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Interim Legislative Inspector General says she believes she can make a difference

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* The AP interviews new interim Legislative Inspector General and former federal prosecutor Julie Porter…

The first person in two years to hold the post of inspector general for the Illinois General Assembly said Monday she took the temporary position amid Statehouse disarray over sexual-harassment complaints because “I can make a difference here.” […]

“I can make a difference here. This is very important. When we look at our public officials, it’s so important that people have trust in them,” Porter said. “In a perfect world, our public officials would be beyond reproach and always conduct themselves ethically and legally, but when someone puts up a hand and says, ‘I see a problem,’ we should investigate promptly and thoroughly and impartially.

“That is not to say that I prejudge complaints to be founded or believe ahead of time that an investigation should lead anywhere in particular,” Porter said. “But it’s important that people who have complaints are listened to and their complaints are investigated and adjudicated.” […]

Porter said, “I wouldn’t have accepted this appointment if I thought there was nothing I could do to get the state and the citizens out of this current situation.” […]

“There’s no one playbook for how commence an investigation,” Porter said. “You have to use the tools available to you, which may be more limited to me than what I had a federal prosecutor, but I still believe I’ll be able to do work that is meaningful.”

…Adding… Porter was also on Chicago Tonight last night. She’s quite impressive, but she said she is not interested in being appointed the permanent Inspector General.

* Related…

* State Lawmakers Scramble to Tackle Charges of Sexual Harassment: As then-director of the Illinois campaign for Political Reform, Canary was instrumental in 2003 and 2004 with the law that established the legislative inspector general’s office. Canary says it was never intended or equipped to deal with sexual harassment. The office was formed to deal with and investigate other forms of unethical behavior, following scandals involving former Governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. “When we dove into all of this we were really worried about people who were working for the state one day, lobbying the next; who were essentially paying to get bills done, and you know passing money on the statehouse floor. So we were looking at those kinds of governmental issues,” she said Monday. “Sexual harassment existed then. It absolutely did. But we were not talking about the legislative or the executive inspector general as the means to address it.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:27 am

Comments

Maybe I’m just being a wet blanket, and that’s fine, but I think I’d just rather see IG’s doing the job rather than doing media interviews and appearances.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:25 am
oh come on, all the reporters will want to talk to her. to suggest she just ignore hte inquiries is incredible naive and foolish.

Comment by jim Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:44 am
I think the parlor games of “Guess Who Will Become the Next Legislative Leader” and “Guess Who Will Become the Next Statewide Officeholder” have become almost impossible to predict. Legislators who look like prohibitive favorites to get promoted might just wind up on the street.

Comment by SAP Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:48 am
She’s in the hotseat now.

Some kind of report after the New Year but before the primary?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:58 am
Mr. Bergundy—Ms. Porter is an impressive public servant. She’s also enjoyed media attention since the Conrad Black trial.

Comment by Keyrock Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:09 pm
To the above comments who seem to think I am naive, foolish or suggesting she is less than impressive, I am suggesting nothing of the sort. I am merely expressing my wish that IG offices be run more on the mold of US Attorney’s offices. Meaning, that public comments are made when charges are brought and after trials (or hearings). This is not an office where complaints are sought out. The job is merely to review those before it impartially and to reach a decision one way or the other to bring it to the Commission or not. Perhaps wishful thinking on my part as I admitted.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:45 pm