* Background is here if you need it. Chicago Tribune today…

Members of the Legislative Ethics Commission, the bipartisan eight-member panel made up of four Democratic and four Republican state lawmakers that reviews inspector general reports, are scheduled to meet Thursday and could vote to make the Benton report public.

Many of the commission members had no comment on the Tribune’s investigation, citing the confidentiality of their work, though one member, Republican Jil Tracy of Quincy, said, without elaborating, that the [Tribune] story “was far worse than the report.”

“My thought was, even before this (article) I was thinking the Republicans would probably vote to release it, and I have to think too that the Democrats would seriously think about it as well,” she said. “I think that everybody’s had enough. The truth is, it’s already out there.”

Tracy said that the details in the Tribune report point to potentially making one change in state law to extend the statute of limitations on what actions an inspector general can investigate to as many as four years from the current one-year limit.

Emphasis added because… what the heck?

* Here’s the statement we received from Speaker Welch’s office this weekend…

The Legislative Inspector General’s independent investigation into former Representative Benton provides a full and accurate account of the steps my office took to support those who came forward. The Legislative Ethics Commission has sole authority to release the report, and I encourage the Commission to do so in a manner it deems appropriate, with every necessary safeguard to protect the privacy and dignity of the individuals who courageously spoke out. Protecting potential victims and the due process rights of those accused remain concerns for members and are areas we need to consider as we look for ways to improve.  

* WCIA…

“The reporting today just really kind of gives us more questions about what’s been going on, especially how long did Speaker Welch know about it?” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie.

According to statements made by the victims — who were not named in the Tribune’s article –Welch first became aware of Benton’s problems in 2023 when a 22-year-old staffer reported harassment, much of which was sexual in nature, to Welch’s office.

But the Chicago Tribune’s investigation found Welch didn’t even interview Benton about the harassment until three months after it was reported, and ultimately choose not to discipline him. Welch would go on to financially support Benton in his 2024 re-election campaign. It wasn’t until a second victim reported Benton in February of this year that Welch took action.

“He invested millions of dollars to get him re-elected, even after knowing about this conduct to put him back into place. So he probably… did he not want that to come out? Obviously not,” said McCombie

…Adding… Isabel ran the numbers and came up with this…

Since the 2023 date when Speaker Welch was scheduled to have that July meeting with Benton, Democrats for the Illinois House contributed $1,407,918 to Benton’s campaign