Dennis Hastert, Longtime Republican House Speaker Who Went To Prison, Dies At Age 84

Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican House speaker and a key architect of George W. Bush-era legislation including major tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug expansion, died over the weekend at 84, according to the Kendall County coroner. He led the House from 1999 to 2007, succeeding Newt Gingrich.

In 2015 Hastert was charged with evading banking regulations while paying hush money over what prosecutors later revealed was the sexual abuse of at least four wrestling team members he coached between 1965 and 1981. He paid over $1.7 million of a promised $3.5 million before pleading guilty and receiving a 15-month sentence in 2016, with the sentencing judge calling him a 'serial child molester.'

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