Ex-Speaker Hastert's Portrait Removed from House Hallway

WASHINGTON (AP) — A portrait of former Speaker Dennis Hastert has been removed from a hallway outside the House chamber. Just last week, the Illinois Republican pleaded guilty to breaking banking laws in a hush money scheme.

The portrait has hung for years in the Speaker's Lobby, a plush area just outside the chamber where lawmakers and reporters congregate.

Spokeswoman AshLee Strong says new Speaker Paul Ryan felt it was time to "rotate in a different portrait."

Hastert pleaded guilty last Wednesday to evading banking laws. He acknowledged in a written agreement he tried paying someone $3.5 million to hide misconduct decades ago, around the period he was a high school wrestling coach.

Anonymous sources have told The Associated Press that the payments were meant to hide claims of sexual misconduct.