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Foxx hands Pritzker matter to special prosecutor

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Illinois

The prosecutor Republicans want to investigate tax fraud allegations involving Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker received a campaign contribution from the Chicagoan and his wife in 2016.

The Pritzkers gave Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx donations of $5,400 each Oct. 21, 2016, when she was running for her first term, state records show.

“The matter is in the hands of our special prosecutions unit; we have no further comment at this time,” a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office said Thursday.

Pritzker is fighting off an offensive from Republican Bruce Rauner, who called his rival’s property tax break of $331,000 on a Gold Coast mansion “white collar crime” at a campaign stop in Des Plaines

I asked the state’s attorney’s office yesterday whether this move was routine and was told that the public integrity unit is within the special prosecutions bureau. That unit, I was told, handles issues related to alleged misconduct of public officials.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 8:55 am

Comments

=issues related to alleged misconduct of public officials.=

So is a private citizen candidate for office considered a public official?

Comment by MSIX Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:02 am
“We paid the back taxes and rectified this issue months ago”

- Not… the Pritzker Campaign.

Another day… that never shoulda got to this place.

To the Post,

Look for the brother in law to face the biggest scrutiny, as I’m sure Pritzker would like that spotlight there, and it gives JB cover.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:06 am
OW, I get you think they messed up by not somehow fixing this months ago. Really, I do. You’ve said it loudly and repeatedly on every post on this subject I believe.

To the post, is it normal for the public integrity unit to investigate public officials’ actions from before they were public officials? It would make sense, I just don’t know if it is the norm.

Comment by Perrid Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:09 am
===I get you think they messed up by not somehow fixing this months ago. Really, I do. You’ve said it loudly and repeatedly on every post on this subject I believe.===

Yep.

As Pritzker and his Crew will continue to face the questions too. That’s how malpractice works. It doesn’t go away… until you address it.

Have they paid the $330K yet?

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:14 am
So I suspect about a week before the election, the special prosecutor says there is nothing to see here and Rauner melts into a puddle mumbling “corruption” over and over again.

Comment by A Jack Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:21 am
JB is not a public official? LOL.

He has donated over 130 million dollars to his campaign and the Democratic party in the past two years and cannot be credibly investigated by someone he has made campaign contributions to.

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:55 am
FYI, I think having it reviewed by the special prosecutions unit in her office is not the same as the traditional notion of a special prosecutor, meaning an independent person from outside the office — say a prosecutor from a neighboring county.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:55 am
===That unit, I was told, handles issues related to alleged misconduct of public officials.===

I get that the probe is about the report, however this could also spell a potential issue for the leaker(s) of the confidential report as no criminal investigation would be complete without attempting to assess that fact.

Comment by Anon Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:59 am
The increasingly better understood and documented roles of JB’s wife and his brother-in-law in the toilet fiasco I believe helps explain his reluctance/difficulty in putting this issue to rest properly months ago. Family. He didn’t want to admit they’d done something stupid or shady and that he went along with it. But trying to protect them from scrutiny or embarrassment in this has caused him even bigger problems now than if he’d taken care of this quietly months ago. Voters would have understood that. Allowing this to fester into a dumpster fire a month before the election boggles the mind. Paying back the money is the right thing to do, but waiting till now to do it makes him look guilty rather than honorable.

Comment by Responsa Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:07 am
OW, can they even pay the 330k? Has the assessor, or whoever, actually said the original tax was wrong and that he owes it? The IG thinks it was wrong and malicious, but I don’t think that carries enough weight in regards to setting JB’s tax. Can the county accept a check that he doesn’t officially owe (yet)?

Comment by Perrid Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:10 am
- Ron Burgundy - is right. A “special prosecutor” and the Cook County SA’s Special Prosecutions Unit are two separate and distinct things.

Comment by Roman Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:51 am
–The prosecutor Republicans want to investigate tax fraud allegations involving Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker received a campaign contribution from the Chicagoan and his wife in 2016.–

Actually, the GOP Congresscritters asked the federales to investigate.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:58 am
“So is a private citizen candidate for office considered a public official?”

Public official? One does not become a public official until he or she is elected or appointed to a public office.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 11:45 am
From 720 ILCS 5/12-9 (I added the asterisks and line breaks for emphasis.)

“Public official” means a person who is elected to office in accordance with a statute or who is appointed to an office which is established, and the qualifications and duties of which are prescribed, by statute, to discharge a public duty for the State or any of its political subdivisions or

*in the case of an elective office any person who has filed the required documents for nomination or election to such office.*

“Public official” includes a duly appointed assistant State’s Attorney, assistant Attorney General, or Appellate Prosecutor; a sworn law enforcement or peace officer; a social worker, caseworker, attorney, or investigator employed by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Children and Family Services, or the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission; or an assistant public guardian, attorney, social worker, case manager, or investigator employed by a duly appointed public guardian.

Comment by Steve Polite Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 1:13 pm
A big wrinkle is that the Aster Street LLC cashed the checks. Judges are often reluctant of “pierceing the corporate vale” in such cases. I can see the LLC possibly getting a fine, but it’s unlikely to affect J.B. directly. If J.B. was hands off, and the documents seem to support that, he really can’t be charged with anything.

Comment by A Jack Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 2:34 pm
Take Enron for example. Yes, they changed certain executives with fraud. But the shareholders who profited from the fraud through the appreciation of the stock price were not charged. Granted, they didn’t get off scott free since the stock dropped considerably after the fraud became public. But no shareholder was charged with anything. If J.B.’s role is as principal or shareholder it’s unlikely there will be any criminal charges.

Comment by A Jack Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 2:51 pm