Foley scandal forced Hastert to ‘shut down his campaign.’

When former Speaker Dennis Hastert announced his intention to resign from the House in August, he failed to mention his “campaign’s legal debt from the Foley scandal, or the settlement his lawyers were brokering with the FEC.” The Washington Post reports:

According to FEC documents, Hastert last January initially failed to disclose that legal fees had wiped out the final bit of cash he had in his campaign account. The Illinois Republican and former high school wrestling coach filed an amended finance report in February showing that his ’06 campaign had racked up $147,000 in legal expenses in connection with the Foley investigation. In order to avoid substantial fines (and further debt), Hastert quietly agreed last summer to shut down his campaign and pay a $1,000 penalty, the FEC documents show.