Newly elected Illinois State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) has a hard time believing some of the things that pass for normalcy in Springfield.
“This news should absolutely impact the way Gov. Pritzker governs,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News of reports that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and several family members including his wife remain under federal probe stemming from alleged acts taken in an attempt to lower their property tax bill. “Instead, you’ve got the whole Democratic party still supporting him as if nothing's happened and this corruption is all part of the lifestyle they live.”
According to WBEZ Radio, federal investigators formally began their probe last October after the Cook County Inspector General deemed the governor’s actions to be a “scheme to defraud.” More specifically, Pritzker and his wife are accused of ordering workers to remove all the toilets from their Gold Coast mansion so that it would he declared uninhabitable, ultimately saving the couple around $330,000 on their property tax bill for the home.
State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia)
As part of his 33-page summary, inspector general Patrick Blanchard noted that the modifications dropped the market-price assessment on the home from $6.25 million to just a shade over $1 million.
“This whole thing should have been immediately investigated with all the facts laid out for voters to see,” said Bailey, who won the 109th District with nearly 75 percent of the vote back in November. “Democrats should also be demanding an investigation; instead, they’re just hoping it all goes away. I don’t see the integrity you should be seeing coming from such high places.”
Through his attorney, Marc Elias, a partner with the law firm of Perkins Coie, Pritzker has denied all wrongdoing, adding that neither he nor his wife have been contacted by investigators about the matter.
The 109th House District includes all or parts of Clay, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne and White counties.
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