Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring money withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements, but he still has the backing of a few ex lawmakers he served with, according to BuzzFeed.
While the statute of limitations has run out, Hastert admitted Wednesday that he had abused young men on his wrestling team when he was their coach. Two Hastert allies, however, are standing by him even casting doubt on Hastert’s guilt.
“I don’t know anything about the people who have come forward,” former Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) told BuzzFeed in an interview. “I know somebody was trying to extort him for money and instead of punishing that person, why I guess they’ve been given immunity so they can cook up some phony crime of structuring and go after Denny Hastert and try and hurt his reputation and everything. That bothers me.”
Doolittle and former Republican Rep. Thomas Ewing (R-IL) told BuzzFeed that they still supported Hastert even as Ewing told the news organization that he thought the 15-month sentence the judge handed down was appropriate. As Buzzfeed reported, they and other lawmakers had written letters ahead of the sentencing defending him and highlighting his leadership in the House.
Doolittle also told BuzzFeed that if he were still in Congress, he would vote to reform structuring laws,because he says it is a ridiculous crime.
“I don’t think spending one’s own money, for whatever purpose, ought to be a federal crime,” Doolittle told BuzzFeed. “So I strongly object to that whole idea. The whole idea of structuring makes no sense and I would vote to repeal that crime if I were still in Congress.”
Correction: This post has been updated to reflect the actual sentence of Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. He will be serving 15 months, not years.
