Gov. Bruce Rauner’s official calendar shows he scheduled a May 2015 meeting at the Executive Mansion with a former business partner who claims in a lawsuit they discussed a personal business deal.
Harreld “Kip” Kirkpatrick’s lawsuit is over a disagreement with Rauner about how to divide a $67.5 million settlement from an investment they made before Rauner became governor.
He says one meeting was May 11, 2015 at the governor’s mansion in Springfield.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of Rauner’s calendar under the Freedom of Information Act. It shows Rauner’s state-paid secretary scheduled a meeting at the mansion with Kirkpatrick for 5 p.m. that day.
…Adding… To be clear, the executive mansion is treated as a residence in state campaign finance laws, so doing a business deal on the porch is fine. The problem is that Gov. Rauner said he was handing over control of his business dealings and told reporters he didn’t know why he was being sued by Kirkpatrick when pressed last fall.
Trump and Rauner. Two rich guys who scammed the system to avoid taxes. Now these Democrats got caught copying them with tax scams of their own.
Daniel Biss is the only Democrat for governor who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes to fully fund public schools and level the playing field. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy. Daniel Biss, the middle class governor.
After Trump and Rauner refused to release their tax returns, these Democrats for governor are copying them, refusing to come clean.
Only Daniel Biss released his full returns. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Daniel Biss today released a series of television ads, with a substantial open-ended buy, pointing out that JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy are not so different from Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump; each scammed tax systems while refusing to release their full tax returns. The ads contrast the four inexperienced wealthy businessmen with Daniel Biss, a middle-class progressive who has never taken advantage of the tax system. And unlike his opponents, he is the only candidate in the race with the experience to fix a system that allows the wealthy and well-connected to profit while middle-class and working people fall further behind.
“Trump and Rauner. Two rich guys who scammed the system to avoid taxes,” says the narrator. “Now these Democrats got caught copying them, with tax scams of their own.”
“Daniel Biss is the only Democrat for governor who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes,” says the narrator, “to fully fund public schools, and level the playing field. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy.”
“There are striking similarities between Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner, Chris Kennedy and JB Pritzker,” said Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “Using the same language to avoid releasing their full tax returns to the public. Scamming the tax system to line their own pockets, leaving the rest of us to make up the difference. Asking voters to trust them to fix the broken systems they’ve all benefited from. Sometimes it’s hard to tell these guys apart.”
A second spot in the series, “Returns,” reminds viewers that Pritzker and Kennedy are also refusing to release their full tax returns, copying Trump and Rauner’s lack of transparency.
“We’ve seen what happens when an inexperienced billionaire businessman who hides their financial entanglements is elected governor, or even president,” continued Witt. “The choice in this election is whether we’re going to keep copying Rauner and Trump, or if we’re going to elect a middle-class progressive champion. The voters will choose Daniel.”
“Clue,” the third ad in the series, compares experience in office between Trump, Rauner, Pritzker and Kennedy. A 15 second spot, “Scam,” further highlights the tax scams that all four have engaged in.
* To make this easier than watching the videos posted on NBC 5, here are the ads in YouTube format. “Clue” is the only one not posted above…
*** UPDATE 3 *** Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara…
Dan must not be very thrilled with his performance last night if he decided to be the first Democratic candidate to go negative on TV in this campaign.
This morning, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives picked up endorsements from eight state and local legislators. It is highly uncommon for sitting legislators to endorse a challenger to an incumbent governor from their own party.
Yet this morning, State Representatives Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), Peter Breen (R-Lombard), Margo McDermed (R-Frankfort), and Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee), along with Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak, Naperville Township Commissioner Warren Dixon, and Wheatland Township Trustee Raquel Mitchell joined Ives in a press conference to announce their support for the GOP challenger. State Sens. Kyle McCarter (R-Vandalia) and Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), along with State Representatives David McSweeney (R-Cary) and Barb Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) have additionally pledged their support for Ives.
The endorsement comes as many party members are rallying behind State Representative, West Point Graduate and Army Veteran Jeanne Ives ahead of the March 20 primary.
Ives adds the support of her legislative colleagues to a growing list, including Northwest Side GOP Club, Wheatland Township Republican Organization, Fremont Township Republican Organization, Republican Organization of Wheeling Township, Chicago GOP, Batavia Township Republican Organization, Wauconda Township Republican Organization, Republican Assembly of Lake County, and Tax Accountability (Taxpayers United of America).
