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A Woman in Montana Accused Former Speaker Hastert of Sexually Abusing Her Brother

An unrelated accusation that suggests Hastert may have had inappropriate relationships with more than one minor during his days as a high school wrestling coach.

Screencap via YouTube user US House History

Jolene Burdge, a woman in Billings, Montana, told the Associated Press Thursday that Dennis Hastert abused her brother, Steve Burdge, decades ago, when Steve was on the high school wrestling team Hastert coached. She told Good Morning America on Friday, "He damaged Steve, I think, more than any of us will ever know."

On May 29, Hastert was indicted for concealing transactions and lying to the FBI. Later that day, anonymous law enforcement officials whispered to the press that the hush money was being paid to conceal alleged sexual misconduct, per the terms of a clandestine agreement made in 2010, according to the indictment. The unidentified victim of that misconduct, known as "Individual A" claims he was touched inappropriately in Hastert's days as a high school wrestling coach in Illinois.

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Burdge died of AIDS in Los Angeles in 1995, and doesn't appear to have been involved in a secret arrangement with Hastert in 2010. But this revelation points to the possibility of multiple victims. Jolene Burdge also claims there was much more than inappropriate touching involved. She says Burdge and Hastert carried on a relationship that continued throughout Burdge's time in high school.

Hastert, who has resigned from his lobbying firm in the wake of the indictment, has not been charged with sexual abuse. So far, he has not answered media requests for comment on this new accusation.

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