June 09--Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrived at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon for his arraignment on federal charges that he paid hush money to cover up wrongdoing in his past and then lied about it to the FBI.
Dressed in a blue tie and dark suit, Hastert got out of a black vehicle at 12:45 p.m. amid a scrum of cameramen and reporters. He was escorted by several Homeland Security officers through the revolving doors and went through security, not responding to shouts for comment.
Hastert got on an elevator to the 11th floor to apparently meet with the pretrial services department before his 2 p.m. arraignment. He was accompanied by three attorneys, one of whom shouted "Watch it!" as cameramen crowded in near the revolving door.
Earlier in the day, Hastert arrived at the Loop offices of the Sidley Austin law firm. Reporters yelled to him through the closed window of the vehicle, but the former U.S. House speaker did not respond.
Dozens of television crews and reporters from around the country were camped out at the federal courthouse awaiting Hastert's arraignment before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Durkin. The court hearing will be the Illinois Republican's first court appearance since the bombshell charges against him were unveiled nearly two weeks ago.
To manage what is expected to be a media frenzy, court officials were allowing reporters who want to be in the courtroom for the hearing to begin lining up on the 14th Floor at 11:30 am.
Security officials said several reporters tried to line up earlier in the morning but were turned away.
An overflow courtroom with a live video feed has been set up next door to Durkin's room, and the audio of the hearing will also be streamed in the second-floor pressroom.
The indictment alleges Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to someone from his days as a high school teacher not to reveal a secret about past misconduct by the former House speaker.
The arraignment will be a procedural hearing that's usually over in minutes and is rarely illuminating.
New court filings are in keeping with the theme of secrecy in Hastert's case. Prosecutors filed a bail report and a supplemental document under seal Tuesday before his court appearance.
Bail reports usually aren't made public because they include financial information about a defendant and can include details from investigators that haven't yet been revealed.
Tuesday's hearing comes amid a deepening mystery surrounding Hastert's alleged wrongdoing during his days as a high school teacher and wrestling coach decades ago in Yorkville. The carefully worded, seven-page indictment unsealed May 28 only hinted at Hastert's dark past in alleging he had agreed to willingly pay $3.5 million to a person identified as Individual A to hide previous wrongdoing, but federal law enforcement sources have said Hastert was making the payments to conceal sexual abuse of a Yorkville High School student.
Since the charges were filed, other details have bubbled to the surface. Law enforcement sources said the FBI had interviewed a second person who raised similar allegations of sexual abuse against Hastert that corroborated the account of Individual A. Last week, a onetime Yorkville resident took to national television to say Hastert abused her now-deceased brother while he was a student.
Amid the disclosures, Hastert has remained silent, staying out of public view while reporters scoured his home base in the western suburbs for clues. Numerous former wrestlers under Hastert who have been contacted by the Tribune have either declined to comment or said they do not know the identity of the person described as Individual A.
Adding to the intrigue, no lawyer stepped forward to defend Hastert in the media as typically happens in high-profile criminal cases. It wasn't until Monday afternoon that the identity of Hastert's attorney was even made public when Thomas C. Green, a longtime white-collar defense attorney with the law firm of Sidley Austin in Washington, filed his appearance with the court.
Hastert follows a well-trodden path of other Illinois politicians who have walked through the revolving doors at the federal courthouse. Several recent governors, Chicago aldermen and other public figures have entered pleas in the same building.
Among the most recent was former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, and former Gov. George Ryan, a Republican. Both men were eventually convicted on corruption charges.
jmeisner@tribpub.com
The Associated Press contributed.
