Hastert’s Lawyer Represented Clients in Watergate, Iran-Contra

Thomas Green, senior counsel at Sidley Austin, 75, has defended government officials in Watergate and the Iran-Contra Affair, Swiss Banks and others in trouble.

Today, he’s focused on the upcoming sentencing of his latest high-profile client: J. Dennis Hastert, former speaker of the House of Representatives.

Federal prosecutors allege Hastert molested at least five boys decades ago when he worked as a high school wrestling coach in Yorkville, Ill., Bloomberg reported this weekend.

Hastert, 74, has not been charged in those matters due to a statute of limitations. He did, however, plead guilty to illegally organizing bank withdrawals to avoid disclosure requirements for which he faces up to five years — the money was used to pay off one of the victims, Bloomberg reported.

Green signed on shortly after the Justice Department indicted the former speaker on federal banking charges last spring.

[Image “Thomas Green” (src=https://bol.bna.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Thomas-Green.png)]

Before that, Barry Levine, of what was Dickstein Shapiro, where Hastert worked as a lobbyist, represented Hastert. But according to Green, Dickstein asked him to take a meeting with the former speaker.

“I was pleased to be considered as someone who could represent him, but like every case, there’s a certain mutuality that takes place, and he has to be happy with me and I have to happy with him,” Green said.

Hastert’s sentencing is scheduled for April 27 in Chicago. Prosecutors are pushing for up to six months in prison.

Green is requesting probation, but said the judge has the option of sentencing Hastert to up to five years.

Green is in his 26th year at Sidley Austin and has practiced law for more than 40 years. Prior to joining Sidley Austin, Green ran his own firm in Washington, D.C. that focused on white-collar criminal defense. He earned his law degree from Yale University and worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Previously, Green represented former Assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian during the Watergate case and in the Iran-Contra Affair, Green defended former Retired Major General Richard V. Secord. He went on to represent multiple government officials during the Whitewater scandal.

In the courtroom, Green isn’t loud, flamboyant or confrontational, said Robert Ogren, a retired attorney who has known Green since the 1960s when they were both federal prosecutors.

“He’s a very effective, smart lawyer,” said Ogren. “I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anybody who is in trouble and needed counsel. He’s a very sage person.”