After indictment of Michael Madigan, Illinois politicians react.
. Attorney John Lausch said Wednesday that there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against Pritzker.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker join U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen tours University of Illinois Chicago's Innovation Center, March 2, 2022. “The era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end,” Pritzker said. “The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the public’s trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”The changes to state ethics laws Pritzker has signed have been largely panned by good-government groups as weak responses to the state’s pervasive public corruption.
In Springfield, House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, who long sparred with Madigan, said Wednesday “may be the darkest day in Illinois government history.” “It’s time we put a stop to the Pritzker-Madigan corruption that has been plaguing this state for decades, and the only way we can do that is to change our government from within and get rid of the politicians like J.B. Pritzker who continues enabling the Mike Madigans of the world,” said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, one of the five GOP governor candidates.