Steve Reinboldt: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

(Getty)

In a shocking interview on ABC News, the sister of Dennis Hastert’s alleged sexual abuse victim says the former Republican Speaker of the House referred to her brother as his “right hand man.” Jolene Reinboldt told America that her brother, Steve Reinboldt, first told of the abuse after he came out as a homosexual many years ago.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Reinboldt Died of AIDS in 1995

Reinboldt’s high school yearbook picture. (Screengrab via ABC)

In the ABC News interview Jolene Reinboldt says that her brother died of AIDS in 1995. She added that Hastert showed up at her brother’s funeral. It was back in 1979 when Reinboldt came out as gay that his sister asked him “I asked him, when was your first same sex experience. He looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert.'” She added “And he just turned around and kind of looked at me and said, ‘Who is ever going to believe me?” According to online records, 1979 is the same year that Jolene Reinboldt graduated from Yorkville High School.

2. Jolene Reinboldt Wrote on Facebook That There ‘Is Sooo Much More to This Story’

Jolene Reinboldt pictured on her Facebook page.

On her Facebook page, Jolene Reinboldt, who now goes by Jolene Burdge, remembered her brother on World Aids Day, writing “For Stevie: Miss you every day, love you forever.” Then, on May 28, she posted a link about Hastert facing federal charges. In the comments she said “I can say with absolute certainty there is sooo much more to this story. Finally the truth.”

3. Steve Reinboldt Was Hastert’s Equipment Manager

(Screengrab via ABC)

Hastert and Reinboldt took a diving trip to the Bahamas during their time together at Yorkville High School. Jolene Reinboldt said that Haster’s alleged actions ruined her brother’s life “He took his belief in himself and his kind of right to be a normal person. Here was the mentor, the man who was, you know, basically his friend and stepped into that parental role, who was the one who was abusing him… He damaged Steve I think more than any of us will ever know.” According to a 1998 piece about Hastert from the Daily Herald, he led the Yorkville High School wrestling team to the 1976 state title and was Illinois Coach of the Year. While he was a teacher and coach there, Steve Reinboldt had been the team’s equipment manager.

4. Jolene Has Been Trying to Shed Public Light on Her Brother’s Allegations Since 2006

Since the Rep. Mark Foley scandal, where the congressman was found to be sending sexual messages to an underage male, Jolene Reinboldt has been trying to make her brother’s allegations public. It was only around the time that Hastert’s alleged tax fraud was made public that Jolene Reinboldt got a call from the FBI wanting to talk. The Chicago Tribune notes that during that scandal, Hastert was named along with other colleagues of being “willfully ignorant” about Foley’s behavior.

5. Hastert Allegedly Paid $3.5 Million to ‘Individual A,’ According to the Feds

Hastert pictured with George W. Bush in December 2000. (Getty)

Hastert will appear in court on the week of June 8 to answer to the charges of fraud regarding the mysterious payments of $3.5 million he made. So far, the FBI has only referred to the recipient of that money as “Individual A.” Hastert, meanwhile, maintains his innocence. NBC News reported just hours before Reinboldt’s name was made public that a sex abuse victims advocacy group is lobbying to have Hastert’s official portrait removed from the U.S. Capitol.

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