Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s alleged sexual abuse of a male student when he was a high school teacher wasn’t completely unknown in the halls of Congress.
Former Rep. Mel Watt, D-North Carolina, acknowledged this week that “someone” told him about Hastert’s alleged abuse more than 15 years ago while he and Hastert were both members of Congress.
“Over 15 years ago I heard an unseemly rumor,” Watt, who is now director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in a statement given to CNN on Wednesday morning.
The Huffington Post reported Tuesday that “an intermediary for the family of the abuse victim” had told Watt about the alleged sexual abuse.
But Watt refuted that claim, saying the person “was not an intermediary or advocate for the alleged victim’s family.”
Watt did not act on the information, and Hastert’s alleged abuse only came to light last week when the former House speaker was indicted for lying to the FBI about agreeing to pay $3.5 million to “cover up past misconduct.” Sources told CNN Friday that the “misconduct” was in fact alleged sexual abuse.
Watt defended his decision not to act on what he chalked up as “an unseemly rumor.”
“It would not be the first nor last time that I, as a Member of Congress, would hear rumors or innuendoes about colleagues. I had no direct knowledge of any abuse by former Speaker Hastert and, therefore, took no action,” he said in his statement.
