what the indictment says what he was doing with all that cash was he was paying someone off regularly and regularly scheduled payoffs, paying somebody off to make good on, sort of compensate for and also to cover up something that denny hastert had allegedly done wrong to that person years ago. we don t know what that is. here s two things to consider. this is going to sound like it s really out of left field, but it s a connection to this that seems like we ought to consider given this given the opacity of the indictment on this point. do you remember the sibel edmonds case? she was an fbi translator saying she had been fired when she tried to expose legal and scandalous things she had overheard in her job as an fbi translator. one of the things, one of the lower-profile things she alleged
obscurity and made him the next speaker of the house, next in line to the presidency after the vice president. they found their die.guy. newt gingrich was the powerful speaker of the house, then he was gone after the election replaced by bob livingston of louisiana. now he s gone, the result of extramarital affairs. and he will likely be replaced by whom? nbc s gwen ifill. reporter: dennis hastert s profile is so low that even after six terms in congress most americans, even many in washington have no idea who he is. but republicans say the former wrestling coach is just who they need to rally their team. i didn t really seek this at all. it just kind of happened. we needed to heal the wounds and needed to reach out across the aisle. reporter: allies say hastert is a fixer who can talk to democrats and republicans now rocked with internal strife. the members wanted someone they know was solid, a man of integrity, no personal problems but also could lead this team
bills manage service appointments and find answers to your questions. you can even check your connection status on your phone. now it s easier than ever to manage your account. get started at xfinity.com/myaccount former house speaker dennis hastert accused of paying hush money to an unidentified person and lying to the fbi. according to the federal indictment hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to a person identified only as individual a. the nature of the alleged misconduct is unclear. another huge scandal brewing this morning, fifa president joseph sepp blatter facing an uphill battle today as he runs
reporter for the washington post. robert, did this come as out of left field to gop politicos as it seemed to come out of left field to all of us today, when this crossed the wires? i ve spoken to several top republicans and close friends of former speaker hastert and they re stunned. they never expected this. and he s someone who s always kept close counsel. someone who was a candid figure a colorful figure even when he was inside of the house. but most interesting about this chris, these references in the indictment, perhaps his time as a teacher at yorkville high school. so let s be clear on the dennis hastert buy bio here. this is a man who was famously high school football and wrestling coach. and every profile you ever read about denny hastert, the guy was every man, high school football and wrestling coach and teacher. it says that individual a is
scuttlebutt that so and so is under investigation for such and such. this is one of the few times in my 40 years of washington illinois politics that something has come completely out of the blue. there hadn t been an inkling of acknowledgment that anything was going on with respect to denny hastert and past transgressions. and so i agree with the previous guests that this is about as shocking as a political indictment can be. what was hastert s reputation like in illinois politics? obviously illinois politics can be a bit of a cesspool. there s you could line up quite a perp walk of illinois politicians. what was hashastert s political reputation? first context, chris, illinois is regarded as the third most corrupt state in the nation chicago the most corrupt city. denny hastert comes out of what s called the illinois combine. the combine was republicans and democrats who controlled the political structure and it was a mix of business and contractors