“It is unprecedented to have legislators in open revolt against a governor from their party, said Ives. “The story here is not just my colleagues who are willing to stand with me, but the dozens and dozens more who are with me, but who don’t want to go against the Governor publicly because they have their own elections and other considerations. The numbers of legislators endorsing me combined with those who are sitting out the primary is clear and convincing evidence that Governor Rauner has lost the Republican caucuses in both chambers. As more evidence of this fact, we do have the House Republican Floor Leader here in Rep. Peter Breen.
“We are unified. We all supported Rauner. We all gave him a chance to lead. We all supported the broad strokes of his policy agenda.
“But we quickly learned his words were just words. We learned he didn’t want to do the work, both in terms of policy homework and coalition-building. We learned he was content to play press release politics, just like his wine-club buddy, Rahm. And then the betrayals came, one after the other.
“Across the state, Republicans know that the revolution they were promised in 2014 will not be delivered by Bruce Rauner. We are going to come together and defeat Bruce Rauner. Then, with the help of those with me today, we will deliver the revolution Illinoisans were promised in 2014.”
Thanks to those of you who watched Preckwinkle vs. Fioretti.
Our final live-streamed endorsement session of primary election season will be between Gov. Bruce Rauner and state Rep. Jeanne Ives on Monday Jan. 29 at 11 a.m.
* Rauner grabs DuPage County support, Ives dubs it “back scratching”: DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin boosted Governor Bruce Rauner with kind words at an event spotlighting Rauner supporters in challenger Jeanne Ives’ Du Page County backyard Monday… Fourteen area mayors sided with Rauner - including Hanover Park’s Rod Craig and Naperville’s Steve Chirico. One of State Rep. Jeanne Ives’ House colleagues - Grant Wehrli - also backed the governor.
* Sen. Kwame Raoul’s spokesman Ron Holmes was sitting behind Rep. Scott Drury during today’s Tribune editorial board meeting with the Democratic candidates for attorney general…
Employees at the Illinois Capitol have been told to use just a “pencil-sized stream of water” to wash their hands after a test of the water system revealed the possible presence of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
Officials announced the preliminary test results in an email sent late Monday evening. In recent weeks, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has faced criticism over how it handled a deadly outbreak of the disease at a state-run veterans home.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, sent a memo Tuesday saying that until further tests are complete, “everyone in the Capitol is advised to have a pencil-sized stream of water when washing their hands” and “turn off all nebulizers and humidifiers.” The direction came after Democratic and Republican staff met with Secretary of State Jesse White’s office, health officials and environmental consultants.
It’s unclear how those washing their hands in bathrooms with automatic faucets should follow those guidelines, but White spokesman Henry Haupt said maintenance workers would remove faucet aerators. He said showers also would be disabled, including one in the governor’s office and those belonging to legislative leaders.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, whose district office is in the Stratton Building, praised the quick response from state officials.
“I think what this underscores is that Legionella is pretty prevalent, and that that’s one of the things that came out in the story with Quincy,” where 13 residents of a state-run veterans home died after Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, Butler said. “I was glad to see that both the administration through the governor’s office and the Secretary of State took pretty swift action to get the word out about it being found in the Capitol.”
Butler said his office will continue to monitor the situation and rely on those conducting the tests to make sure that the situation is resolved, a sentiment echoed by fellow Springfield-area state Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez.
“I think one of the challenges with this type of information is that people can become kind of worrisome,” said Jimenez, R-Leland Grove. “But I think what we have to do in these types of situations is rely on the experts and overcommunicate.”
A business associate of Gov. Bruce Rauner says he met twice with the governor in 2015, including once on the back porch of the governor’s mansion, to discuss the status of a business investment that now is the subject of a legal fight between the men.
That business deal allegedly allowed Rauner to turn a $15 million profit on a $5 million investment, which “apparently is not enough for Rauner,” according to a lawsuit filed by the former associate that contends the governor is seeking more.
Harreld “Kip” Kirkpatrick III’s account of his contacts with Rauner, contained in newly unsealed court records, raised questions about the “blind trust” arrangement in which the governor says he placed his vast wealth when he took office.
