Judge to leave Hastert case unless attorneys bring him back
Attorneys involved in the case against former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert have until Thursday to decide whether they want to keep Judge Thomas M. Durkin on the case even though he has ties to Hastert.
Hastert pleaded not guilty in a brief court hearing Tuesday to charges of breaking banking laws and lying to federal authorities about money they said was paid to buy silence about previous “misconduct.”
Afterward, Durkin said he would bow out of the case unless both sides notify him by 4 p.m. Thursday that they want him to remain.
The judge's announcement was one of the few surprises Tuesday as Hastert appeared in public for the first time since charges against him were announced May 28.
Hastert, 73, of Plano, sat between his attorneys and peered over his glasses with his hands clasped during the hearing in a packed courtroom on the 14th floor of the Dirksen Federal Building.
He was released on a $4,500 bail and ordered to have no contact with potential witnesses and to surrender his passport and firearms.
Earlier, Hastert had faced a mob of reporters as he was whisked through the public lobby. Then and on his way out, neither Hastert nor his attorneys said a word.
The next step comes when federal prosecutors and Hastert's attorneys, Thomas Green and John Gallo, decide whether they want Durkin to remain on the case.
“I have no doubt that I can be impartial in this matter,” Durkin said after disclosing his connections to Hastert and his family. “I am not so naive as to believe a reasonable person might question my impartiality.”
Elevated to the federal bench in December 2012, Durkin is the brother of longtime Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, a top GOP official in the state where Republican Hastert won election to Congress 11 times.
Durkin donated a total of $1,500 to Hastert's election campaigns in 2002 and 2004. He worked closely with Hastert's son, Ethan, a partner at Mayer Brown, where Durkin once worked.
Legal analyst Terry Sullivan of Rolling Meadows said he believes both sides will opt to keep Durkin on Hastert's case.
Sullivan believes the prosecution will like that Durkin is a former federal prosecutor. Sullivan also said it's common for judges to have donated to political campaigns while in private practice before taking the bench.
Hastert is accused in the federal indictment of violating banking laws and lying to federal agents about paying hush money to a person called “Individual A.” Prosecutors say Hastert paid about $1.7 million to Individual A between 2010 and 2014 to buy that person's silence about Hastert's past. Quoting unnamed federal agents, The Associated Press said the misconduct involved the sexual abuse of a student dating sometime from 1965 to 1981, when Hastert worked as a teacher and coach at Yorkville High School.
An estimated 100 news cameras greeted Hastert's arrival at the courthouse, where a long line formed hours earlier for access to the courtroom.
Outside the federal courthouse, advocates for child abuse victims from a group called Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests stood holding photos and talking to reporters.