Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has arrived at a federal courthouse in Chicago this morning where he is expected to file a guilty plea regarding hush-money payments to a victim who had accused Hastert of sexual misconduct.
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Hastert pleaded guilty to one count in the indictment, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. According to an indictment, Hastert, who was a teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville before he got into politics in the early 1980s, agreed to pay someone $3.5 million to cover up “past misconduct” against the person.
Several United States media outlets cited anonymous sources in reporting the payments were to hide claims of sexual misconduct.
In the plea agreement he admitted to paying $1.7-million in cash to an individual he had known for decades, in order to buy that person’s silence regarding past misconduct and to compensate for the misconduct.
Before pleading guilty, Hastert told the judge he’s in good health, “considering I’m 73 years old”.
Hastert pleaded guilty to “structuring”, or evading requirements for banks to report large cash transactions.
Hastert was also charged with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the payoff scheme. A judge will make the final decision on the terms of the sentence and may reject the prosecutor’s recommendation.
He will remain free on bail until sentencing on 29 February.
Hastert’s brief written statement was narrow, saying that he structured bank withdrawals in a way that they would not be detected.
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The allegations against the Republican, who was second in line to the USA presidency as House Speaker from 1999 to 2007, stunned Capitol Hill. After leaving Congress, he become a high-paid lobbyist. After learning withdrawals over $10,000 are flagged, he supposedly began taking out smaller increments, eventually withdrawing $952,000 from 2012 to 2014. Said Illinois political analyst Dick Simpson: “No congressman will want to meet with him about anything”.
