CHICAGO — After days of silence, J. Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he illegally structured bank withdrawals and lied to the authorities about millions of dollars he had promised to pay someone for misconduct that occurred decades ago.

In a dark pinstripe suit and with his familiar helmet of gray hair, Mr. Hastert, 73, stood slightly stooped before the judge, flanked by lawyers, quietly answering the judge’s questions with a simple “yes” or “yes, sir.” It was the first time the once-powerful former congressman had appeared in public since the charges were announced last month, and he was met with a chaotic crush of news media in the federal courthouse here.

Aside from entering a not guilty plea, Mr. Hastert and his lawyers offered no further sense of their response to the charges, which are narrowly focused around financial transactions but which have raised a cloud of allegations of sexual misconduct for a man who had receded from public life.

The provisions of his release were routine yet stark for a man whose career arc had carried him from revered, small-town wrestling coach to the Illinois Statehouse and on to one of the top leadership posts in Congress. In addition to posting a $4,500 bond, Mr. Hastert was ordered to surrender his passport, remain in the continental United States, advise the court of any change in his address, and remove guns from his home within two weeks.