House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has come to the unlikely defense of embattled Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) in the debate over the search of Jefferson's office by FBI agents. Could it be that Hastert is worried he might be the subject of an investigation of his own?

Hastert is quoted in the Los Angeles Times decrying the search of Jefferson's office and subsequent seizure of documents related to a bribery scandal involving the congressman: "There has to be a procedure for the Justice Department to come in and start just searching any congressman's office [...] There is a constitutional division there that we have to protect."

The Speaker has been quite outspoken on the issue of office searches and recent stories emerging about Hastert's real estates dealing may give a clue as to why.  As Bill Allison at the Sunlight Foundation explains, Hastert utilized a trust to invest in property right near a highway for which he's earmarked hundreds of millions. By using the trust, Hastert was able to obscure his involvement in certain of the property deals and conceal the apparent appropriation of public funds to improve the value of a personal investment.

Is Hastert afraid of hearing a knock on his own office door?