* Press release…
An ethics violation and fraud complaint was filed today with the office of the Illinois Legislative Inspector General against State Representative Allen Skillicorn The complaint, filed by Skillicorn’s primary opponent Carolyn Schofield, claims Skillicorn created a false attendance and voting record in Springfield on Saturday, June 1, 2019 while simultaneously campaigning for another elected office at an event in Harvard, Illinois, 220 miles north of the State Capitol.
“The current Representative for the 66th District never misses an opportunity to grandstand politically when elected officials violate ethics rules, when he himself had violated the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act on the final day of the spring legislative session,” said Schofield. “He created a fraudulent House transcript that made it look like he was in Springfield voting, when instead he was walking in the Harvard Milk Days Parade more than three hours away. It was a willful effort to mislead his constituents and represents a clear violation of the Ethics Act.”
Along with the complaint, Schofield submitted a copy of the official House of Representatives Journal for June 1, 2019, which shows that roll was called at 12:11 pm with 114 members taking a digital vote that they were present in the House chamber. Skillicorn’s voting switch was engaged and a “present” vote was recorded. At the same time, Skillicorn was photographed and appeared in videos 220 miles away at the Harvard Milk Days Parade.
“The indication of ‘present’ implies that Rep. Skillicorn’s switch was pressed or else the switch would have been turned off in his absence,” continued Schofield. “Records further indicate that 26 bills were called for a vote prior to a 3:01 pm recess that day. Of these 26 votes, Skillicorn was recorded as either a ‘Y’ or ‘N’ on 23 of the bills. Obviously, he couldn’t have been in two places at once.”
In addition to the House Journal for the day in question, Schofield submitted supporting documentation from the Harvard Milk Days Facebook page, a Facebook Live video from the parade and photos posted to the Facebook pages for the Algonquin Township Republican Party, on the pages of an individual who watched the parade, photos Skillicorn posted to his own political Facebook page, and photos posted to the McHenry County Blog.
“The fact that he was physically in Harvard, Illinois the afternoon of June 1 participating in a 1:00 parade when he was recorded as ‘present’ during June 1, 2019 roll call at 12:11 pm and recorded as voting on 23 votes prior to 3:01 pm, is a concern for ethics and public integrity,” Schofield added. “These deceptive actions represent a direct violation of the State Ethics Act. He needs to be held accountable for his decision to engage in political activity while creating a fraudulent record that he was being paid for, appearing to be taking votes in Springfield.”
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line followed up…
“I can’t recall the exact time I left, but I left fairly early in the morning from the parade,” Skillicorn told The Daily Line, noting a floor speech he made that evening before voting against a bill that doubled the state’s gasoline tax to support transportation infrastructure in Illinois. “I didn’t miss any important votes. I did represent the people of the 66th District that day.”
When told the official Milk Days schedule indicated the parade began at 1 p.m., and that a Facebook live video posted at 2:07 p.m. on the official Milk Days’ Facebook page showed Skillicorn walking in the parade, Skillicorn said “I don’t think that could’ve been possible,” and provided the phone number of a volunteer with him at the parade that day.
Glen Swanson, himself the Algonquin Township Republican chairman, also told The Daily Linehe did not remember the exact timeline of the day, but vouched for Skillicorn, calling him a “workaholic” and accusing Schofield of only running for the House to “collect a paycheck.” […]
House Rules, which govern how business is conducted in the chamber, instruct that lawmakers must be counted as present in a quorum roll call vote before being able to vote on a bill, resolution, motion or other question before legislators.
“No member may vote on any question before the House unless on the quorum roll call before the vote is announced,” according to House Rule 49.
But the rules are silent on members falsely being marked as present when they are not, or what counts as “present.” A spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus did not return a request for comment.
So, Facebook’s time stamping was obviously malfunctioning, the official Milk Days schedule was totally wrong and we’re supposed to believe Sillicorn and Glen.
Right.
Gotcha.
He’s gonna need a better alibi than that.
Photos are here. Video is here.
*** UPDATE *** A commenter pointed out that Rep. Skillicorn’s alibi just crumbled further. Check out the tweet he sent before the parade…
