Dennis Hastert Pleads Not Guilty in Federal Case Targeting Bank Withdrawals

Ex-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, arriving at court in Chicago on Tuesday, is accused of lying about cash withdrawals.

 

CHICAGO — After days of silence, J. Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he illegally structured bank withdrawals and lied to the authorities about millions of dollars he had promised to pay

someone for misconduct that occurred decades ago.

In a dark pinstripe suit and with his familiar helmet of gray hair, Mr. Hastert, 73, stood slightly stooped before the judge, flanked by lawyers, quietly answering the judge’s questions with a simple “yes” or “yes, sir.” It was the first time the once-powerful former congressman had appeared in public since the charges were announced last month, and he was met with a chaotic crush of news media in the federal courthouse here.

The provisions of his release were routine yet stark for a man whose career arc had carried him from revered, small-town wrestling coach to the Illinois Statehouse and on to one of the top leadership posts in Congress. In addition to posting a $4,500 bond, Mr. Hastert was ordered to surrender his passport, remain in the continental United States, advise the court of any change in his address, and remove guns from his home within two weeks.

He was also ordered to avoid contact with anyone who might be a witness or an accuser in his case.

Mr. Hastert waived reading of the charges, and the hearing lasted less than 20 minutes. One of his lawyers, Thomas C. Green, who is from Washington and has broad experience representing public officials facing criminal investigations, formally offered the not guilty plea.

Mr. Hastert was indicted in late May on charges of structuring cash withdrawals and lying to federal investigators in connection to what prosecutors described as an arrangement to pay a person, identified only as Individual A, a total of $3.5 million in exchange for not revealing Mr. Hastert’s misconduct against that individual.

Two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an F.B.I. investigation have said that Mr. Hastert, who once taught and coached wrestling at a high school in suburban Yorkville, Ill., was paying a former student not to say publicly that Mr. Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago. According to the indictment, Mr. Hastert, who had a lucrative career as a Washington lobbyist after leaving Congress in 2007, withdrew $1.7 million over the last four years to pay the individual.

The indictment does not include charges of sexual abuse. Legal experts said the statute of limitations had almost certainly run out on any such claims. Mr. Hastert worked as a teacher and coach in Yorkville, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, from 1965 to 1981.

Instead, Mr. Hastert is accused of structuring his cash withdrawals in amounts less than $10,000 in order to avoid requirements that banks report larger sums. Generally, such structuring charges are part of drug or money-laundering cases and accompany other charges, like tax violations or embezzlement, rather than stand-alone accusations. While structuring cases can be complicated to prosecute, former prosecutors said this one appeared to be relatively straightforward.