Under that arrangement, Rauner has stated he no longer has personal control over his assets to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
* From the Pritzker campaign…
“Bruce Rauner is accused of using the governor’s mansion as a personal office and he is desperately dodging attempts at transparency,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This lawsuit raises more questions about the extent of Rauner’s lies and unethical behavior than it answers and it’s time this failed governor come clean.”
* DGA…
“The last thing Bruce Rauner’s failing reelection needed was another scandal,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner’s still reeling from the fallout over 13 deaths at a state-run veterans’ home, and now he will have to address more questions about breaking the public’s trust. The fact is that back porch business deals at the Governor’s Mansion will do little to rehabilitate Rauner’s Trumpian-level approval ratings.”
Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said in an email that the governor “disputes Mr. Kirkpatrick’s allegations, including Mr. Kirkpatrick’s characterizations of any conversations.”
The governor’s office did not answer directly when asked whether he or his staff had any concerns about conducting private business on state property. Rauner’s office did not provide copies of the governor’s schedule from the day of either alleged meeting.
Kind of a non-denial denial.
But the question about conducting private biz on state property is a good one.
* The Trib didn’t mention that somebody has already tried to get Rauner’s schedule for May 11, 2015, which is when Rauner allegedly met with Kirkpatrick on the mansion’s “back porch.” From September of 2015…
A central Illinois weekly newspaper is suing Gov. Bruce Rauner after the attorney general’s office said he must turn over appointment calendars showing his daily schedule.
An Illinois Times reporter submitted a May request through the Freedom of Information Act for Rauner’s daily calendar from April 1 to May 15. When the documents arrived, information was redacted.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office issued an 18-page opinion saying Rauner’s office violated the act and should provide the requested information.
However, Madigan’s office can’t enforce the ruling.
Rauner’s office did eventually release his daily calendar. The Illinois Times posted his April calendar online, but I haven’t yet been able to find anything for May. I’ve asked the attorney general’s office and the reporter who filed the original FOIA for assistance. I’ll let you know when I know.
* One of the things I noticed during the Democratic gubernatorial forum last night was the number of times moderator Carol Marin cut off Sen. Daniel Biss. Let it play out all the way to the end because this is one of the funnier videos I’ve seen in a while…
* Mark Kleine was a pretty good “get” for the congressional Republicans. He had made a bunch of money with Kleine Equipment, a group of independent John Deere dealerships, so he could start out against incumbent Democratic US Rep. Cheri Bustos with a pile of cash. But Kleine dropped out earlier this month…
In a letter to campaign contributors, Kleine said he became disillusioned with the political process through his experience since announcing his candidacy.
“I took great care in building a campaign team that I could rely on and surrounded myself with those who are considered experts in this field …” Kleine wrote. “Recently I terminated my relationship with my campaign staff.
“My intentions and my sincere desire to serve are based on a lifetime of values, experience and skills needed to do a difficult job. Above that was my willingness to share in the financial responsibility and the commitment to help fund the campaign with my own investment. While I believed in the race and was confident in my chance at winning I realized it would never be enough to satisfy the experts. At what point do we say enough is enough. How many millions of dollars does it really take to run for office?
“There is a profound and detrimental difference between what I believe in and what is today’s business of campaigns. I’ve learned this is an industry that celebrates wasteful spending, encourages inflated campaign budgets and has no regard for operational oversight just ‘to win the race’ but more importantly for others to prosper.”
James Thompson, who lost a close special election in Kansas and is again running for the Wichita seat in 2018, said the DCCC is specific about why it wants candidates to raise money. “They want you to spend a certain amount of money on consultants, and it’s their list of consultants you have to choose from,” he said.
The comptroller’s report also confirmed that as of the end of December the state had accumulated $1 billion in late payment penalties. State law requires interest payments of up to 12 percent a year be paid on overdue bills. The number of those overdue bills soared during the two-year budget impasse.
Just imagine what the state of Illinois could have done with an extra $1 billion.
That could have started to alleviate the inadequate funding provided for K-12 education. It could have constructed new buildings on our higher education campuses, or provided a pathway for students in need of some help with their tuition bills to attain a higher education so they could share their talents and improve the state’s economy. Think of the roads and railways that could have been improved. This list could be endless once you get going.
