Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s secrets will remain secret, at least for now. In court this morning Hastert pleaded guilty to violating federal banking laws. He admitted he made 106 cash withdrawals of just under ten thousand dollars each to skirt reporting requirements.
Hastert was paying the money to someone known only as ‘Individual A’ to keep confidential some past misconduct. The exact nature of that conduct was not discussed in a 15-page plea agreement filed with the court today.
It could potentially come up at Hastert’s February sentencing hearing though Hastert’s lawyers will likely do whatever they can to avoid that. Hastert faces a sentence of 0 to 6 months in prison for the banking fraud.