Official: Hastert paid hush money to hide sexual misconduct

YORKVILLE, Ill. — Former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert allegedly made a series of illegally structured bank withdrawals as part of an effort to conceal past sexual misconduct with an unnamed person, a law enforcement official said.

The alleged misconduct occurred years ago when Hastert was an Illinois high school wrestling coach. The person is someone Hastert has known for most of his life, according to the official.

Federal authorities would not identify when the alleged misconduct occurred or the nature of it. But the New York Times, citing undisclosed sources, said that a man told the F.B.I. that he had been inappropriately touched by Mr. Hastert when Mr. Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach.

The Chicago Sun-Times and Buzzfeed cited anonymous sources who said investigators also interviewed a second alleged victim.

Hastert was indicted Thursday for allegedly evading reporting requirements related to the withdrawals and lying to the FBI about the cash used to "compensate'' the person, identified in court documents as "Individual A,'' for the past conduct.

A federal magistrate set a preliminary bond of $4,500 and Hastert is free on his own recognizance, according to court papers filed Friday.

Many on Capitol Hill were shocked at the news.

"It's surprising, I think that would be a universal response. And, of course, it remains to be seen what comes forth now. But it's very sad for him and sad, really, for the Congress. We don't like one of our former leaders to be in this kind of a situation," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told MSNBC.

"When Mr. Hastert was the speaker, our run for winning the House in '06 was to say that we were running against a culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence. At the time, there were many indictments, but we had no idea that that would include the speaker of the House . . . This is sad, because as I say, no matter what, it reflects poorly on the Congress of the United States."

In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "The Denny I served with worked hard on behalf of his constituents and the country. I'm shocked and saddened to learn of these reports."

On his home turf, the charges of wrongdoing against Hastert are almost unfathomable.

Hastert's friends in this town of about 17,000 can't square the picture that prosecutors painted in their indictment with the man they know.

For the people who knew Hastert — long before he became speaker — the picture is at odds with the man that launched his political career here and still counts many as friends. Prosecutors have not detailed the wrongdoing, but say the unidentified person was from Yorkville and knew Hastert for much of the individual's life.

Bob Evans, who taught with Hastert at Yorkville High School and roomed with him for a couple of years when they were young teachers, said Hastert was a down-to-earth teacher who never lost touch with his roots even after he was launched unexpectedly into the speakership.

The two coached wrestling and football together here in the 1970s, including the wrestling team that won the 1976 Class A championship.

After the indictment was announced, Evans jogged his memory to recall if there was anything that seemed even vaguely amiss.

"I tried to think back if there was something," said Evans, who called Hastert a good friend. "And no, no, no. There's nothing."

David Corwin, 75, said the federal charges against the Yorkville icon "make no sense.'' Corwin, a retired General Mills worker, said Hastert served as his son's high school wrestling coach, helping Scott Corwin win top state honors in the 1970s.

"He was a good influence through the years,'' the elder Corwin said, adding that Hastert took his son and other aspiring wrestlers to camps as far away as Virginia to help improve their skills.

"He is a good all-around person,'' he said. "I never heard a word of gossip or anything bad through all of these years. I'm a big fan of Denny. I talked to my son, and he couldn't believe it. He's all for Denny.''

Corwin described Hastert as a "humble, approachable guy'' who has been a low-key, yet visible figure around town, whether eating in local restaurants or supporting school athletic events.

"He doesn't live in a mansion; he's a down-to-earth person,'' Corwin said, adding that he last saw him a couple of months ago having lunch with Corwin's brother, the former speaker's next-door neighbor.

"We're all stunned by this,'' he said. "Until we know what this is, we just don't know what to think. We're all very concerned.''

When Hastert won the speakership, he came home to tell his constituents that he wasn't going to forget where he was from.

"I appreciate my home here on the Fox River and I never intended to make my home on the Potomac River. I will continue to do that," Hastert said then.

Even after leaving Congress and launching a lucrative career as a Washington lobbyist, Hastert frequently came home. Evans recalled ambling with Hastert through the halls of Yorkville High School a few years ago when Hastert came to the school for a wrestling tournament with his secret service detail in tow. They reminisced about their days as young teachers and coaches, and that 1976 championship.

"As important as he became, he never seemed to really change," Evans said.

Marla Steiner, 61, who served with Hastert as a Yorkville High School teacher, said the success of Hastert's wrestling teams made him "very, very popular with the kids.''

"During that time, any team that goes to a state championship was a big deal and he was,'' said Steiner, who taught French at the school from 1976 to 1980 when she went by the last name of Ortinau.

"You have to know that this was a small town and in the teacher's lounge, everybody knew everybody else's business,'' she said. "There was never any talk about Mr. Hastert. If there was something going on, somebody would have known about it.''

Steiner described her former colleague, who also served as the freshman class advisor, as "extremely affable.''

"The kids loved him,'' she said. "There are people you know you are not going to like. But he was not that person. Because of the success of the wrestling team, the athletes and the coaches were the stars.''

Steiner said she was "shocked'' by Thursday's indictment.

"For this to come out now, well, it's just crazy,'' she said.