Dennis Hastert, longest-serving Republican House Speaker and convicted child molester, dies at 84

The late House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) was an accidental speaker.

And it was a sheer accident that the world learned a dark secret about Hastert, years after he left Capitol Hill.

It was twenty years ago, almost to the date. House Republicans were on the verge of losing their majority in the 2006 midterms. And their Speaker, Dennis Hastert, was in meltdown.

HIGHEST-RANKING US OFFICIAL TO EVER SERVE JAIL TIME, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT DEAD AT 84

Word had just broken that then-Rep.