‘James Doe,’ Dennis Hastert sex abuse accuser, to be identified in upcoming breach of contract lawsuit jury trial

YORKVILLE – After five years in court, a Kendall County judge has ruled the real name of a man known as James Doe will become public at the start of the upcoming jury trial for a $1.8 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

John Ellis, Hastert’s lawyer, said in court Thursday, Sept. 9, at the Kendall County Courthouse he is in favor of Doe’s real name becoming public because he believes keeping the case name James Doe v. John Dennis Hastert “prejudices the defendant.”

“Because it makes it seem like this is a case where some question of abuse or misconduct is the question that needs to be determined by the jury,” Ellis said. “This is a breach of contract case. The plaintiff is going to appear in open court. He’s going to be photographed and videotaped. ... and [the news media covering this case] already know who he is.”

Kristi Browne, Doe’s lawyer, said it’s true that some people in news media know who he is, but the general news reporting ethics policy is that, “without that name becoming public and without the permission of the victim, they don’t publish it.”

“So it’s my understanding that, unless it gets published in his courtroom, they won’t publish his name,” Browne said.

Browne’s comments came after certain court documents ,including a deposition from Hastert, which were supposed to be under seal, were filed unredacted and briefly made publicly available within Kendall County court records, according to lawyers in the case and court officials. The documents originally were filed under seal but appeared to have been accidentally unsealed by circuit court clerk office employees, 23rd Circuit Chief Judge Robert Pilmer said in a court hearing for the case about two years ago.

Browne said she believes her client is “entitled to that protection” that testifying under a fictitious name would afford him as an alleged survivor of sexual abuse.

“I’m at a catch-22 here, where this defendant testified in his deposition that it was all just a big misunderstanding and he didn’t abuse my client,” Browne said. “So at this point in time, this jury does need to decide that, and my client deserves the same protections that anyone else in this situation would have.”

Pilmer said the “particular circumstances of the case,” including the civil lawsuit revolving around the question of whether a breach of contract occurred and not explicitly whether Hastert abused Doe, are different this time around.

“I think, as we begin the jury trial, it would not be appropriate to continue to identify the plaintiff under his pseudonym,” Pilmer said.

Browne said after the Thursday hearing that Pilmer’s ruling “doesn’t change that we intend to go forward with the trial.”

“I’m disappointed, but we’ve always known that was a possibility,” Browne said. “So we were prepared for it.”

After the court hearing, Ellis declined to comment on whether Hastert is expected to be physically present at the jury trial and whether Hastert is expected to be called to testify as a witness in the trial. However, Hastert is a named potential witness for his and Doe’s counsel, according to court records.

Doe’s real name will be revealed at the beginning of the trial’s jury selection, currently set for 8 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Kendall County Courthouse. Both lawyers previously said in open court they anticipated the jury trial to last three to five days.

Case background

The update comes after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed trial proceedings for the case multiple times since April 2020. The most recent delay occurred in January. Browne said after the court hearing Thursday that there currently is no settlement agreement under consideration.

The case stems from an alleged $3.5 million in hush money Hastert agreed to pay Doe in a confidentiality agreement. Doe, a former wrestler at Yorkville High School, has accused the former Republican U.S. Speaker of the House of sexually abusing him while Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach at the school.

Doe is suing Hastert for the remaining $1.8 million of the hush money, plus interest. Hastert allegedly paid Doe $1.7 million between 2010 and 2014, according to court documents.

Hastert also is countersuing Doe for the amount that was already paid, alleging that Doe violated their confidentiality agreement.

During a March 13, 2020, hearing, Pilmer heard three dozen motions in limine from Browne and Ellis to determine what information can be included during the trial. It followed Pilmer overruling objections from Browne in allowing Hastert’s counsel to pursue the out-of-state witnesses during a March 2, 2020, hearing.

Hastert served as a U.S. Congressman from 1987 to 2007 and was House speaker between 1999 and 2007, the longest term of any Republican to date.

Hastert previously served 13 months in federal prison for banking violations related to the hush money scheme and was released in 2017. The former speaker currently lives in Kendall County.

The civil case in Kendall County has been in court since April 2016.