Gov. Pritzker says Speaker should quit if he wont answer questions about bribery investigation

Posted on November 19, 2020
Gov. Pritzker. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker says House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) faces a reckoning.

The governor says the actions outlined in Wednesday’s Com Ed bribery indictments are “unspeakably wrong,” and that the  – while unindicted and saying he’s innocent – the speaker should face the music.

“If Speaker Madigan wants to continue in a position of enormous public trust with such a serious ethical cloud hanging over his head, then he has to at the very least be willing to stand in front of the press and the people and answer every last question to their satisfaction. Written statements and dodged investigatory hearings are not going to cut it.

“If the speaker cannot commit to that level of transparency, then the time has come for him to resign as speaker.”

The new General Assembly convenes in January, when members will choose their leaders, and Pritzker said the 118 members of the House should choose carefully.

Before taking questions about Madigan or any other topic, Pritzker gave a three-minute speech about Madigan during his Thursday coronavirus briefing.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…