* NPR correspondent Tom Dreisbach…
A top adviser to President Joe Biden, whose prominent communications firm helped launch a high-profile effort to assist victims of sexual harassment, rape and assault, was also a paid adviser to a powerful Illinois politician while he was being sued by one of those victims.
Anita Dunn, co-founder of the communications firm SKDK and widely considered a member of the president’s inner circle, provided “crisis communications” assistance to Michael Madigan, the then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, from 2018 to 2019. That work netted Dunn and her firm more than $200,000, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Madigan, who was also the leader of the state Democratic Party at the time, was not personally accused of sexual misconduct, but was being sued by a former employee of his political committees. That former employee, Alaina Hampton, alleged that Madigan retaliated against her when she reported that her direct supervisor had repeatedly harassed her over text messages.
While Dunn was advising Madigan, Hampton received support in her case from Dunn’s firm, which partnered with the anti-harassment charity Time’s Up. Dunn’s work for Madigan was specifically focused on responding to allegations stemming from Hampton’s lawsuit.
As a result, SKDK (the D stands for “Dunn”) was on the one hand supporting Hampton in her harassment and retaliation case through its partnership with Time’s Up, and on the other getting paid by a defendant in that very lawsuit.
There’s lots more, so go read the whole thing.
* A brief mention was made of this in the Tribune’s August 27th Mapes trial roundup, which I regrettably didn’t read because I was on vacation at the time…
In one email to Mapes, McClain described how Madigan’s operation hired SKDK to “handle this problem” and develop a plan to be “assertive” and met with the firm’s Anita Dunn, a top player in the Obama and Biden administrations, to develop a strategy that included beginning with an op-ed.
Mapes had initiated the email exchange on Sept. 21, 2018, the day a Madigan-signed a commentary in the Tribune said he took responsibility for failing to “do enough’ and promising to do more to address inappropriate behavior in Springfield.
Records showed the “Friends of Madigan” campaign fund paid more than $200,000 to SKDK over 2018 and 2019 for advice on how to address the #MeToo issues.
It came around the same time that McClain gathered a group of utility lobbyists — including political gurus Tom Cullen and Will Cousineau — to work out arrangements to send checks to help Kevin Quinn after Madigan had tossed him from the speaker’s organization due to the longtime lieutenant’s own #MeToo scandal.
…Adding… A new Tribune story was just posted…
“If I knew SKDK was working with Mike Madigan, I wouldn’t have even applied for funding from Time’s Up,” Hampton said in an interview with the Tribune. “It’s a clear conflict of interest that the communications firm SKDK was working with Mike Madigan while also working with the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund when I was a client and the legal defense fund was paying money for my legal fees and public relation fees.”
Following days of Tribune questions, SKDK issued an apology Wednesday morning.
“We understand the concerns that have been raised,” SKDK partner Jill Zuckman said in a statement to the Tribune. “In retrospect, we realize that the decision to work with then-Speaker Madigan’s campaign on these matters was an error in light of the support Ms. Hampton was receiving from another firm through a separate initiative we were proud to support.
“We apologize to Ms. Hampton and her allies and reiterate our full support for the survivor community,” Zuckman said.
To Hampton, though, the apology fell flat: “It feels like they’re gaslighting me. Even now.”
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* Not a lot of details in this pretty thin story, but it raises several questions: Are private organizations really responsible for two-thirds of the migrant influx? If so, which organizations are they? Are these aid groups really shipping migrants to Chicago knowing they can’t help the migrants once they get to Chicago and that the migrants then have nowhere to go? And approximately what percentage of these trips are paid for with federal dollars? Also, if the feds are paying for this travel, why isn’t the federal government paying to house and feed them at their destinations?…
About a third of new arrivals are bused here by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, but many are also sent by Texas and Denver organizations using federal money without coordinating with Chicago officials.
Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed to Axios last week that the federal funds they provide to local organizations can be — and are — used to buy bus, train and plane tickets for migrants to come to Chicago. […]
[First Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas] first got wind of the issue from migrants arriving at O’Hare this month who told Chicago officials that FEMA had paid for their tickets.