Instead, Illinois during the past few years blew $1 billion on late fees accumulated by not paying the state’s bills on time. A huge chunk of money and the only thing we have to show for it is the state’s dysfunction was laid bare for the entire country to see.
It’s not exactly surprising news. We watched the stack of unpaid bills climb to a record high of more than $16 billion, all thanks to years of spending more than the state received in revenue, and then a two-year budget impasse where vendors and agencies were made to wait months for reimbursement. And there is a state law that requires interest payments of up to 12 percent a year be paid on overdue bills.
Now that the state has an actual budget and some $5 billion more in revenues, the pile of unpaid bills has dropped from $16.7 billion to about $8.8 billion. Proceeds from a $6 billion bond sale have lowered the interest on remaining bills to 3.5 percent.
But the lower interest rate won’t bring back the $1 billion the state has already spent. It won’t revive the many small businesses in Illinois that closed because they weren’t getting paid for services they provided to the state. It won’t help people who worked at those businesses who lost their jobs.
Next month, the annual budget process will start up again when Gov. Bruce Rauner
is scheduled to present his spending plan for the next fiscal year. Rauner has said it will include unspecified spending cuts.
Whatever emerges after his plan goes to the Legislature, it should include a plan for avoiding paying huge amounts of unnecessary interest in the future.
* The Question: Should Illinois repeal its 12 percent interest penalty for overdue state bills? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
During last night’s Democratic forum, JB Pritzker claimed that his reason for being on FBI wiretaps with disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich was that “hundreds of people were speaking with Governor Blagojevich at the time.”
Just because other people were doing it does not make it the right thing to do.
Here is a list of other things that hundreds of people have done that were wrong:
Hundreds of people may have used steroids in baseball
Hundreds of people thought Sharknado was a good movie
Hundreds of people took patronage jobs from corrupt Illinois politicians like Mike Madigan
Hundreds of politicians advocate every day for higher taxes
Hundreds of people thought eating Tide Pods was a good idea
Hundreds of politically-connected property tax lawyers take advantage of a corrupt system that hurts Illinoisans
News flash, JB Pritzker. Just because you weren’t accused of any wrongdoing doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything wrong.
* I was getting spin like this from the Biss campaign during and immediately after last night’s candidate forum…
Tonight’s @nbcchicago forum was a win for @danielbiss especially with how often JB Pritzker attacked him. His $42 million campaign must be worried about our grassroots movement! #TeamBiss#ILGovForum
Rick Pearson on WGN rt now: the story of this 1st televised #ILDemForum is that ppl were looking at it before as a pritzker v kennedy battle…@danielbiss has made mvt. & is now looking to the public like pritzker's #1 competition.
Billionaire investor J.B. Pritzker and state Sen. Daniel Biss tried to change the dynamics of the Illinois Democratic governor’s race Tuesday night, attacking each other during the first televised debate and relegating businessman Chris Kennedy largely to the sidelines. […]
“He’s obviously worried. He kept naming me all night long,” Biss said of Pritzker afterward. Later, Biss added, “What I left here wondering (was), ‘What’s in J.B. Pritzker’s polling data? Why on this day was J.B. Pritzker all of a sudden going after me?’” […]
“The best thing for (Rauner) in this election is to run against another billionaire who’s Mike Madigan’s candidate,” Biss said. “If we want to be successful, we can’t afford to do that. And so I think it’s important to nominate someone with a record of standing up to Mike Madigan.”
Pritzker responded that Biss was “the only candidate on this stage that voted for Mike Madigan for speaker of the House, that ran Mike Madigan’s super (political action committee) in 2016, and you’ve accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Springfield insiders and bankers and lobbyists.”
“So I don’t think you’re the one to lecture here,” Pritzker said to Biss. “I think you should just be who you are and stop criticizing others.”
While Pritzker and his campaign had focused their attacks on Kennedy for months, on Tuesday, Pritzker chose to go after Biss for a pension bill Biss sponsored that fell flat with the Illinois Supreme Court — and for voting for Madigan’s leadership. That might be an indication Biss — who has painted himself as the “middle-class governor” — gaining traction in the race — although no major polls have been released in the thus far.
“He’s obviously concerned because he doesn’t want the Democratic primary voters of Illinois to face a choice between a middle-class progressive and a billionaire.”
