Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who was indicted Thursday for lying to the FBI about huge cash withdrawals, was reportedly paying a man to conceal a sexual misconduct involving that man at some point in the past, federal law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times Friday.
The misconduct dates back to Hastert’s time as a high school wrestling coach and teacher in Yorkville, Ill., and does not relate to Hastert’s time in Congress, the report said.
“It goes back a long way, back to then,” a source that would not speak publicly told the L.A. Times. “It has nothing to do with public corruption or a corruption scandal. Or to his time in office.”
Another official confirmed to the L.A. Times that the misconduct involved sexual abuse.
Washington Examiner reported that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Thursday Hastert met with “Individual A” in about 2010, and agreed to pay this person $3.5 million “in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A” but was silent as to the reason for the payments.
The L.A. Times source, a federal law enforcement official, confirmed the reason for the payments: “It was sex.”
