Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Indicted On Federal Charges

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58. The indictment says the payoffs were for bad acts prior to 1981

1. At times material to this indictment:
a. From approximately 1965 to 1981, defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville, Illinois. From approximately 1981 to 2007, defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT was an elected public official, including eight years as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. From approximately 2008 to the present, defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT has worked as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
b. Individual A has been a resident of Yorkville, Illinois and has known defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT
most of Individual A’s life.
c. In or about 2010, Individual A met with defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT multiple times. During at least one of the meetings, Individual A and defendant discussed past misconduct by defendant against Individual A that had occurred years earlier.
d. During the 2010 meetings and subsequent discussions, defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT agreed to provide Individual A $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against
Individual A.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2089603/hastert-indictment.pdf

The payoffs were specifically for "past misconduct by defendant against Individual A that had occurred years earlier." Given that Hastert's career prior to being elected to office was as a high school teacher and wrestling coach, it seems logical that sexual misconduct against a minor could be involved. Even though that would not longer be prosecutable, it is not something that a lobbyist - Hastert's career since retiring from elected office - would want to have known.