Judge Will Continue to Preside Over Hastert Case

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin will continue to preside over former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s case, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Durkin had previously said he believed he could remain impartial in the case, but allowed lawyers to decide whether he should be replaced.

Durkin had donated $500 to the “Hastert for Congress” campaign in 2002 and $1,000 in 2004. He was an attorney at a Chicago law firm at the time of the donations.

Durkin also acknowledged that before he became a judge he worked in private practice with Hastert’s son, Ethan. He described their relationship as “friendly business colleagues” and said he doesn’t consider the younger Hastert a personal friend.

The judge also worked with one of Hastert’s defense attorneys who is a former assistant U.S. attorney and with the two prosecutors when he was employed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. He also said his brother is the Republican leader of the Illinois House, but is not a friend of Hastert.

Hastert has been charged with lying to the FBI and evading federal rules governing bank transactions, according to an indictment released Thursday, May 28.

Hastert withdrew large sums of money in order to pay off a person known only as Individual A, according to the indictment.

The indictment states:

In or about 2010, Individual A met with defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT multiple times. During at least one of the meetings, Individual A and defendant discussed past misconduct by defendant against Individual A that had occurred years earlier.

During the 2010 meetings and subsequent discussions, defendant JOHN DENNIS HASTERT agreed to provide Individual A $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A.

Shortly thereafter, defendant began providing Individual A cash payments.

It later came out that the misconduct mentioned in the indictment was of a sexual nature that occurred when Hastert was employed by Yorkville High School as a teacher and wrestling coach.

Jolene Burdge recently told ABC News that her late brother, Steven Reinboldt, was a victim of Hastert’s but said Reinboldt was not Individual A and neither she nor her brother ever received money from Hastert.