Dennis Hastert has taken a step back from public life since leaving his Speaker of the House position eight years ago. However, this May an investigation uncovered 3.5 million dollars that Hastert had illegally earmarked. Hastert had invested small amounts of money into a “highway project” and made a 2 million dollar profit from it. He lied to the FBI about his financial gains but in 2013, a lawsuit against a Hastert's business partner was dropped .
After much speculation, the media now has an idea on where some of that 3.5 million dollars was going. An “Individual A” spoke out to the FBI and claims that in 2010 he received 1.7 million dollars to keep silent about sexual abuse by the politician who had been his wrestling coach while Hastert was a high school teacher in Yorkville, Illinois in the 60s and 70s. At this point, it is unknown whether Hastert volunteered the hush money or was blackmailed, and no one knows whether the money can be recovered or where it is now.
Jeff Jerabek, who was a member of Coach Hastert’s wrestling team believes these accusations are lies, but Jolene Burdge says her brother, Steve Burdge, who was also a member of the team was abused by Hastert. Burdge, a gay man who passed away from AIDS in 1995, allegedly told a friend that when, “[Steve] told me that he was gay. He also said that his first sexual encounter was with Denny Hastert.” There is no evidence that Hastert any money changed hands between Hastert and Burdge.
No evidence has surfaced to suggest that Hastert’s alleged history of sexual abuse continued after he went into politics in 1981. He gained a seat in the House of Representatives for Illinois as a Republican. He was the longest-running Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, but he eventually stepped down when the Democratic Party took over. Because he was influential during the Clinton was impeachment hearings, the hypocrisy is not lost on the media. Hastert whose voting record on queer issues is negative, kept to himself after leaving office until this scandal brought him back into newspaper pages.
Now after five months of investigation, Hastert's attorney, John Gallo, announced that a written plea is being arranged. On Oct. 28, Hastert will plead guilty and hear his punishment which will include repaying damages and quite possibly jail time. Avoiding a trial will allow Individual A to remain anonymous, but it will also allow Hastert to deal with this quickly and relatively quietly. His guilty plea will be made public on Thursday, Oct. 28.
