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Judge on Dennis Hastert Case Donated at Least Twice to His Campaigns

The federal judge assigned to the criminal case against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert donated at least twice to his congressional campaigns.
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Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated one of the donations as $200.

The federal judge assigned to the criminal case against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert donated at least twice to his congressional campaigns, according to campaign finance records.

Hastert was indicted Thursday on charges that he made bank withdrawals in a way that would prevent him from adhering to federal reporting requirements and then lied about it to the FBI. A federal law enforcement official said Friday that Hastert was securing the funds in order to pay a man to conceal acts of sexual misconduct that occurred while the man was a student at the high school where Hastert once taught.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Durkin, who is assigned to the case, gave $500 to the Hastert for Congress Committee in 2002 and $1,000 to the campaign in 2004, according to financial records.

Related: Dennis Hastert Indictment: Illinois School District Says It Has 'No Knowledge' of Misconduct

Durkin was nominated to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Illinois by President Barack Obama in 2012, according to a White House statement released at the time. Before that, and at the time he donated to Hastert's campaigns, he was a partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown LLP for nearly two decades, according to the statement.

Two representatives from Durkin's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday evening.