FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

The VICE Guide to Right Now

(UPDATED) Former House Speaker Hastert’s Hush Money Indictment Linked to Alleged Sexual Misconduct

He was allegedly involved in some sketchy dealings with some entity the indictment calls "Individual A."

Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Stephen P. Weaver

UPDATE 4:41 PM EDT: According to sources in law enforcement who spoke anonymously to news outlets, Hastert was paying to cover up past sexual misconduct. An unidentified man claims to have been inappropriately touched by Hastert during Hastert's days as a wrestling coach and high school teacher in Yorkville, Illinois.

On Thursday, Dennis Hastert, a Republican former congressman who served as Speaker of the House for almost the entire Bush administration, was slapped with charges of lying to the FBI and engaging in some sketchy banking.

Advertisement

The financial impropriety was some kind of long-term arrangement Hastert had going on with a mysterious entity the seven-page indictment refers to only as "Individual A."

Apparently "Individual A" demanded $3.5 million over the course of four years to "compensate for and conceal" some unnamed past indiscretion.

In order to make payments every six weeks without anyone noticing, Hastert allegedly withdrew the money in a tricky, illegal way that avoided transaction reporting requirements. The FBI began an investigation in 2013, and when they questioned him in 2014, the indictment alleges that he lied when he said, "Yeah… I kept the cash. That's what I'm doing."

Hastert left Congress in 2007 and has been working as a lobbyist ever since, according to the New York Times.

Want Some In-Depth Stories About Political Scandals?

1. A Brief History of Crimes Committed in the White House 2. How the Backroom Dealings of a Bizarre Florida Eye Doctor Could Bring Down a US Senator 3. The State Department Will Start Releasing Hillary Clinton's Emails June 30 4. A Vegas Prankster Tricked Right-Wing Media With a Fake Story About Harry Reid Getting Beaten Up

Follow Mike Pearl on Twitter.