Former Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert Indicted - NBC News


The longest serving Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has been indicted on federal charges for paying hush money to an unidentified person, then lying to the FBI.

Hastert was reportedly paying someone $3.5 million dollars for, as of now, an unknown reason. This person was a long time acquaintance of Hastert's.

Hastert initially was withdrawing the amounts in $50,000 increments, but changed to $10,000 to avoid IRS scrutiny. This is where the lying to the FBI comes in.

Washington is reeling from this news and close acquaintances reportedly have said they were stunned. Hastert has been working as a lobbyist, but his name has been deleted from the firm's website. As in all cases, Hastert is innocent until proven otherwise.