Dennis Hastert's lawyers are questioning whether what the former U.S. House speaker did to a former wrestler to whom he agreed to pay $3.5 million was actually sexual abuse.
An unsealed defense filing calls a motel-room incident given by the man at the center of the hush-money case "ambiguous." The man, known in court papers as "Individual A," was 14 and Hastert was a high school wrestling coach at the time.
Prosecutors say Individual A said Hastert suggested he could massage the boy's groin injury and touched him inappropriately. They described it as sexual abuse.
Defense attorneys say they "are not so certain that the incident qualifies as sexual misconduct" but that Hastert "deeply regrets" the episode. Hastert pleaded guilty to breaking banking law as he sought to pay Individual A. His sentencing is April 27.
