Ex-House speaker settles child sexual abuse payments suit

FILE - This March 5, 2008 file photo shows former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert on the Illinois House of Representatives floor at the state capitol in Springfield, Ill. A man who sued Hastert for refusing to pay him $1.8 million in exchange for his silence about Hastert's sexual abuse of him decades ago will be named in court if the case goes to trial, a judge ruled on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File) (Seth Perlman, AP2008)

YORKVILLE, Ill. – Once powerful former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a man who accused him of child sexual abuse reached a tentative out-of-court settlement Wednesday over Hastert’s refusal to pay $1.8 million in exchange for his silence, lawyers for both men said.

The lawyers would not release details of the settlement in the case, which was set to go to trial next week in an Illinois court.

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The man has been referred to only as James Doe in court papers since the breach of contract lawsuit was filed in 2016. He had said Hastert paid him only about half of the promised $3.5 million in hush money.