* The Chicago Tribune…

[O]n Wednesday [House Speaker Chris Welch] made the rounds of several media outlets in an effort to shore up support for his leadership amid increasing scrutiny. Unlike the Tribune, none of the outlets Welch spoke with had interviewed the harassment victims, leaving Welch to present a largely one-sided account.

Welch’s media outreach did not include the Tribune, which on July 17 published a months-long investigation that found the speaker’s office had known of [former Rep. Harry Benton’s] harassment of a district office staffer for three years but failed to act until this year — a period in which two other women faced Benton’s harassment. Even before publication, the Tribune had unsuccessfully sought to interview Welch about his handling of the case, including whether he ever confronted Benton after his staffer brought a lengthy list of allegations, many of a sexual nature, to his office.

* WGN…

Welch told WGN that in 2023, his then chief of staff Tiffany Moy had heard something was going on in Rep. Benton’s office. Moy then reached out to the young woman, who shared her concerns. According to Welch, Moy asked the woman to write down her list of complaints against Benton. He claims the woman said she only wanted to make a record to protect women in the future, but she didn’t want to go forward with a formal complaint. Welch says his staff then tried to convince her to follow the Legislative Inspector General process.

“She was insistent on not going through that process,” Welch said. “The guiding principle in 2023 was following the wishes of the survivor and we did that every step of the way.”

Asked why he didn’t do more even after the victim said she didn’t want to go further, Welch admitted he made a mistake.

“I take full responsibility for that, we could do better, we will do better,” Welch said.

* Back to the Tribune…

In another interview, Welch referred to the former staffer’s allegations as an “unofficial complaint.”

But the former staffer followed the protocols outlined in a document she was given, which listed the speaker’s chief of staff as a reportable entity for sexual harassment complaints. It was Welch’s then-chief of staff who received the former staffer’s lengthy list of allegations against Benton.

The former staffer twice rejected the speaker’s office’s efforts to have her contact the legislative inspector general, fearing that, as a young staffer, she would become a political pariah and forfeit future opportunities to work in government and politics. Instead, she said she believed Welch’s office could handle her complaint internally. Still, she said she wanted action taken so no other women would be subjected to Benton’s harassment in the future.

* NBC Chicago…

[Welch] says the decision not to censure Benton or call for his resignation stemmed from what he considered issues of “due process.”

“We still did an informal investigation and we brought the representative in and he adamantly denied the allegations,” Welch said. “And so at that point for me, it’s a due process issue. How do I give this member due process? They have a constitutional right to that. And without due process, I thought the only thing I could do was to continue to support the member.”

“We basically have 118 employers hiring and firing employees. And so I got to tell you, our system, the way it’s set up failed this young woman in 2023,” he said. “It failed other women who had been afraid to come forward. And as the leader of this caucus, as the lead of this chamber, I take full responsibility for that. And I take for responsibility for the obligation to fix it. I know we can do better.”

* ABC Chicago…

Welch said the woman did not want to file a formal complaint, and Benton “vehemently denied” the allegations. Welch said Benton was entitled to due process, and no action was taken at the time. […]

“But was he entitled to 1.4 million dollars of support from you to get reelected?” ABC7 asked.

Welch responded, “At that point, with the information before me, we were supporting a member who had allies supporting his re-election. Would I do that today, knowing what I know now? Of course not. Hindsight is 20/20… I understand the concern. I think that’s a valid concern of many,” Welch said. “With the information before me at the time, I literally was leaning on a member being entitled to due process.”

Welch said that in hindsight he would have acted differently.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Welch told Capitol News Illinois it wasn’t until he read a Chicago Tribune article last month that he realized his actions — including reacting to the former staffer’s Instagram photos with heart eyes and inviting her to a bar through an encrypted messaging app — made her feel uncomfortable.

“When I read that, I felt terrible,” Welch, a Hillside Democrat, said. “That certainly was not my intent, but I made her feel uncomfortable, and I have to own that. I regret that and I’m embarrassed by it, and I apologize for it. And I think that’s taking responsibility.”

Welch said he’s changed his social media behavior since the Chicago Tribune’s July 17 report, which focused heavily on the fact that the staffer initially complained about Benton’s actions toward her in 2023.

The staffer, who once served as an intern in Welch’s office, told the paper she had several interactions with the speaker that made her “uncomfortable” after she left Benton’s staff. When she asked him for career advice, for example, he reportedly asked her to move a text conversation to the private messaging app Signal, where messages disappear after a period of time, and meet her at a bar to discuss her request.

* Politico…

Playbook: Critics also have concerns about allegations from before you became speaker, including being sued twice for unwanted advances. Why should voters view those situations differently? [From Isabel: Click here for some background on those allegations if you need it.]

Welch: “Those issues have been without merit. Cases have been brought against me that have been dismissed because they were without merit, and I have never shied away from talking about those issues.

“Our caucus is majority women because I’ve supported women running for office and the values that they believe in, and I’m going to continue to support women running for office and the values that they believe in.”

Playbook: Reactions to this controversy have exposed racial tensions within the caucus, with Black legislators supporting you and some white lawmakers still questioning how it happened. How do you bring people together?

Welch: “Diversity is our strength, but our power comes from our unity… My job is going to be to try to unite us, not divide us. You’ll never see me doing anything to try to divide us.”