Rauner calls actions by Madigan ‘unethical’
Governor doesn’t say what crimes he wants speaker ‘prosecuted’ for, ‘I hope he’s been doing something illegal’
Days after he gave campaign money to the Republican attorney general candidate and said she’d “prosecute” his chief political nemesis, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday didn’t say what crimes he believes Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has committed but said he has “hope” that Madigan did something illegal.
“Clearly he’s been doing unethical things. I hope he’s been doing something illegal and I hope he gets prosecuted,” Rauner said of Madigan, the nation’s longest serving statehouse leader, who has served as speaker for all but two years since 1983.
A Madigan spokesman labeled Rauner’s remarks further “wild statements” coming during the governor’s “exit interview tour as he winds up the four years of failure in his administration.”
Rauner’s comments accusing political opponents of criminal activity ratchet up
of rhetoric in which he has labeled rivals as “corrupt” without offering specific allegations of lawbreaking.
His latest remarks came after an unrelated bill-signing ceremony in Palatine and symbolized the everevolving explanations he has given since declaring on a southern Illinois radio station last week that he was giving $1 million to the campaign of GOP attorney general candidate Erika Harold to win and go after Madigan.
“I’m funding Erika Harold. I’m giving her a million dollars, which is a lot of money for me. But I need her to win. Lisa Madigan has defended the corruption of her dad. Erika Harold will prosecute Madigan and the corruption. She’s awesome,” Rauner said Thursday on WJPF AM-1020 in Marion.
Harold, an Urbana attorney, is competing with Democratic state Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago for the attorney general’s office being vacated by Lisa Madigan after 16 years.
After receiving the $1 million contribution from Rauner, Harold’s campaign on Monday unveiled a statewide TV ad following up on the governor’s allegations. In the ad, Harold contends “politicians have turned corruption into an art form,” seeks to link Raoul to Madigan and promises that as “attorney general, I’ll make the politicians pay for their corruption — not you.”
Raoul’s campaign called the Harold ad an attempt to “distract from her extreme record” of social conservatism.
Rauner has long talked about prosecuting corruption. In the fall of his 2014 campaign, Rauner vowed to “prosecute” corruption if he was elected governor — even though he has no legal authority to do so.
As for the attorney general, that office lacks the ability to directly “prosecute” corruption and instead must refer or work criminal cases with local state’s attorneys. Harold has pushed for a law convening statewide grand juries to allow the attorney general to prosecute criminal acts. Such a plan has long been proposed by attorney general candidates in both parties but has been disregarded by lawmakers fearful that it could lead to the prosecution of political enemies.
After his Downstate radio remarks, Rauner was asked at several public appearances to explain what crimes he alleges Madigan has committed. He responded that Madigan has created a conflict of interest through legislation that affects property taxes while at the same time running a property-tax appeals law firm in Chicago.
Asked at a statehouse news conference last week if such a practice was legal, Rauner’s response was: “It shouldn’t be.” After being asked at a Peoria news conference last week whether Madigan was violating any current laws, the governor replied, “I don’t know the answer to that.”
Instead, Rauner said he backed Harold to conduct “investigations” of potential “conflicts of interest and self-dealing” and that the attorney general can lead in an effort “to make things that are unethical, make them illegal.”
The Republican goveryears nor went on to speculate: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the detail of investigations turns out that there have been crimes committed — but it needs an investigation to be done.”
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Rauner’s lashing out at potential illegality was an attempt to distract voters.
“He can’t cover up all the things that he did … so he makes these wild statements,” Brown said. “We know various news organizations, others, have examined the conduct of the speaker, the work of the law firm and other things and have found no improper or special treatment.”
Rauner has routinely used the word “corrupt” to describe his political enemies since his initial campaign for governor — often seeking to lump opponents in with Madigan and disgraced and imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It is a tactic he used to defeat Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in 2014 and is using against current Democratic governor nominee J.B. Pritzker.
This time around, Rauner also is using strong rhetoric to attack a thirdparty challenge from Republican state Sen. Sam McCann of Plainview. McCann is seeking the governor’s office under the Conservative Party banner.
On Monday, he referred to McCann as a “total plant,” “a sham” and a “charlatan” put up by Madigan and Pritzker to siphon votes away from the reelection seeking governor. McCann has denied Rauner’s allegations.