Dennis Hastert, disgraced former House speaker, dies at 84
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has died at age 84. Hastert, once the longest-serving Republican speaker, saw his legacy permanently tarnished by a 2016 conviction related to hush money payments covering up past sexual abuse.
Why it matters
The death of a high-ranking political figure who fell from grace due to criminal scandal marks the end of a controversial chapter in American legislative history.
Washington — Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who represented Illinois for two decades in Congress and was jailed for violating banking laws, has died, a coroner in Illinois said. He was 84.Both the longest-serving Republican House speaker and the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to serve a prison sentence, Hastert's stunning fall from grace came in 2016, when he was sentenced to 15 months in prison on charges related to his concealment of hush money payments made to cover up his sexual abuse of teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach. Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed Monday that Hastert died at his home over the weekend due to natural causes. No further details were given. Born in 1942 in Aurora, Illinois, Hastert grew up in a farming community.
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