^^As people said above, maybe he is worried about others coming out of the word work.
Whoopi Goldberg has said settling a lawsuit doesn’t mean the person really did something wrong. She basically was trying to say when you have power and money people will come after you and sometimes you just need to shut the situation down. Hastert isn’t being sued, but it’s similar I guess. Maybe he was advised to not let it become public.
I didn’t even know about this story until this Q, and I don’t know Hastert. If he is a holy roller, always talking family values, and wanted to impeach Clinton; American hate hypocrisy.
Remember when David Letterman went public about an affair because someone tried to blackmail him? Everyone thought it was great he just came clean. That wouldn’t work with molesting a minor.
I don’t know if there needs to be proof of that for the public to turn on you.