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McCollum: Former House Speaker Hastert “Betrayed Community, Constituents, Colleagues and Country”

April 27, 2016

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) issued the following statement today following the sentencing in Federal District Court of former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to 15 months in prison for illegal bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of students while he was a high school wrestling coach:

“There is neither joy nor sufficient justice in today’s sentencing of a man and former House Speaker who inflicted lifetimes of pain on his victims. Mr. Hastert is a perpetrator of child sexual abuse who used a facade of moral authority to commit and then cover-up his crimes. The courageous testimony of one of his victims at today’s hearing clearly demonstrated Mr. Hastert’s betrayal of his community, constituents, colleagues and country. The victims and their families deserve our support and compassion after suffering for far too long.”