* The most infamous moment in last night’s candidate forum was when Chris Kennedy was asked to say something positive about his opponents…
Just days after he said Gov. Bruce Rauner “should be applauded” for running attack ads and being “willing to speak truth to power,” Democrat Chris Kennedy on Tuesday declined to say anything positive about Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker.
Demonstrating the rough nature of the campaign, Kennedy — of the Kennedy political dynasty — was unable to list a “positive thing” the billionaire philanthropist and entrepreneur had contributed to the campaign.
Kennedy first paused when it was his turn to answer moderator Carol Marin’s question, then he criticized the perceived front-runner.
Kennedy: “I mean I’m challenged in this election because I think that as Democrats, we believe government can be our ally. And when J.B. emerges as the poster child of all that’s wrong with the corrupt system in our state, it’s difficult for me to heap praise on him. And that’s where I unfortunately need to end it.”
* Biss’ spokesman reacted…
REMINDER: Chris Kennedy just said that he couldn’t praise another candidate, but yet praised Bruce Rauner this week… #ILGovForum#TeamBiss
#1 rule of debates: when you are asked to say something nice about your opponents - say something nice. We should be bigger than a race or a campaign and remember we are humans first. #ILDemForum
Wow. When asked by @CarolMarin tonight to say something nice about his opponent @JBPritzker, Chris Kennedy refused to. Sadly that's no surprise given he's been too busy saying nice things about Gov. Rauner. #ILDemForum
.@JBPritzker can twist my words however he wants. I’ll focus on winning this state’s hearts and minds, not just its commercial breaks. We won tonight, especially if my lack of praise is the only thing he can cite. https://t.co/s7kNnjFHHg
Afterward, Kennedy was asked about his inability to say something nice about Pritzker. “I regret that. I apologized to him while I was leaving the stage,” Kennedy replied.
He tried to clean things up by praising Pritzker for “an incredible record around providing early childhood education, working towards that.”
Kennedy also later rattled off a list of what he said were Pritzker’s liabilities. And when asked what his own weaknesses were, Kennedy said, “My honesty.”
As of last night’s survey deadline, the majority of candidates for Governor, including Democratic frontrunners: J.B. Pritzker, Daniel Biss, and Chris Kennedy, submitted responses to the Illinois Redistricting Collaborative’s 18-question gerrymandering survey.
Organizations involved in the crafting of the survey included: CHANGE Illinois, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, the Better Government Association, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause Illinois, League of Women Voters Illinois, NAACP Chicago – South Side Branch, the Small Business Advocacy Council, and the Chicago Chapter of the Centrist Project.
The survey asked candidates specific questions about gerrymandering such as if they would support creating an independent redistricting commission to take over the map-making process, if they would actively advocate for a constitutional amendment to be passed by the Illinois General Assembly and sent to the voters, and supporting key changes to the process to increase transparency and public participation.
You can find each gubernatorial candidate’s response to the survey posted at: www.changeil.org/2018survey.
The winner of the 2018 governor’s race will play a major role in the next redistricting process in 2021. That governor will be responsible for approving or vetoing the maps.
“Getting them on the record in support of fair maps – an issue that 72 percent of Illinois voters support – was the easy part,” said John Sirek, Interim Executive Director of CHANGE Illinois. “Now, we need to keep the issue of gerrymandering front and center in their campaigns and beyond. If elected Governor, how will they see to it that Illinois enacts meaningful redistricting reform ahead of the next map-drawing process?”
Members of the Illinois Redistricting Collaborative are currently drafting a legislative constitutional amendment and have begun reaching out to allies in the Illinois General Assembly. The collaborative also plans to send a similar gerrymandering survey to members and candidates for the General Assembly in the coming weeks.
Last October, a Paul Simon Institute poll showed overwhelming support in Illinois for redistricting reform - with 72 percent of Illinoisans supporting an independent commission to draw Illinois’ district lines.
If you click here, you’ll see that neither Republican candidate and none of the Libertarian Party candidates sent a response by the deadline. Only the Democrats (except for Tio Hardiman).
Why no mention of this?…
As a non-partisan organization, we want to be able to work with the candidates of both parties on this issue and didn’t want appear one-sided just based on who answered and who didn’t. And thus, thought that it was unnecessary for us to call them out on their non-response to the survey, when you would have figured it out and will ask their campaigns anyway.
