Sen. Blunt says he'll keep Hastert donations

In the wake of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s federal arraignment on allegations of making hush money payments, Sen. Roy Blunt said he has no plans to return $11,000 in campaign contributions from Hastert.

Missouri Democrats have called for Blunt to donate the funds to charity, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Returning donations gives some sense that you are going to look at the behavior of everybody who gives money to a campaign," Blunt, R-Mo., said in the Post-Dispatch. "I don't know if I have time to do that, and I would expect not to be returning donations to anybody."

Blunt has not officially announced his re-election in 2016.

Hastert has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to the FBI in a scheme to pay $3.5 million in hush money to conceal sexual misconduct from his days as a high school teacher.
 
Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.