By: Diane Benjamin
2 very recent stories prove the title. Local corruption big or small will never be prosecuted locally.
Start with this one: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_0d368a40-efa7-11ef-9603-b321af6933ea.html
What the local school districts put on their website to convince you to approve a 1% Sales tax was illegal. Evidence of that is the language was changed when people noticed. Nobody is going to be prosecuted because “small corruption” isn’t worth anybody’s time.
That reminds me of when a past State’s Attorney (now a judge) refused to prosecute Tari Renner for charging his girlfriend’s Japan trip on the City of Bloomington’s PCard. That case was investigated by the State Police and referred to a special prosecutor who never prosecuted.
That brings me to yesterday’s case: https://blnnews.com/2025/02/20/instigation-cassy-taylor-and-lizzy-johnston/
At the end of the Ethics Commission meeting the case was handed to the State’s Attorney. She promptly handed it off to the Attorney General – according to WGLT. https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-02-20/political-fundraising-allegations-in-mclean-county-headed-to-illinois-attorney-generals-office-for-review
The “club” is alive and well and you aren’t in it. Keep in mind nobody in Illinois prosecuted Mike Madigan. Nobody in McLean County is going to prosecute local corruption either.
Many County Board members from BOTH parties know the truth about illegal fundraising in County offices because they contributed. Staying silent makes them complicit.
The only recourse for citizens is NOT retaining judges or moving out of this corrupt state.
Since citizens vote for corruption people keep leaving. I will be shocked if the Attorney General prosecutes.
So why did Chad Berck say that the Illinois State Police Joint Terrorism Task Force was going to investigate this?
He was there! Ask him
Just thought you might know, since you also had invoked the state police yesterday
County punted the investigation because here that isn’t allowed if you want a future judgeship
My initial report as I was given information from the States Attorneys Office on the process was that the case was being sent to their office. Lawyers don’t investigate, Law Enforcement investigates, so the only law enforcement available to the SA due to the location of the alleged crime is the McLean County Sheriffs Department or the ISP Joint Terrorism Task Force. The ISP JTTF is the investigative body responsible for investigating any and all voter integrity, election fraud violations, and similar crimes.
Now that the Attorney General is the litigating Jurisdiction, they will rely on only the ISP JTTF as the sole investigative agency, who will then hand the completed case back to the AG’s office for either a grand Jury and indictment or decision to drop the case.
Which is what Chuck Erickson and I tried to do originally, but Chuck was basically ignored by the State Agencies that were legally responsible to do this in the first place. Which required me to start at this level and waste taxpayer funds and everyone’s time.
“ISP Joint Terrorism Task Force” ?!
“…grand Jury and indictment” ?!
This is an alleged local ethics violation, not some rampant voting fraud scheme by an international crime syndicate. At worst, they’ll get a reprimand by the county board. Maybe lower your expectations for this and focus on running your campaign, before you get beat again like your hero Dave Blumenshine.
Investigate is criminal
The State and County governments love to deny jurisdictional responsibility when it benefits them.
I read local media accounts that a county employee admitted he gave money inside government building and other employees were solicited as well. Where are these people and why are they not coming forward publicly ? Are they afraid ? What about whistleblower protections ? Reeks of a cover up. Someone is lying. Where is the accountability or even the actual evidence of the investigation. ? Ever since our community voted Democrat the Chicago Way seems to have taken hold.
WGLT reported it. I will have another story tomorrow or Sunday
Retribution in BN and McLean County is a very real thing. Whistle-blower protections in that area don’t even exist. Try it sometime and see where you end up. Incidents of sexual harassment, political skullduggery and even payola are not only commonplace but encouraged. The Elitist Clique is a very real thing there. Cross any of them, even when they or one of their friends or relatives are doing something illegal and you are likely to face job action or demotion as a result. Happens all the time. Doesn’t matter if it’s government, academia or corporate settings..The place is totally corrupt.
Correct
“In interviews with 10 county administration employees, Butts said “not a single employee” said they were ever asked for a donation for the auditor referendum or any other political cause, or that they had overheard anyone else being asked for the same.
None of the employees said they were ever instructed on how to vote by Taylor or Johnston on any political issue, including the referendum itself. None recalled ever seeing Johnston come through the office to collect donations and “multiple employees … had never met Ms. Johnston until” Dec. 18, the report said.”
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-02-26/mclean-county-ethics-complaint-found-to-be-unsubstantiated-after-attorneys-investigation?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
I bet they never asked for a contributor list!
I look forward to the no-doubt-forthcoming blog post that says that a) the attorney is lying and b) everyone interviewed is lying and c) both the attorney and all of the employees are somehow incompetent and corrupt all at once. Should be great reading.
You missed my response.