By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
STREATOR – Subpoenas are going out to the bank, service station and campaign treasurers at the center of a Streator resident’s case against Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino, and the state’s attorney general is finally weighing in on the case.
Mautino has been dogged with questions surrounding hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds paid to a bank and a service station in his legislative district from the time he was a state lawmaker.
After several attempts to put the case on hold were shot down, Mautino’s attorney filed an appeal, but Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan urged against granting the appeal.
The brief said Mautino “will be able to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege” against self-incrimination and “while a negative inference may be drawn in the proceedings from Mautino’s invocation of his right to remain silent, the state board still must prove its case.”
Liberty Justice Center Senior Attorney Jacob Huebert represents David Cooke, who brought the case against Mautino. Huebert said they agree the case shouldn’t be delayed any further “so that we’ll be able to proceed quickly and get the information we need to see what Frank Mautino is really up to with all these campaign funds.”
Meanwhile, Huebert said subpoenas are going out to the service station and the bank from Mautino’s legislative district.
Huebert said Mautino might be able to refuse to testify against himself in an upcoming public hearing, but that may not apply to the other parties.
“It’s certainly not apparent that the bank or the service station could invoke the Fifth Amendment,” Huebert said. “They certainly can’t invoke his Fifth Amendment rights for him, so that shouldn’t stop the subpoenas against those groups.”
Huebert also said subpoenas have been sent to the Mautino campaign fund’s treasurers.
Huebert said he does not expect a public hearing in the case for several more months.
The Liberty Justice Center is a partner organization to the Illinois Policy Institute, the parent company of Illinois Radio Network.
