On Wednesday, Durkin said during the hearing he will consider Hastert’s initial claims that he had only taken the money out to keep it “in a safe place” as one of “the aggravating factors” in his sentencing, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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The former wrestler, identified in court documents as Individual D, is among at least four wrestling team members whom prosecutors say Hastert abused when he was a winning wrestling coach in a rural IL community from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will now come face to face with one of his accusers.
The FBI’s investigation led to Hastert’s indictment in May on charges of fraud and lying to federal agents, for misleading them about the goal of the payments.
Hastert’s attorneys have the option of challenging the truth of the abuse claims, but they have signaled they will not.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News past year that the misconduct mentioned in court documents refers to sexual misconduct allegations involving a young man that date back decades. Likewise if he had withdrawn money for other sensitive or embarrassing but entirely legal reasons: The pattern of withdrawals would still count as a crime under federal law, as the pamphlets that Hastert’s bank gave him explained. But prosecutors have asked for up to six months in prison for the man once second in line to the presidency.
Out of the other side of the mouth, Hastert’s defense team argues that a reduction in sentencing power should be applied on grounds that he has accepted responsibility for his misdeeds.
Pollard, Kvamme, and Hill all sit on the advisory board at what used to be called the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy at Wheaton College. A cover-up that authorities say Hastert continued until recently.
Jolene Burdge, the sister of a long-dead alleged Hastert sex abuse victim, will address the court, and so too will the victim identified in court papers as individual “D” who says Hastert performed a sex act on him after wrestling practice.
Individual A told investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office that he “was not sure if” Hastert touched or rubbed his genitals some 42 years ago.
The Friday night filing is the first time prosecutors have confirmed Hastert paid hush-money to hide sex abuse. The lawyers also took issue with prosecutors’ characterization of an encounter with Individual A, saying the episode “remains ambiguous”.
However, the agents reportedly listened to phone calls between Hastert and Individual A and learned there was no shakedown, just a cover-up.
Individual A had complained about a groin pull, so Hastert said he wanted to check it out and began massaging his groin area after telling him to remove his underwear, the federal court filing said.
Hastert’s conviction isn’t for sexual abuse, but for structuring cash withdrawals to avoid detection.
The memorandum was filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven A. Block and Diane MacArthur.
In response to another allegation, Hastert’s lawyers contend that he has “no recollection” of the sexual abuse. After his bankers told Hastert of their required reporting, he lowered the amounts of his withdrawals to less than $10,000 to evade exposure.
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“Individual A may still go public if he pursues Mr. Hastert civilly, as his lawyer has threatened to do, if Mr. Hastert does not pay Individual A the remaining $1.8 million from their initial arrangement, plus interest”, the lawyers wrote.
