In his virtual caucus meetings, Welch also addressed reporting in the Tribune revealing his interactions with the former Benton staffer on social media — which included him responding with heart-eye emojis to images of her — as well as a request over the Signal messaging app to meet in the bar area of a suburban restaurant.
Lawmakers said Welch acknowledged he was wrong to send the emojis, since the former staffer told the Tribune they made her uncomfortable, but he said he often holds meetings at that restaurant. The former Benton staffer previously was an intern in the speaker’s office.
One lawmaker said the emojis were highly inappropriate.
“All you can say is, ‘I’m sorry. It’s not gonna happen again,’ or like, you need to take action, like, accountability of your actions, but not say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that … even an emoji was actually going to make her uncomfortable. If I would have known, I would have not done that,’” the lawmaker said. “If you leave that on someone else’s page that is significantly younger than you … as younger people, we know what that means.”
* House Republican Organization…
As questions continue to mount over what Speaker Chris Welch and his office knew about sexual harassment allegations against disgraced former State Representative Harry Benton, one question stands above the rest: Why did the Speaker spend more than $1.4 million to keep Benton in the House Democratic caucus?
It has now been five days since the Chicago Tribune reported that Speaker Welch’s office had been aware of allegations involving Benton dating back to 2023. Yet despite those allegations, Speaker Welch continued to support Benton’s reelection, pouring more than $1.4 million into his campaign to help keep him in office and in the Democratic caucus.
As Speaker Welch meets with members of his caucus this week, House Democrats should ask him the questions Illinoisans deserve answers to:
• If you knew about the allegations, why did you continue spending more than $1.4 million to reelect Harry Benton?
• Why did you fight to keep Benton in your caucus instead of protecting staff and holding him accountable?
• What did you know, when did you know it, and who else in your leadership team knew?
• Why did you tell the public the matter had been “handled” when Benton remained in office and continued receiving your political support?
• If the latest allegations were serious enough to ultimately force Benton’s resignation, why weren’t they serious enough to stop your campaign from spending $1.4 million to keep him in office?
• What message does spending $1.4 million to protect Harry Benton send to victims who come forward?
“Speaker Welch’s office knew about these allegations as early as 2023 and still spent $1.4 million to protect their political majority instead of protecting victims,” said Mark Cavers, Political Director for the House Republican Organization. “Speaker Welch has given Illinoisans 1.4 million reasons to question his judgement and exactly what he was trying to protect.”
Speaker Welch owes Illinoisans answers. And every Democrat who serves under his leadership should demand them.
