Politics

Disgraced Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Dies At 84

Sadrulk/Wikimedia Commons

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys, died Saturday at the age of 84.

Hastert served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Republican House speaker. He became the highest-ranking elected official to serve a prison sentence in 2016 after being convicted of concealing hush money payments to cover up the sexual abuse of teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach.

The disgraced former speaker died of natural causes while under hospice care, the Kendall County coroner confirmed in a statement.

“On October 3, 2026, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the Kendall County Coroner’s Office was notified of the death of John Dennis Hastert, an 84-year-old resident of Plano, Illinois, who was pronounced deceased at his residence while under hospice care,” the coroner’s office said. “Following a review of the circumstances and consultation with hospice personnel, the Kendall County Coroner’s Office determined that the death did not meet the criteria for Coroner jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Coroner’s Office did not assume jurisdiction over this case and has released the matter to the appropriate attending hospice physician.”

Hastert served in Congress from 1987 to 2007. He became known as the “accidental speaker” after former Republican Louisiana Rep. Bob Livingston announced in December 1998 that he would not become speaker due to reports about his extramarital affairs. Hastert then gathered support from Republican leaders, prompting him to become speaker in 1999.

Hastert resigned from Congress on Nov. 26, 2007, and became a lobbyist and consultant.

The FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigated Hastert in 2013 surrounding suspicions that he was illegally structuring bank transactions. Hastert pleaded guilty in 2015 to violating banking laws by making repeated large cash withdrawals, which were revealed to be going to one of his victims.

The former speaker admitted to sexually abusing boys during his time as a wrestling coach. U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin, an Obama appointee, called Hastert a “serial child molester” and sentenced him to 15 months in prison. Hastert was never charged with any sex-related crimes.

Hastert served 13 months in prison before his release in 2017.