Dennis Hastert reportedly tells friends: 'I am a victim, too'

Dennis Hastert
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

CBS' local affiliate in Chicago reports that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is telling friends that he, too, is the victim of a burgeoning scandal surrounding his alleged payment of millions of dollars to a former student to keep quiet about Hastert's "prior misconduct," in the words of federal authorities.

It has subsequently been reported that Hastert allegedly sexually abused this student at the high school where he worked in Yorkville, Illinois, before entering politics.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.