As far as the numbers go, Gov. Abbott claimed last week that his state has shipped about 7,200 migrants to Chicago since last year. NBC 5 reported at the end of August that Chicago “has received over 13,500 migrants in the past year from Texas, and as 6,500 are spread among the 15 currently operating shelters.” So, that’s a little over half the total, not a third. But he could be including private groups in that total.
Whatever the case, it would be nice to know who these groups are so that we can ask them for their rationale about what the heck they’re doing. I have an inkling about who one of those groups might be, but I’m still waiting on a reply.
* Back to the story…
Other priorities, according to Pacione-Zayas, include … Taking a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to share information about Chicago’s challenges and “the forecasting of a brutal winter.”
Talking to these groups might be helpful. It would also be helpful if the rest of us knew who those groups are.
*** UPDATE *** From the Tribune last month…
Buses to Chicago are sent not only by Abbott, but also by the city of Denver and Catholic Charities in San Antonio. Denver began providing free transportation for people to other destinations in mid-December, much to the exasperation of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who in January demanded in a letter to Colorado’s governor that the city stop. Months later, under a new mayor, the buses keep arriving. […]
Denver has received more than 14,000 migrants since December, and has bought about 6,400 bus and Amtrak tickets for over $2.3 million since then, according to Victoria Aguilar, a spokesperson for Denver Human Services. Roughly a third of those have gone to Chicago, according to Denver data.
A spokesperson for Catholic Charities in Chicago told me this afternoon she was not aware of any direct collaboration with Catholic Charities in San Antonio, but would check.
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* Mark Maxwell…
In St. Clair County, home to some of the most severe poverty anywhere in the state, taking money bonds out of the system amounts to a major disruption, both for the government entities tasked with upholding justice and for many of the private attorneys that make their living defending the accused.
“Lawyers won’t want to do this work anymore,” one attorney quipped. “This is going to eviscerate the private bar.”
Defense attorneys who take cases to represent their clients often make their money by placing a lien against the bond payments. Now that the system is removing those funds from the equation, private lawyers and county clerks stand to lose significant streams of reliable revenue.
If the incentives for private attorneys dry up, then the public defender’s office could see their workload swell even larger. In addition to the expectation of higher caseloads, the county workers anticipate more vigorous work in the early phases of their client’s cases when the judge assesses their risk.
“I don’t have enough lawyers to handle both the beginning and end stages of the case in great detail,” [St. Clair County public defender Cathy MacElroy] said. “There’s only so many hours in a day.”
* PD MacElroy, by the way, has just five full-time public defenders on staff. In addition to their daily caseloads, MacElroy told Maxwell that her defenders represent 360 of the 474 people currently sitting in the county jail, many of whom have filed for pretrial release.
The General Assembly appropriated $10 million in new, additional funding for suburban and Downstate public defenders, but the Illinois Supreme Court has not yet distributed the money. *Heavy sigh*
*** UPDATE *** From the Illinois Supreme Court…
Rich,
I noticed your comment on the PD Fund (created by PA 102-1104). This has been stayed until Sept. 18 so is not possible to distribute the funds before then. There has been a lot of work to prepare for the distribution. This was included in the release we just sent out on preparations for the end of cash bail:
The 101 counties that are a part of the fund will receive from $77,000 up to $147,555 using a formula based on several factors. This additional funding is expected to be transformative for public defenders and their clients across Illinois. It is expected to be distributed in the next few weeks.
* Meanwhile, ABC 7 got a look at a new $20 million renovation and expansion of DuPage County’s judicial facilities…
“What people need to realize in DuPage County is, we are the second biggest judicial circuit in this state. We have 48 judges, the second biggest number of judges in this state,” said 18th Circuit Chief Judge Kenneth Popejoy.
