Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Dead at 84

Former Speaker Dennis Hastert, who was convicted and spent time behind bars in a hush money case tied to the sexual abuse of teens. 

Hastert was considered a "serial child molester" by the sentencing judge in the case closely related to his time as a high school boys wrestling coach, according to the New York Times. 

According to the Kendall County coroner’s office, he died Saturday night in Plano, Illinois, where he was having in-home hospice care. 

‘Hastert admitted at his sentencing that he sexually abused teenage wrestlers as young as 14 whom he coached at Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Ill.,..The federal judge who sentenced Mr. Hastert called him “a serial child molester.” https://t.co/ASzaTnv3qa via @NYTimes

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) October 5, 2026

His death was the result of “natural causes,” according to the coroner’s office. 

Hastert was the successor to Speaker Newt Gingrich in the role, serving in the position from 1999 until 2007, and he was then succeeded by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He represented Illinois in the lower chamber from 1987 until 2007. Prior to Congress, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives.

🚨 BREAKING: Dennis Hastert, the nation’s longest-serving Republican House speaker, who helped turn much of President George W. Bush’s agenda into law before his own political legacy was forever fouled by allegations that he molested high school athletes when he was a wrestling coach, died over the weekend, a coroner said Monday. He was 84. https://t.co/hAwAARidEg

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) October 5, 2026

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