Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago as we speak and is expected to plead guilty today to charges of “skirting banking laws and lying to the FBI“:
Dennis #Hastert is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges in roughly two hours: https://t.co/HNEyR5XDyg pic.twitter.com/JsD5NxX8mZ
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) October 28, 2015
Dennis #Hastert has arrived at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for his expected guilty plea. No comment. pic.twitter.com/T6PqUthbTw
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) October 28, 2015
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert arrived at the Federal courthouse about 7:21 CDT to get his guilty plea on the record.
— Mike Tobin (@MikeTobinFox) October 28, 2015
The guilty plea is somewhat of a win for Hastert as it will keep certain details of the “hush money” case private. From NBC Chicago:
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert arrived to federal court in Chicago Wednesday, where he is expected to enter a guilty plea to resolve charges that he lied to the FBI about financial crimes associated with an alleged hush-money scandal stemming from “improprieties” committed decades ago.
Earlier in October, lawyers for both sides said they reached a plea agreement to avoid a trial and help keep details of the case secret. The deal will also allow prosecutors to claim a victory, however.
“Hastert was motivated to reach a settlement because he was concerned about potentially embarrassing facts coming out,” said John Marshall law professor Hugh Mundy. “The government has a motive to settle because it a certainty that a guilty verdict will be returned.”
An indictment last May alleged the 73-year-old Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to an “Individual A” to hide unspecified past wrongdoing. The Associated Press and other media, citing anonymous sources, have reported that the payments were meant to conceal claims of sexual misconduct.
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According to ABC News, this makes Hastert “the first ex-Speaker to be convicted of a crime since the Civil War.”
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