014. A man named Bruce asked Hastert if he remembered him, then laughed and hung up.Â
UPDATE:
The New York Times adds that the man identified as “Individual A” “told the F.B.I. that he had been touched by Mr. Hastert when Mr. Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach, the two people said on Friday.”
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Image by U.S. Navy via WikimediaÂ