Former House Speaker Hastert will plead guilty in hush money case, his lawyers say
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has agreed to plead guilty in a case alleging he paid $3.5 million in hush money, his lawyers disclosed in court on Thursday.
Hastert is expected to plead guilty on Oct. 28, report the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. The written plea agreement will be submitted to the judge on Monday.
The details of the plea deal are still unknown. A May indictment accused Hastert of structuring cash withdrawals to avoid detection and lying about it to the FBI.
The indictment didn’t say why Hastert was making the payments, but press reports indicated the money was paid to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct with a male high school student. Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, before he entered politics as a Republican.
Hastert was working as a senior policy adviser at Dickstein Shapiro until his May resignation. He was co-leader of the firm’s public policy and political law practice group before until his May resignation.
