Hastert judge wants review of ex-speaker's medical records
Source: Associated Press
Hastert judge wants review of ex-speaker's medical records
Michael Tarm, Associated Press
Updated 5:26 pm, Wednesday, March 16, 2016
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge overseeing Dennis Hastert's hush-money case on Wednesday ordered an independent review of the former U.S. House speaker's medical records, a move that follows a delay in Hastert's sentencing after his lawyers said he had nearly died and remained in poor health.
The three-sentence order filed by Judge Thomas M. Durkin in U.S. District Court in Chicago doesn't explain the need for an expert to "provide an independent report to the court on the defendant's medical condition," including whether the judge might doubt the severity of Hastert's illness as described by defense lawyers.
Hastert pleaded guilty on Oct. 28 to violating bank laws in seeking to pay someone $3.5 million in hush money.
In his plea agreement, the 74-year-old Republican acknowledged he sought to pay someone to hide his misconduct against that person dating back decades to around the time he was a high school wrestling coach. The Associated Press and other media outlets, citing anonymous sources, have reported that Hastert wanted to hide claims that he sexually molested someone.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Hearing-in-Dennis-Hastert-hush-money-case-held-in-6893197.php
