Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House, has died at 84. His political career ended in disgrace after he admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys decades earlier.
Hastert led the House from 1999 to 2007, becoming one of the most powerful figures in Washington. He represented an Illinois district for two decades before rising to the speaker’s chair.
The abuse dated back to his time as a high school wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, from 1965 to 1981. He admitted in 2016 that he had molested multiple boys during those years.
Prosecutors revealed the abuse during a hush-money case tied to payments Hastert made to one accuser. He had agreed to pay $3.5 million to keep the allegations quiet.
Hastert pleaded guilty in 2016 to structuring bank withdrawals to evade reporting requirements. A judge sentenced him to 15 months in prison and ordered him to pay $250,000 in fines.
The case shattered his reputation as a family-values conservative who once called himself a “coach first.” Victims came forward years later, describing lasting trauma from the abuse.
Hastert served his sentence and was released in 2017. He largely withdrew from public life after his conviction, living quietly in Illinois.
His death marks the end of a political saga that forced a reckoning within Congress. Colleagues who once served alongside him largely distanced themselves after the allegations surfaced.