Popejoy called the new $20 million renovation and expansion “necessary tools.” […]
The improvements include new courtrooms, a new, expanded grand jury room, more space for the public defender and a renovation of space for the state’s attorney. The new square footage means more space for additional staffing necessary to navigate new challenges brought on by the SAFE-T Act.
“We are going to be seven days a week, 365 days a year having detention hearings. These hearings must take place within 24, 48 or 72 hours. We have to be available Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 in the afternoon to do hearings. Bond court never used to be that way; 15-20 minutes, this bond, this bond, this bond, this bond, go home,” Popejoy said.
Cash bail let the system off easy. We’ll see if the actors are up to the new order.
* Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. described Chief Judge Popejoy’s “15-20 minutes, this bond, this bond, this bond, this bond, go home,” depiction in highly stark terms…
“You go to a bond hearing, it sounds like a slave auction. People are talking very fast. They’re putting price tags on people’s freedom.”
* Context from the AP…
Between 1970 and 2015, there was a fivefold increase in the number of people jailed before trials, according to the 2022 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report. Data shows more than 60% of defendants were detained prior to trial because they couldn’t afford to post bail, and that nearly 74% of the 631,000 people jailed daily in the United States are awaiting trial.
* Last item…
Excerpt…
Some members of your association have opposed this legislation and spread misinformation about it from the moment it was introduced and have continued to engage in fear-mongering about its impact even after it was upheld by our highest court. Others have supported this reform from the beginning, while more came to the table to collaborate on making modifications in the trailer bill. Some prosecutors have acknowledged your collective responsibility to abide by the law in the wake of the recent ruling. Every member of the State’s Attorneys Association has a responsibility to call on its members to cease all continued attempts to deliberately obstruct the law’s implementation. Ample time and space was provided to craft this policy and prepare to enact it—now it’s time to put differences aside to protect community safety and the rights of those harmed and those accused
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Bill Black
Monday, Sep 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bill Pickett…
A former longtime member of the Illinois General Assembly from Danville has died. Bill Black was 81 when he died on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
Black was a former Assistant Minority Leader for Republicans when he served in the Illinois House of Representatives. He was known for his sometimes feisty debate style on issues on the House floor.
Black is survived by his wife, Sharon, and two children. When he announced he would not be seeking re-election to his House seat in 2010 he said he wanted to spend more time with his family, including his grandchildren. Black had served in the House since 1986.
* This excerpt of a News-Gazette story about Bill’s retirement pretty well sums him up…
House members gave Black, one of the senior members of the chamber, an extraordinarily warm and lengthy tribute. More than 30 of his colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, spoke and offered praise and thanks to the lawmaker known for his sometimes-bombastic, sometimes-eloquent speeches and for his playfulness.
“I hope you know how much I love this place, how much I love the process,” Black said in a 23-minute-long response to all the accolades from his colleagues. “Look around here. Look where you work. There are few people who ever get this privilege. This ain’t exactly a 6-foot by 6-foot cubicle. This is a phenomenally beautiful, historic building that has been well-maintained. And you should always consider it an honor and a privilege to sit in this chamber.”
House Republican Leader Tom Cross, who last spring demoted Black from his leadership position after Black voted for a Democratic-backed pension borrowing bill, was the first to pay tribute to Black.
“He’s a guy who is incredibly passionate about his district and, above all, at the end of the day, he cares most about what’s best for Danville, what’s best for central Illinois,” Cross said. “He has never ever forgotten his district or the people he represents.”
Beloved, controversial, civic-minded and locally focused.
* From his retirement resolution…
WHEREAS, Representative Black has championed other issues important to families in his district, including protecting the funding for roads and other needed infrastructure improvements, helping low income families and seniors keep warm in the winter by removing the sales tax on natural gas, creating jobs through the creation of Job Renewal Zones, cracking down on drunk and distracted drivers that pose a deadly hazard on our roads, and protecting the rights of adoptive parents; and
WHEREAS, Representative Black successfully worked to keep our State parks and recreational areas open for the education and enjoyment of our families and worked with colleagues across the State and Chicago city leaders to stop the infamous phantom Chicago parking tickets; and
WHEREAS, Representative Black’s good humor is infectious, and House Republican members and staff can always count on Representative Black to make them laugh on long session days by ambushing them with squirt guns, silly string, and other toys, or by relaying a funny story or joke; and
WHEREAS, Representative Black has received many honors for his service to his local communities, including several Outstanding Legislator Awards from various Illinois associations; he was also named one of the ten Outstanding State Legislators in the country in 1991;
* He could also be a humble man. From his retirement announcement…
“I have always tried my best to represent the legislative districts which I served. I may not have always succeeded, but I always tried.”
