In the last few hours, two more Democratic State Representatives have called on Speaker Michael Madigan to resign immediately. Despite growing bipartisan calls for Madigan to resign, Governor JB Pritzker is standing by his man.
Pritzker may be afraid that if Madigan is forced to resign prior to an indictment, calls will soon come for Pritzker himself to resign when the federal investigation into his own property tax fraud intensifies. That is why Pritzker keeps fumbling questions about Madigan.
Last week, Pritzker fumbled questions about whether he considered Madigan a political ally. Yesterday, he fumbled questions about why he is changing his standards when it comes to corrupt officials needing to resign from leadership positions.
The Background: Last year, Governor JB Pritzker called on former Democratic Sen. Marty Sandoval to step down as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee before he was indicted. This January, Pritzker told Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller that when there’s “clear” evidence of targeting by criminal investigators, “that’s the point at which folks should step aside.” But after Mike Madigan was dubbed “Public Official A” by the U.S. Attorney in a widening corruption investigation, Pritzker flip-flopped and said Madigan need only resign if the allegations are true.
The Fumble: Yesterday, NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern asked Pritzker why he was changing his resignation standard for Madigan. Here’s his convoluted response:
Well I have been clear that, you know when there is a raid, when there is an indictment, you know I have called for people to step down from their positions, or to resign. So I have said the same thing. I’ve said that, you know, if you know if these allegations are true, the speaker should, is going to be required to resign, in my view. By the way, that’s the same thing that the Republican caucus leaders in the General Assembly said when they responded.
Whoops #1: Pritzker tried to hide behind early statements issued by House GOP Leader Jim Durkin and Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady to defend his changing position. The Chicago Tribune reports today that Brady and his entire caucus have now called on Madigan to resign “immediately.” Durkin also issued a statement this morning calling on Madigan to resign immediately. Pritzker should be asked to respond to Durkin and Brady’s call for Madigan to resign immediately after using them as an excuse.
Whoops #2: Mr. Pritzker took the position that Madigan should only resign once “there is a raid.” As it turns out, there have already been many raids. The Chicago Tribune published the following timeline of raids in connection with the Madigan investigation:
If a federal raid is the new Pritzker standard for Madigan’s resignation, Pritzker should be asked why the federal raids that have already taken place and the federal grand jury subpoenas issued to Madigan are not enough to meet his changing standard.
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