Why would former speaker of the house Dennis Hastert agree to pay 3.4m in hush money in 2010, at the age of 68, for a transgression at least 30 years old?

Hastert has made a lot of money because he has influence in Congress. And if the story came out, he would lose that influence and lose his ability to make more money.

He might have very damning evidence, more than just a memory of naked wrestling moves.

There is the additional likelihood that as with the Cosby story, this is not an isolated incident, and the man wants to stop the snowball from becoming an avalanche.

Why would anybody? Because they have a lot to lose.

How can we possibly know more than we already do (or think we do) until more information comes out!

Wonder how Denny feels today… he paid $3 million and now his dirty secret is pretty much out.

He should ask for a refund.

It could also lead to an investigation which could turn up other stuff. If he was abusing a student, chances are decent that his family may also still be full of abuse stories that he’s afraid of getting out.

In the abused families I’ve heard about, there are always multiple cases, and other family members involved. No one really escapes the impact, and it’s often heavily covered up, and revelation tends to be greatly feared.

My money’s with @stanleybmanly and @Zaku. Likely there is more abuse out there.

I will, however, concede that protecting his lifelong reputation and ability to pull in untold millions more are possibilities. 3.5 million might have seemed a small price.

Amazing how honest the crooks in Washington seem to be these days. No off-shore accounts. No Mafia connections. No ‘specialized’ accountants.

He’s a very pious religious dude and he just wanted to protect the family line.~

That’s not a transgression, that is taboo, criminal behavior. It’s not an affair with another consenting adult, or smoking pot 30 years ago.

Assuming he’s guilty, then, @JLeslie?
What could the proof be, 30 years later?

Couldn’t it be that he thought it better to pay and avoid a smear on his otherwise proud life-long record of public service?

^^As people said above, maybe he is worried about others coming out of the word work.

Whoopi Goldberg has said settling a lawsuit doesn’t mean the person really did something wrong. She basically was trying to say when you have power and money people will come after you and sometimes you just need to shut the situation down. Hastert isn’t being sued, but it’s similar I guess. Maybe he was advised to not let it become public.

I didn’t even know about this story until this Q, and I don’t know Hastert. If he is a holy roller, always talking family values, and wanted to impeach Clinton; American hate hypocrisy.

Remember when David Letterman went public about an affair because someone tried to blackmail him? Everyone thought it was great he just came clean. That wouldn’t work with molesting a minor.

I don’t know if there needs to be proof of that for the public to turn on you.

Why are there so many of these cases involving conservative family values spouting religious fundamentalists? Can you think of any case where someone advocating free love turned out to be a child molester? Is hypocrisy a particular danger for those on the right?

It’s a mixed bag @LostInParadise, with John Edwards probably being the modern American political sex scandal, topping even Bill Clinton.
Child abuse doesn’t seem to be a factor on either side.

@ibstubro – don’t forget Gary Hart – he did himself in through his stupidity and hubris.

I almost gave Hart an dishonorable mention, @elbanditoroso. but I never personally liked or trusted the man…never believed he was Presidential material.

John Edwards, on the other hand, had me hook, line, and sinker. And it was so stupid! There was no way it was not going to come out.

You can accuse Hart, Edwards and Clinton of a number of things, but hypocrisy is not among them. They did not go around touting their family values. By contrast, look at New Gingrich. At the time that he was talking about Clinton’s infidelity and pushing for his impeachment, Gingrich cheated on his wife while she was in the hospital and then visited her asking for a divorce. What a scumbag!

Edwards was very much pictured the family man, and Bill, Hillary and Chelsea were certainly presented as the happy family on the campaign trail.

Bill and Hillary were a happy couple and still are in their own way. Bill is one of Hillary’s biggest campaigners.

@LostInParadise

But you must understand Newt just loved his country so much that he couldn’t help boning his secretary. It’s different when you envision that it’s the legs of sweet Lady Liberty that you’re parting.

I remember that line. Apparently nobody bought into it. He took his home state and I think one other in the primaries. It is good to know that Newt will never again hold public office. I hope he enjoys his retirement.

As those of us in Georgia say, @LostInParadise – “no Newts is good Newts”.

I’m not sure he even won Georgia that year – he was roundly disliked.

I read somewhere that a second person had been interviewed and confirmed the abuse. Lost the citation.

I don’t think that Hart, Clinton, or Edwards are in any way comparable to Hastert. We don’t know what sorts of arrangements the former may have had with their spouses. Open relationships are a lot more common than people realize, and prudish American society would never allow its politicians to speak openly about it. So for all we know, some of them had full permission from their wives to screw around on the side (and some of the wives may have been doing it themselves). There is no such thing as consensual child molestation, however.

@SavoirFaire

I can very much imagine that the Clintons had some kind “do whatever you want, but be careful about it” arrangement.