* From the Danville Commercial News…
“On his DACC resume, you’d have to point out that he once ran the public-relations department at the college. Then after getting elected to the State House, Bill was a passionate and successful advocate for those of us in his district, and especially for Danville Area Community College. As an Illinois Representative, he brought desperately needed funds to bring the DACC campus to a state of good repair,” according to [DACC President Stephen Nacco].
“On a personal note, I met Bill in June 2016 when he was a member of the DACC board that hired me as the college president. He’s one of the most colorful and entertaining people I’ve ever met. One of my favorite memories of Bill was when Dave Harby (board chair), Bill, and I went to Springfield for a community college ‘Lobby Day’ visit to the offices of elected officials. By that time, Bill had been out of office for almost 10 years. But whenever someone spotted him in those majestic hallways — elected officials and staffers and even building workers — they’d stop whatever they were doing and rush over to him to give him a handshake, a hug, a pat on the back, and they’d say how much they missed him and that Springfield needed him to come back. It’s quite a legacy he left as someone who was enormously popular and was able to touch so many lives,” stated Nacco.
When state Rep. Mike Marron first started in the position once held by Black, Marron said he will work tirelessly to uphold the tradition of excellence that has embodied the House seat from Harry “Babe” Woodyard to Bill Black to Chad Hays.
“He (Black) was the best. Personally he was a friend, a mentor, and someone I’ve looked up to since I was a kid. As public servants go, he was the gold standard. He is a legend in Springfield to this day, and you will never find anyone who fought harder for Danville and Vermilion County. He is going to be missed by us all,” Marron stated.
…Adding… Treasurer Michael Frerichs…
I had the privilege of knowing and working with Bill Black and the honor to call him a friend. My heart goes out to Sharon and all of Bill’s family on his passing.
I was blessed to have Bill as a mentor when I was elected to the State Senate. The Republican Representative from Danville and the Democratic Senator from Champaign were able to get a lot done for our constituents in Champaign and Vermillion counties. Bill was a loyal Republican, who frequently served as a floor leader aggressively challenging Democratic legislation. But he knew how to put aside partisanship to get things done for our constituents. I’m grateful for all he taught me and for his lifetime of service to his community and our state. Leaders like Bill Black are all too rare today – and our world is all the worse for it.
* Sen. Chapin Rose…
“Bill was one of a kind. As much as he will be remembered for his fierce and fiery speeches as a staunch defender of the people of East Central Illinois, his wit and sense of humor were unparalleled. He also deserves much credit and respect for his support of quality education. He was a huge advocate for the community college system here in Illinois, and even served in later years as trustee at his beloved Danville Area Community College. He truly understood and believed in the power of a quality education to transform lives.
“I was lucky enough to serve in the House of Representatives with Bill for several years. As a young legislator at the time, Bill was someone I looked up to,” said Rose.
“I extend my sincerest sympathies to Sharon and the rest of the family. There will never be another like him,” he concluded.
* Comptroller Susana Mendoza…
A legend has passed. State Representative Bill Black, R-Danville, was such a great mentor to so many of us who served in Illinois’ General Assembly. I was honored to be part of his tradition of hazing new legislators. I had been forewarned and donned protective gear when I introduced my first bill. He found that highly amusing and we got on great ever since. I’ve missed his insightful commentary since he retired. Illinois was lucky to have him as long as we did. I send my prayers to his family. May he rest in God’s peace and eternal glory.
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