Former House Speaker Hastert indicted

Posted on May 29, 2015

Dennis Hastert served as U.S. House Speaker from 1999 to 2007, the longest any Republican ever served as speaker.
(Photo by Doug Bowman/flickr)

CHICAGO – Former U.S. House Speaker Denny Hastert is in trouble with the FBI.

Hastert, of Plano, was indicted on charges of structuring currency transactions and lying to the FBI. From 2010 to 2014, Hastert allegedly withdrew $1.7 million in cash from various bank accounts, $952,000 of which was withdrawn in increments less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements, and provided it to a person identified as Individual A. Then he falsely stated that he was keeping the cash when questioned by the FBI, according to the U.S. attorney.

Individual A is identified as someone from Yorkville to whom Hastert was making payments that were to total $3.5 million as restitution for and to conceal unspecified past misconduct, which may have occurred before Hastert entered politics in 1980. By the time the alleged payments occurred, Hastert was out of politics.

The charges were announced by the FBI, the U.S. attorney in Chicago and the IRS.

Hastert, 73, had a political career that included the Illinois House of Representatives, 1981-86, and the U.S. House of Representatives, 1987-2007. He was speaker from 1999-2007 – the longest any Republican ever served as speaker.

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