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Chip Somodevilla \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nWASHINGTON \u2014 The Justice Department has indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on reporting evasion charges and lying to the FBI as part of an effort to conceal paying off the victim of \u201cprior bad acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an indictment handed down in the District Court of Northern Illinois, the Department of Justice and IRS charged Hastert, 73, with illegally transferring funds in an effort to avoid detection by the IRS, a scheme known as \u201cstructuring.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the indictment, Hastert is accused of agreeing to pay one individual $3.5 million.<\/p>\n
Although the indictment does not specify the \u201cbad acts,\u201d sources said they could be from before Hastert, who is now a lobbyist in Washington, entered politics in 1980. The indictment does, however, claim that Hastert agreed to make the payments \u201c[d]uring \u2026 2010 meetings and subsequent discussions.\u201d In at least one of those meetings, according to the indictment, Hastert and the individual \u201cdiscussed past misconduct by [Hastert against the individual] that had occurred years earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon agreed to withhold details of the alleged \u201cprior misconduct\u201d as part of an indictment against the Illinois Republican, two sources familiar with the case told BuzzFeed News<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the indictment, the FBI began, in 2013, investigating cash withdrawals allegedly made by Hastert \u201cas possible structuring of currency transactions to evade the reporting requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n When the FBI interviewed Hastert on Dec. 8, 2014, he was asked whether the purpose of the withdrawals was related to his lack of trust in the banking system, which he confirmed. According to the indictment, Hastert said, \u201cYeah \u2026 I kept the cash. That\u2019s what I\u2019m doing.\u201d The indictment counters that Hastert \u201cthen well knew, this statement was false,\u201d because he had agreed to provide the individual with $3.5 million \u201cto compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against\u201d the person.<\/p>\n Hastert spent 20 years in the House representing Illinois, and was elected Speaker of the House in 1999 after former Speaker Newt Gingrich retired and the heir apparent, former Rep. Bob Livingston, abruptly retired amid charges he had carried on inappropriate sexual affairs.<\/p>\n Hastert\u2019s tenure as speaker was marred by numerous scandals and controversies, including the political fight over Terri Schiavo, charges of corruption against Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley in 2006 after it was reported Foley had an inappropriate relationship with an underage House page.<\/p>\n In the wake of the 2006 election, in which Democrats retook control of the House and Senate in part because of the House Republican conference\u2019s repeated scandals, Hastert considered staying on in the Republican leadership, but instead retired. He became a lobbyist in D.C. On Thursday evening, a spokesperson said<\/a>he had resigned from Dickstein Shapiro, a Washington-based law and lobbying firm.<\/p>\n Prior to entering politics, Hastert was a teacher and football and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, from 1964 until 1980, when he was elected to the state House of Representatives. In 1976, he was named Illinois Class A \u201cCoach of the Year,\u201d the same year the team won the state championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Indicted On Federal\u00a0Charges The Justice Department charged the Illinois Republican Thursday for evading reporting requirements and lying to the FBI as part of a scheme to pay off the victim of \u201cprior bad acts.\u201d John … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ak-hdl.buzzfed.com\/static\/2015-05\/28\/21\/enhanced\/webdr08\/enhanced-10935-1432863364-10.png\")
Hastert, left, in 1975 as a wrestling coach <\/span>The Pantagraph<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"