Ex-Speaker Dennis Hastert recovering from a stroke
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, suffered a stroke early last month and has since been hospitalized, his lawyer revealed Thursday.
"I am confirming that during the first week of November our client Dennis Hastert was admitted to the hospital. Mr. Hastert has suffered a stroke and has been treated for Sepsis," his attorney Tom Green said in a statement obtained by CBS News.
"While in the hospital, two surgeries on his back were performed," Green said. "We are hopeful that Mr. Hastert will be released from the hospital in the early part of the new year. The family very much desires that during Mr. Hastert's continued hospitalization his privacy will be respected."
Hastert, 73, had pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of breaking federal banking laws. According to the federal indictment, Hastert paid $3.5 million to an unidentified person to cover up past wrongdoing. Law enforcement officials told CBS News that the money was used to cover up claims of sexual misconduct from Hastert's days coaching a high school wrestling team in Illinois.
Hastert served as speaker from 1999 until 2007 and served in Congress since 1987.