WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Former U.S. House of Repre-sentatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, indicted on Thursday on federal criminal charges, was paying a male from his past to try to conceal sexual misconduct, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday, citing two unnamed federal law enforcement officials.
One of the officials cited by the newspaper said the alleged misconduct involved a male and occurred during Hastert’s time as a high school wrestling coach and teacher in Yorkville, Illinois, before becoming a lawmaker.
Hastert could not immediately be reached for comment.
The New York Times also reported that Hastert was paying a man to not say publicly that Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, citing two people briefed on evidence uncovered in an FBI investigation.
Announcing the charges on Thursday, prosecutors said they related to Hastert’s alleged effort to hide $3.5 million in payments he was making to a person to conceal past misconduct but did not detail the nature of the misconduct.
Asked why Hastert, an Illinois Republican who become his party’s longest-serving House speaker before leaving Congress in 2007, was making the payments, the official cited by the Los Angeles Times told the paper it was intended to conceal Hastert’s past relationship with the male.
“It was sex,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hastert, 73, was charged with structuring the withdrawal of $952,000 in cash to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000, and lying to the FBI about his withdrawals.
Each count of the two-count indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Before his terms in Congress, Hastert served three terms as an Illinois state representative and was a teacher at Yorkville High School about 45 miles (70 km) southwest of Chicago for 16 years.
The New York Times reported that the man told the FBI he was inappropriately touched by Hastert during Hastert’s time as a high school teacher and coach.
