Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is going to jail for 15 months — not for sexually abusing students decades ago but for a $3.5 million coverup of the molest allegations.
“I’m deeply ashamed to be standing here today,” Hastert told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin.
If Hastert had told the truth about his hush-money payments, the judge said, “I’m not sure we’d be here today. Instead, he lied, and here we are.”
“Nothing is more stunning than having ‘serial child molester’ and ‘speaker of the House’ in the same sentence,” Durkin said.
Early reaction:
Hearing the #Hastert sentence, can’t help but think about Spotlight.
— Micheline Maynard (@MickiMaynard) April 27, 2016
Quick reminder that Hastert was convicted for hush money shenanigans, not for molestation (statute of limitations). https://t.co/ZhKNZYUUgu
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) April 27, 2016
It’s amazing that Hastert got away with this for decades because nobody talked, and he only got caught because of a banking law violation.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) April 27, 2016
Judge, on Hastert: “If there’s a public shaming of the defendant because of the conduct he’s engaged in, so be it.”
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) April 27, 2016
Seriously: did Hastert just stop doing this when he became a politician?
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 27, 2016