AG probes House GOP calls
Tuesday, Apr 11, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The House Republlicans claim they’re well within the law, but Madigan is investigating anyway.
State Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office is investigating whether a telephone campaign paid for by House Republicans that targeted Democratic lawmakers violated state election rules.
“We have received a complaint,” said Madigan spokeswoman Melissa Merz on Monday.
The campaign involved anonymous, automated calls to the constituents of House Democrats. The calls attacked the Democrats’ records and accused them of cutting veterans benefits, among other programs.
Madigan’s office is looking into whether the calls violated the state’s election code, which dictates that political committees have to identify who paid for any communications that mention the name of a candidate in the next election.
The calls in the phone campaign did not say that they’d been paid for by the House Republicans, though the party later said it was responsible for them.
- wndycty - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 6:17 am:
Its the culture of corruption. I just wish the GOP both nationally and statewide would live up to the standards they expect others to. They impeach a president for being less than truthful about a personal matter yet they ignore it when a president misleads a country into war resulting in death. Whether its nationally or statewide these people are hypocrites and the people know it. Look for a Democratic sweep in November! Judy wants to call out for “pay for play” but she takes money from banks that do business with her office. Hypocrites, every last one of them!
- DOWNSTATE - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 6:18 am:
Go get them Lisa.One little thing on the Repubs and she looks like a beagle chasing a bunny.3 years of Federal Investigations on Blago and we haven’t heard a peep.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 6:20 am:
Lisa will hop to it on this one. This ‘crisis’ is certainly draining the state treasury in extraordinarily corrupt ways.
She has no problem with Rod’s criminal behavior, though.
One blind mouse.
- The original Bill - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 6:43 am:
Rod has not done any “criminal behavior”. The witch hunt has yielded no indictments and neither did Lisa’s investigation.
He does things right.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 6:58 am:
No conflict there. Her father is only head of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House. She’s going after Republicans in the House. Yet, she can’t find any corruption in Blago-land!
- Election Code - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 7:29 am:
Sec. 9-9.5: Any political committee, organized under the Election Code, that makes an expenditure for a pamphlet, circular, handbill, Internet or telephone communication, radio, television, or print advertisement, or other communication directed at voters and mentioning the name of a candidate in the next upcoming election shall ensure that the name of the political committee paying for any part of the communication, including, but not limited to, its preparation and distribution, is identified clearly within the communication as the payor. This Section does not apply to items that are too small to contain the required disclosure…
Perhaps, if the communication was not “directed at voters” then this is not a violation. But shouldn’t this be for the Board of Elections to investigate, not the AG?
- Cassandra - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 7:32 am:
Given national concerns about Republican corruption stemming from the Abramoff trial,
the Republicans need to be squeaky clean.
Failing to identify the call as being a Republican campaign ad was stupid, whether or not it was illegal. Was it a local idiot or a higher up in the Repub party who failed to vet this telephone advertising. Whoever—they should receive some form of censure by the party.
Not to say, I hasten to add, that the Dems are not just as corrupt and opportunistic. Today we read about Daley’s patronage chief shredding paper files and deleting computer data to cover up rampant violations of Shakman under the Daley administraiton. Not to mention all the funky hiring under Blago, the DCFS investigations and so on.
But local Repubs need to overcompensate for Ryan, Tristano, and the national scandals and err on the side of extreme caution even if schemes such as the telephone advertising was not strictly illegal. In the 21st century, these kinds of hamhanded political tricks are become less fashionable.
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 7:37 am:
Yes Cassandra, Howard Dean told us that Abramoff and his minoin only gave to those bad Republicans. Howard Dean would never lie or say anything without thinking first.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 7:45 am:
Where was Lisa on this? http://www.pjstar.com/stories/040406/REG_B9EH449U.049.shtml.
Doesn’t her office have to approve these contracts?
Does the $22,500 to the state Dem party that her father heads have anything to do with it? Just asking.
- Reddbyrd - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 8:07 am:
I am sure TomRoboCross will explain that using political funds to pay for the sleazy calls. In old Tristano days that state would hav footed the bill. Innocent
- Goodbye Napoleon - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 8:29 am:
I agree that this investigation puts Lisa in a precarious spot, but on the surface of the it - the facts look to me as if the HGOPers did actually violate the law by not naming the source of the calls in the messages. Taking credit to Rich Miller after the fact doesn’t exactly count, I think.
- anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 8:39 am:
I heard these calls hit Mike Boland’s district as well. This is what Republicans do best — attack in the dark of night, under cover. It’s time to put an end to this kind of politics.
- mrgoodbar - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 8:49 am:
I’m not trying to derail the comments - but I think Illinois has the hottest state AG in the nation.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 8:53 am:
mrgoodbar —
Patrick Fitzgerald is not the state AG, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
- Boone Logan Square - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 9:10 am:
Are these guys from New Hampshire?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 9:11 am:
Nice irony if Tom Cross goes to jail before Lee Daniels.
Or maybe they can share a cell. Illinois Republicans are all about unity now.
(Legal disclaimer: neither Cross or Daniels has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.)
- Smooth Move - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 9:55 am:
Perhaps if Tom Cross had not fired his former Cheif of Staff Bill O’Connor and replaced him with youth and inexperience he would not be in this mess now.
- WTF? - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 10:25 am:
Please spare us, Smooth Move. Youth and inexperience? I’m pretty sure Jack Kubik has more legislative and campaign experience than O’Connor. Not to mention political savvy.
And Cross didn’t fire O’Connor - although there are plenty of people who thought he should have.
- Tony LaRusa - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 12:30 pm:
Too funny. Swirling investigations of Rod and Mayor Daley. All sorts of questions of whether the Gov has authority to take action without legislative action but our AG has no time for that she needs to investigate Robocalls. You can become a darling of the Trib, you can pose on the cover of Todays Chicago Woman, you can have a baby to complete the nuclear family for a run for Governor but when Daddy calls you still gotta do his political dirty work.
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 12:38 pm:
Actually she is investigating Blagojevich–there is an impaneled Grand Jury.
It’s also appropriate to look into whether robocalls without disclosure were made. Illinois has some of the most lax campaign finance/disclosure laws in the country, if you can’t abide by them, one has to wonder why. Absent any evidence of a witch hunt, it’s in the job description and she does it well.
- grand old partisan - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 1:15 pm:
Someone please tell me which PAC paid for this:
http://www.capitolfax.com/finkl.jpg
….oh wait, that’s right. The taxpayers footed this bill for that particular “communication directed at voters and mentioning the name of a candidate in the next upcoming election.â€
- Long Time Reader; First Time Poster - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 10:24 pm:
WTF- To whom are you referring when you say O’Connor was replaced with youth? The new Chief of Staff has been around longer than most people at the State House, and was even a State Representative himself before he retired. Please don’t post unless you can at least get half the facts correct.
- Long Time Reader; First Time Poster - Tuesday, Apr 11, 06 @ 10:30 pm:
After I just posted that I saw Channel 20 report this story. I just love how the claim is that the calls are election calls, but then they point out that the calls went to people that are unopposed in the election. Could it possibly be that Lisa is just trying to help Daddie out? Where will her press release be when she realizes the calls are truly legit calls that point out the Democrats have an insane budget that robs the taxpayers of their future?
- TheWayISeeIt - Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:40 am:
Go Lisa! They deserve to be investigated. They can pull all the cheap shots they want, but nothing will work. I don’t think even God can help the Illinois GOP, they are in so much trouble. As long as Mike Madigan is speaker, they will always remain in the minority.
- Anon - Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 10:16 pm:
Our party will continue to behave corruptly in the absence of new leadership.
Pingback IlliniPundit.com » Blog Archive » Roundup (4/11/06) - Friday, Feb 5, 10 @ 9:16 pm:
[…] Remember those anonymous phone calls from the House Republicans asking local residents to call Rep. Naomi Jakobsson to ask her to stop stealing money from the pension funds? Attorney General Lisa Madigan is opening an investigation, as they may have violated campaign finance laws. It’s odd how investigating Republicans for something this trivial is a priority, but the stench emanating from the Governor’s office and Chicago City Hall isn’t worth mentioning. Is Madigan the new Jim Ryan? […]