Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has closed out his political action committee, giving $10,000 to his legal defense fund, according to federal election records.
Hastert emptied out his Keep Our Mission PAC on June 30, including the money given to the J. Dennis Hastert Defense Trust, which listed the New Hampshire address of a lakeside home belonging to businessman and Republican donor James Rooney.
Rooney could not be reached for comment Friday.
Hastert, 73, was charged in May with violating federal banking regulations and then lying to the FBI about his financial activities.
Federal law enforcement sources told the Tribune and other news media that the alleged scheme was to cover up sexual abuse Hastert committed against a former student at Yorkville High School, where the politician was a teacher and wrestling coach from 1965 to 1981.
Authorities said Hastert committed the crime of “structuring” by making large cash withdrawals from his bank accounts in amounts intended to skirt financial disclosure laws. Authorities allege that over four years starting in 2010, Hastert withdrew $1.7 million of a promised $3.5 million payoff for a person referred to in court papers as “Individual A.”
Hastert has appeared in court once to enter a plea of not guilty. In the meantime, prosecutors have taken steps to seal court records in the case to protect the identity of Individual A. The Tribune was unable to reach Hastert’s defense lawyers for comment, but one of them, Thomas Green, told Politico that the former speaker hoped to create a large war chest to defend himself against the charges. The donation and the existence of a Hastert defense fund were first reported by Politico.
Hastert, who retired from Congress in 2007, lives in Plano but has maintained a presence in Washington, D.C., as he has pursued a lucrative career as a lobbyist. The Washington firm that employed him as a lobbyist severed ties with him in the wake of the charges.