ABC News reports former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may have sexually abused the student equipment manager of his high school wrestling team as the team’s coach.

“In an emotional interview, Steve Reinbodlt’s sister Jolene said she first learned of her late brother’s purported years-long sexual abuse at the hands of the future Speaker of the House back in 1979 when her older brother revealed to her that he was gay and had been out of high school for eight years.”

“Sources knowledgeable of the case told ABC News Hastert was paying a man — still unidentified except as ‘Individual A’ — hundreds of thousands of dollars to hide that Hastert had engaged in sexual misconduct with him while Hastert was the high school wrestling coach. Jolene never asked for money from Hastert, but his sister believes that ‘Individual A’ is familiar with what happened with her brother. She does not know who Individual A is, but she said she’s thankful that Hastert’s alleged misconduct is coming to light.”

Politico: “The federal judge assigned to preside over the criminal case against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) donated at least twice to Hastert’s congressional campaigns… U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Durkin gave Hastert for Congress $500 in 2002 and $1000 in 2004… The donations could fuel questions about the judge’s impartiality in the case.”

Washington Post: “Hastert’s longtime network of aides and associates in Washington remain bewildered by the lack of information, both about the nature of the sexual abuse allegations and whether Hastert has even hired a criminal defense lawyer. When a current or former public official is charged, usually an attorney representing the official quickly releases a statement defending his client. Yet no information has been made available about the identity of Hastert’s legal team.”

“In another unusual aspect of Hastert’s case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago said Hastert would be ordered to appear for arraignment on a ‘later date’ in federal court, but that date has not yet been specified. Initial court appearances quickly follow an indictment in most federal cases.”

Ana Marie Cox: “How did Hastert happen to have enough money lying around that paying out $3.5 million was even within the realm of possibility?”

“Hastert’s ability to participate in the blackmail is, after all, itself a general indictment of D.C.’s ‘revolving door’ money culture, in which former lawmakers move easily from government into lobbying. In Hastert’s case, the ability to profit off of one’s legislative position is especially galling: While in office, Hastert used the earmarking process to turn his investment in some Illinois farmland into a profit of 140 percent when a federal highway project just happened to make its way through those very fields. Indeed, it was this instance of a completely legal form of insider trading that helped prompt Congress to end earmarks.”

“And, of course, Hastert made even more money once he was out of office. One study found that, on average—and when the information is publicly available—former lawmakers get a 1,425 percent raise when they make the jump from Capitol Hill to K Street. Hastert, who was worth between $4 million and $17 million when he left Congress, was making $175,000 as a representative. His K Street bump would be to almost $2.5 million a year.”

Noah Feldman: “There’s something very worrisome about the government secrecy here — particularly in conjunction with the criminal prosecution on the morally mild charge of withdrawal structuring. I’d sum up the secrecy problem this way: Either Hastert did something terrible, in which case the government shouldn’t be suppressing it, or Hastert was being unjustifiably blackmailed, in which case the government shouldn’t be prosecuting him for breaking the withdrawal laws to avoid ruin.”

Indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) was paying an individual from his past to conceal sexual misconduct, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“One of the officials… said Individual A, as the person is described in Thursday’s federal indictment, was a man and that the alleged misconduct was unrelated to Hastert’s tenure in Congress. The actions date to Hastert’s time as a Yorkville, Ill., high school wrestling coach and teacher… The other official confirmed that the misconduct involved sexual abuse.”

The New York Times says that Hastert “was paying a man to not say publicly that Mr. Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago.”

Meanwhile, BuzzFeed reports investigators considered including a second victim in indictment but ultimately chose not to.

Federal prosecutors charged former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) with illegally structuring cash withdrawals from bank accounts to make payments to someone he committed “prior misconduct” against and lying to the FBI about it, the Chicago Sun Times reports.

“Hastert is accused of splitting up the withdrawal of $952,000 to avoid the requirement that banks report withdrawals of more than $10,000. When asked about it by the FBI in the December 2014, he allegedly lied and said he was keeping the cash.”