Hastert's Scandal: Abuse and Financial Crimes

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s fall from power remains one of the most disturbing

scandals ever tied to a high-ranking American political figure. In 2016,

Hastert was sentenced not for the abuse itself too much time had legally passed but for financial

crimes linked to hush-money payments he made to an individual he had sexually abused decades earlier

when he was a high school wrestling coach. The case revealed a secret history

that had gone unspoken for years. Investigators uncovered that Hastert had withdrawn large

sums of cash in small increments to avoid detection, attempting to conceal a financial trail

connected to the abuse. In court, the judge openly referred to Hastert