CHICAGO — Former speaker Dennis Hastert is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday, breaking a nearly two-week silence since prosecutors unveiled charges alleging that he lied to the FBI about illegally structured bank withdrawals he made to pay off someone from his past to keep quiet about decades-old wrongdoing.
Hastert, the longest-serving GOP speaker in history, and his legal team have not commented since the charges were made public May 28, and the former speaker's first court appearance is expected to be brief.
As part of the arraignment, he is scheduled to enter a plea and then will be processed by the
Prosecutors say Hastert made nearly half of $3.5 million in payments he agreed to make to a person described in a federal indictment as "Individual A," someone who has known Hastert for years and is from Yorkville, Ill., where the former speaker taught and coached high school wrestling before entering politics.
The nature of the conduct in the indictment was not specified, but a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY that the activity was sexual in nature and involved a male at the time of Hastert's tenure as a teacher and coach at
Noted white-collar defense attorney Thomas Green will serve as Hastert's lead counsel, according to court documents filed on Monday.
Green has been involved in several high-profile cases involving politicians and government officials over the years. He represented former assistant attorney general
Last week, the sister of a former Yorkville student, who had served as an equipment manager for a Hastert's wrestling team more than 40 years ago, accused Hastert of sexually abusing her brother when he was a student.
Jolene Burdge told ABC News that her brother, Steve Reinboldt, who died of AIDS in 1995, confided to her that he was the victim of four years of sexual abuse by Hastert. Reinboldt graduated in 1971. Burdge said she never asked for money from Hastert, but believes that the unidentified "Individual A" is familiar with what happened with her brother.
The former Republican lawmaker will be appearing before Judge
Hastert began making $50,000 payments to the individual in 2010, prosecutors say. In July 2012, he reduced the withdrawals from his personal bank account to try to circumvent federal rules that require banks to report withdrawals $10,000 and greater to the IRS.
The FBI and IRS began investigating Hastert to determine whether Hastert could be using the money for a criminal purpose, was a victim of extortion or was using the money for some other reason, the indictment said.
Prosecutors said Hastert lied to FBI agents about the withdrawals when they interviewed him late last year.
When agents asked if he was withdrawing the money because he did not feel safe with the banking system, Hastert allegedly responded, "Yeah ... I kept the cash. That's what I'm doing."
Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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