Ex-House speaker Hastert to appear in court June 9
By Fiona Ortiz CHICAGO (Reuters) - A federal arraignment was moved to June 9 on Tuesday for former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, who has been charged with trying to hide $3.5 million in payments he was making to conceal past misconduct. Hastert had been scheduled for arraignment on Thursday in United States District Court in Chicago. The court did not give a reason for the change in date. Hastert, 73, has made no public statement since the federal charges were filed last Thursday. He left Congress in 2007 after eight years as speaker, the longest time a Republican has held the powerful political post. According to the indictment, Hastert structured the withdrawal of $952,000 in cash to evade a requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000 and lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the withdrawals. The indictment said Hastert agreed several years ago to make a total of $3.5 million in payments to an individual to compensate for and conceal past misconduct. Several media outlets have cited law enforcement officials who said the past misconduct was sexual and dated from Hastert's time as a teacher and sports coach at Yorkville High School in rural Illinois. A court document lists Hastert's attorney as Barry Levine, the court clerk's office said, but the attorney of record will not be official until arraignment. A lawyer named Barry Levine works at the Dickstein Shapiro lobbying firm in Washington where Hastert used to work. That Levine did not respond to requests for comment on whether he was representing Hastert. The arraignment next Tuesday is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT (1500 ET) before U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin. It was unclear whether Durkin would retain the case. Federal campaign finance records show that Durkin as an attorney contributed $500 to Hastert's 2002 re-election campaign and $1,000 to his 2004 campaign. A person who answered the phone at Durkin's chambers on Tuesday declined to comment on a potential conflict of interest. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
