Then-US House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert in Washington in 2006. Photo: Reuters

 

Washington: Dennis Hastert, the former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, was paying a man to not say publicly that Mr Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, according to two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an FBI investigation into the payments.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the indictment of Mr Hastert on allegations that he made cash withdrawals designed to hide those payments and for lying to federal authorities about the purpose of the withdrawals.

The man – who was not identified in court papers – told the FBI that he had been touched by Mr Hastert when Mr Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach, the two people said on Friday.

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The FBI declined to comment.

It was not clear when the alleged behaviour occurred. But according to court documents, Mr Hastert was a high school teacher and coach in Yorkville, Illinois, from 1965 to 1981. The FBI was not able to substantiate the allegations beyond the man's statements.

Federal authorities unsealed an indictment of Mr Hastert on Thursday, although it skirted the issue of what Mr Hastert had done to the man that led to the payments.

The indictment said that in 2010, the man met with Mr Hastert several times, and that at one of those meetings Mr Hastert agreed to pay him $US3.5 million ($4.6 million) "in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against" the man.

The indictment stunned Mr Hastert's friends and former Capitol Hill colleagues, who said on Friday that they were struggling to make sense of the federal charges against him.

"In my dealings with Denny, he was always straight up, above board and never even close to crossing the line on anything," said Tom Davis, who represented Virginia as a Republican House member.

Kim Nerheim, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's office, said that Mr Hastert's case had been assigned to Judge Thomas M. Durkin of US District Court, who will schedule an arraignment for the former speaker, perhaps as early as next week.

New York Times