Report: Hastert contests impending lawsuit from prison
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is fighting from his own jail cell a lawsuit that demands him to pay the entirety of the $3.5 million out-of-court settlement or hush money he promised to a victim of his past sexual abuse, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In 2010, Hastert started paying Individual A, the victim of Hastert's sexual abuse who's responsible for filing the charges, $1.7 million over a four-year period to keep silent.
Hastert stopped paying him, the Tribune said, when the FBI began questioning him in December 2014 over suspicious bank withdrawals connected to the hush money. Hastert's attorney says the out-of-court agreement "is not enforceable" because "it was filed far beyond the statute of limitations, and the man did not keep his end of the deal when he disclosed the misconduct to authorities."
Individual A's lawsuit on the outstanding payments from the out-of-court settlement was filed in April. The attorneys for both sides are expected to convene in court Monday, but it is not clear whether the Kendall County judge will dismiss the case based on Hastert's attorney's logic.
Hastert, who worked as a teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in a Chicago suburb throughout the 1970s before his political career, is currently serving a 15-month sentence at the Rochester Federal Medical Center in Minnesota.
He originally drew the FBI inquiry over questionable banking activities attempting to pay for Individual A's silence on his violations.
After Hastert was indicted on charges stemming from illegally structured bank withdrawals last fall, more former students told investigators that the former House speaker had abused them -- four individuals made what were considered to be "credible" sexual misconduct allegations against Hastert.
In April Hastert admitted he sexually abused the teenage athletes when he coached the high school wrestling team.
The 15-month sentence for Hastert is not the only penalty for his disgraced actions. When Hastert gets out, he will have to finish sex-offender treatment, submit to a two-year supervised release program and pay a total of $250,000 in fines.