"He's been out of office since 2007. He suddenly becomes a victim of sexual extortion. Why would someone successfully begin extorting him and then tell the feds? It's got a sleazy ring to it. TM"
@ThirstyMan

There were rumors about Haster since at least 2006. They are mentioned in this article which also discusses Hastert's role in covering up sexual misconduct by another congressman.

Flashback: Investigative Journalist Broke Ex-Speaker Hastert Blackmail Sex Scandal in 2006:
http://www.infowars.com/flashback-invest...candal-in-2006/


Hastert got taken down by the Patriot Act he championed:

What We Know (and what we don’t) About the Denny Hastert Indictment
Hastert accused of "smurfing," or making "structured" deposits in order to avoid detection

"Former House speaker Dennis Hastert's indictment on charges that he broke bank laws by withdrawing large sums of money and then lied about it to federal officials has roiled the political world, with the reverberations from the news just now starting to be truly felt in the nation's capital.

It's a complicated case -- and a very fluid story. With that in mind, here's what we know -- and what we don't -- about what Hastert (R-Ill.) allegedly did, according to the seven-page indictment released Thursday.
What We Know

* In 2010, Hastert agreed to give an unnamed person $3.5 million "to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A."

* The "prior misconduct" occurred before Hastert entered politics in 1981. (He was elected to the Illinois state House in the election of 1980.) "Individual A" is from Yorkville, a city very close to Hastert's home town of Plano -- a far western suburb of Chicago. Hastert worked as a teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville from 1965 to 1981.

* Between 2010 and 2015, Hastert took out more than $1.7 million in cash from a variety of bank accounts to make good on this promised payment. Federal prosecutors allege that roughly half of that money was illegally withdrawn.

* The law Hastert allegedly broke dictates that any cash withdrawal over $10,000 be accompanied by a Currency Transaction Report filed by the bank to the federal government. "The federal law requiring these reports was passed to safeguard the financial industry from threats posed by money laundering and other financial crime," according to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). "To comply with this law, financial institutions must obtain personal identification information about the individual conducting the transaction such as a Social Security number as well as a driver’s license or other government issued document. This requirement applies whether the individual conducting the transaction has an account relationship with the institution or not." These regulations grew out of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which is formally known as the "Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-...ert-indictment/

As to why wait until 2010 to blackmail Hastert, perhaps it took making the money he was paid as a lobbiest since leaving DC to make it worth while to blackmail him. Perhaps something else is going on. him.