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By Hannah Meisel
* Mike Kasper, a longtime ally and lawyer for Speaker Madigan, has taken over treasurer duties for the Democratic Majority PAC and the Speaker’s committee fund, Friends of Michael J Madigan.
Kasper replaces another Madigan loyalist, former Chief of Staff Tim Mapes, who was ousted last week after a Speaker staffer named Sherri Garrett alleged Mapes had harassed her and other female staffers, in addition to allegedly turning a blind eye to harassment she and others reported. Mapes had not only been the Speaker’s CoS, but also the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois and treasurer for both aforementioned funds.
The D-1 filings show Kasper signed the papers on the 11th, but they weren’t filed til yesterday.
Picking Kasper is no surprise here; he’s clearly been loyal and it’s a stable choice. He’s also already the treasurer for the Democratic Party of Illinois. However, if there isn’t at least an attempt to search for new faces, it might undermine damage control work that Madigan is trying to pull off now that he and the Democratic Party have been weakened by #MeToo allegations.
Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown, told me that he expects Kasper will do it “as long as necessary.”
Obviously the funds need a treasurer and Mapes’ name couldn’t be on them for much longer. When a new executive director for the Democratic Party of Illinois is named, s/he may want a new(er) name for the treasurer spot too.
*** 2:10 p.m. *** - Rauner campaign spokesman Alex Browning in a press release…
“This isn’t change from Mike Madigan. It’s more of the same culture of corruption we’ve seen for decades. If JB Pritzker actually cares about fair maps, he will immediately denounce the decision by Madigan to appoint his personal attorney and longtime opponent of fair maps and term limits to his political committees. Pritzker just gave one of these funds, Democratic Majority, a $1 million check. Pritzker should demand his money back.”
Further down…
JB Pritzker claims to support fair maps – but will he put his wallet behind his words? Will he ask for his campaign cash back and use his influence to stop Mike Kasper’s appointment? Or will he reward the very person who has dedicated his career to stopping fair maps and term limits?
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 10:58 am
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Previous Post: DGA hits Rauner over Quincy flood waters claim
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Nice hit and run there. #inappropriate
Comment by McGuppin Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:05 pm
C’mon Bisk. That seems like a gratuitous insult / rumor. Kaspar is a class act by all accounts and a good choice for the interim…
Comment by Jake From Elwood Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:05 pm
This is like the old Politburo. Nothing like retaining the old guard. If Pritzker wins in November his first move should be encouraging a new speaker
Comment by Sue Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:34 pm
Mike knows the Election Code better than just about anyone and is a great choice for treasurer, on a permanent or temporary basis. But maybe some people will never be satisfied.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:37 pm
Mike won’t have any of the problems Mapes had.
His worst rap is that he’s an insider. He is. But with none of the baggage of the other goofs.
For his own sake, he should make this as temporary as possible. Gotta be the job he never wanted.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:54 pm
Agree with Anon @12:37. The fact that Kasper is a “loyalist” (or whatever) doesn’t change the fact that if my friend or family wanted to run for office, I would happily recommend that they pay him for his services. Whatever Mike Kasper is, he is an absolutely top-flight lawyer (and the DPI umbrella is currently an organization with some significant legal needs).
Comment by Anon2 Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:56 pm
Paging Lou Lang.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 12:56 pm
Y’all. The Chair and Treasurer of these committees are symbolic. THAT is why it is a problem. The actual Chair and Treasurer rarely do the actual work of campaign finance work.
Kasper is going to do all the legal/compliance work as needed, regardless of his official role for the committee.
Comment by SaulGoodman Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 1:03 pm
Y’all, the “symbolism” is the problem here.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 1:12 pm
If you’re going to criticize Kasper for being too close to Madigan, are you going to criticize senators who took money from Kasper? Critics saying the process isn’t shielded from Madigan taking money from his lawyer. Maybe they get criticized too or no?
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 1:20 pm
**Y’all, the “symbolism” is the problem here.**
You misunderstood me. I agree with you.
The folks saying that Kasper will be great don’t seem to understand that this is all symbolism.
Comment by SaulGoodman Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 2:08 pm
Kasper is a good man and a good lawyer. If the Speaker had seven more Kaspers and zero of the Mapes/Quinn types he’d be 1,000x better off.
Comment by JP Altgeld Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 2:34 pm
Speaking of symbolism how is GovJunk doin’ blaiming the 13 dead vet and his Quincy home were done by tornadoes and floods?
And speaking of “too close” lets remember Blagoof bagmant Stu Levine who was multi taskin’ as a 30K a month consultant for GovJunk
Comment by Annonin' Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 3:45 pm
Always fun to see Team Madigan try to change the subject when they are caught being well, themselves, to 15 year old allegations about a guy Rauner probably couldn’t pick out of a lineup. Tee Hee, indeed.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 4:53 pm
Hey these are different insiders, everything will be fine.
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 6:11 pm
Kasper is a MeToo complaint waiting to happen
Comment by DougChicago Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 7:11 pm
Team Rauner looking for change, gone from mapes to maps
Comment by Rabid Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 8:35 pm
First, Kasper is a solid lawyer that has done his clients well. Kinda what he is employed to do. You may not like his clients but that really isn’t the point as it relates to his abilities.
Second, the hit in fair maps is brilliant. The Republicans now have the anti- fairmaps lawyer to attack. While Kasper is a great lawyer he also is the face of why we don’t have fair maps. I call it a miscue on Madigan and a great pick up for Rauner. Politics at its best.
Comment by Baggs McCoy Thursday, Jun 14, 18 @ 11:02 pm
We just gotta keep Rauner for fair maps that is his destiny
Comment by Rabid Friday, Jun 15, 18 @ 2:44 am
When Rauner picked Lisa Spacapan as his GC he did what he is claiming Madigan is doing. LS helped the corrupt former director at dcfs to get away with his foolishness & when she was ostracized by the new director for her passed behavior LS was promoted to the gov’s DCFS. Pot meet kettle
Comment by Sunshyne Friday, Jun 15, 18 @ 6:42 am