Embattled former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. district court in Chicago to charges of bank fraud and lying to the FBI, The Associated Press reported.
Judge Thomas M. Durkin ordered Hastert to have no contact with potential witnesses or alleged victims in the case and to remove any firearms from his property by June 23, according to the AP.
The bank-related charges stemmed from Hastert’s alleged agreement to pay $3.5 million in hush money to an unidentified individual in order to compensate for and conceal “prior misconduct” on Hastert’s part that had occurred years earlier, according to a federal grand jury indictment returned last month.
Later reports cited anonymous federal law enforcement officials who said the unidentified person, referred to in the indictment as “Individual A,” was a male student. The anonymous officials alleged that Hastert allegedly sexually abused that individual while teaching and coaching wrestling at a high school in Yorkville, lllinois between 1965 and 1981.
This post has been updated.
