THE ILLINOIZE...Durkin and Welch may take the gloves off this afternoon...Demmer trying to push Pritzker into calling for subpoenas...Douglas and Menard statues gone from Capitol grounds...
September 29, 2020
MADIGAN HEARING TO GET TESTY
Last time I checked, incendiary devices are still banned from the Capitol building. That may not stop Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) from dropping some verbal bombs at each other this afternoon.
Durkin sent a letter to Welch, the chair of the House Special Investigative Committee looking into Speaker Michael Madigan’s role in a wide-ranging Commonwealth Edison bribery scheme last week explaining he planned to give an opening statement and asking for his lawyer to have the opportunity to question witnesses, including ComEd’s David Glockner, who is expected to testify this afternoon.
Welch apparently told friendly media sources before Durkin that he was planning to shut that down, wouldn’t allow his lawyer to question witnesses, and that Durkin himself could be called to testify after Madigan brought up Durkin’s role in helping pass legislation for ComEd in 2016.
Durkin’s statement was, one could say, defiant:
“It is clear that Chairman Welch is not well-versed on the proceedings of an investigatory committee, as he needed a phone call and two letters from U.S. Attorney Lausch after repeatedly misinterpreting his guidance. Furthermore, Rep. Manley was already allowed to question me on the veracity of the petition and the charges in the previous committee hearing. Under my rights as not only the petitioner but also as a member of the General Assembly, I will be making an opening statement tomorrow and questioning the confirmed witness, Commonwealth Edison, on the admitted facts laid out in the petition against Michael J. Madigan. See you there!”
Prediction: afternoon fireworks beginning at 2pm today in Springfield. Bring your own popcorn and face covering.
DEMMER GOADING PRITZKER?
The top House Republican on the Special Investigative Committee, Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) is crafty. The young (34) small town kid is obviously pretty sharp.
We spoke for about 15 minutes yesterday on the hearing today and all of the complicated layers of it, and he stays very diplomatic. In a legislature where the minority party sometimes feels a little hampered by the other side, sometimes those minority party members will have some pretty epic blowups.
Demmer calmly recalled more than once that Governor JB Pritzker has called on Speaker Madigan to “speak for himself” about the ComEd allegations.
“Prominent Republicans and prominent Democrats have said these are very troubling facts that were admitted by ComEd,” he said. “We need to understand who was involved and how to hold individuals accountable. There’s interest by both parties in having an investigation that’s thorough and complete.”
“Governor Pritzker has been pretty direct about the fact that the Speaker needs to answer questions and that the committee we’ve formed is as good and appropriate venue for those questions to be answered,” said Demmer.
It sure seems like Demmer wants Governor Pritzker to call for Democrats to issue subpoenas.
For the record, we emailed Pritzker’s spokesperson, Jordan Abudayyeh, yesterday afternoon to ask if the Governor supports a subpoena for the Speaker.
She hasn’t written back.
DOUGLAS, MENARD STATUES GONE
It wasn’t a surprise as a vote had been taken last month by the board that oversees the Architect of the Illinois Capitol’s office, but statues of historical figures Stephen A. Douglas and Pierre Menard were removed from the Capitol grounds over the weekend.
Douglas was more prominent as his statue stood right in front of the east main entrance of the Statehouse. The Menard statue was along Second Street, closer to the Howeltt Building.
These aren’t Robert E. Lee or Stonewall Jackson statues, remind you. Douglas was a United States Senator for Illinois, Congressman, Illinois Secretary of State, and sat on the Supreme Court. Menard was one of the men who oversaw Illinois as it transitioned from territory to state and was the first Lieutenant Governor from 1818-1822.
Menard owned slaves and Douglas profited off of slavery.
There’s no justification for that, obviously, and we look back on those actions today as heinously as we should. But, does it invalidate any other contributions they made?
Eureka College Senior Vice President Mike Murtaugh, who has long supported a statue of Ronald Reagan on the Capitol property said Douglas did many good things for Illinois.
“Perhaps there has never been a Senator who did more for the State of Illinois than Stephen Douglas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Murtaugh says there has been no movement on a Reagan statue, and still believes the idea is “dead in the water.”
So, here’s your question: should there be replacement statues at the Capitol? Say you get spots where Douglas and Menard stood. Who would you pick?
We’ll share the best ideas Friday.
WILL MAIL IN BALLOTS ARRIVE?
The Sun-Times did a fantastic and unnerving investigation about how long it took 100 pieces of mail the size of mail-in ballots to get from all 50 wards in the city of Chicago to a post office box near the Chicago Board of Elections.
The simulated ballot that never turned up was mailed at 7600 S. Halsted St. in Gresham.
Another envelope, mailed at 2101 N. Western Ave. in Bucktown, got in right at the wire, taking 14 days to arrive downtown.
The other envelopes took two to 13 days to land at a post office box at Federal Plaza, less than half a mile from Board of Elections headquarters.
Another eight of the envelopes, all sent via regular first-class mail, arrived at their destination on time but were missing a dated postmark.
Around 1.9 million early ballots have been requested in the state, so if even 1% of those goes missing, we’re talking about 19,000 ballots. That’s more than enough to swing a few elections. Just ask folks in Macon County who don’t have a settled Sheriff’s race from two years ago.
Postal Service spokesman Tim Norman said they’re still confident.
“Specifically, the team in Chicago has been focused on improving process flows, making sure operational plans are adhered to and that dispatches are on time,” Norman says in an email in response to reporters’ questions. “We are optimistic improvements in delivery will continue. Effective October 1, the Postal Service will engage additional resources, including transportation, as necessary, to help support the timely and expeditious handling of election mail.”
Go read the whole thing. Unnerving to me, at least, for counties where mail has to go from a small county in southern Illinois to St. Louis back to the small county to get delivered. Here’s to hoping the issues get resolved.
CAMPAIGN CASH UPDATE
Some campaign updates:
Citizens for Judicial Fairness, opposing the retention of Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride, is being chaired by former State Representative, University of Illinois professor, and longtime newspaper columnist Jim Nowlan. The committee just got $250,000 from packing products magnate Richard Uihlein on top of $200,000 from a group called the “Judicial Fairness Project.” I have a message from Jim on my phone. Hopefully I’ll have more for you on it today.
House GOP Leader Jim Durkin just dropped another $150,000 into the Illinois Republican Party, meaning more HGOP mail pieces are coming to a mailbox near you.
Senate Democrats have pumped another $80,000 into the campaign of Rep. Karina Villa (D-West Chicago) who is running for the open senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove). She’s snowing over Republican Jeanette Ward in cash and this is becoming a more likely pickup for Democrats by the day.
Governor Pritzker’s campaign sent another $25,000 to Rep. Terra Costa-Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), who is facing a challenge from former GOP Rep. Peter Breen, who she knocked out 2 years ago.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers just contributed $32,800 to Democrat Harry Benton, who is looking to defeat Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield).
Following her scandal for some racist, bigoted statements, House Republicans reported Friday another $18,000 for Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton), likely for cable, and a mail piece from the Illinois Right to Life PAC.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Happy birthday today to former State Senator Bill Marovitz of Chicago. He’s a Jewish-former heir to the Playboy empire-restaurant owner-politician. That’s a lot to pack in. Here’s a profile on him from 2019.
Tomorrow, Attorney General Kwame Raoul turns 56.
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