NW Illinois News

State Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) is calling out Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch for providing cover to now-indicted former Illinois house speaker Michael Madigan. 

He articulated that there should be further work to be done to investigate “Madigan’s ties and corrupt dealings with current Democrat elected officials.”

“On August, 2020, I filed a petition to open an investigation in the Illinois House against Speaker Madigan,” Chesney said in a Facebook comment. “The Democrats killed the investigation and let him walk without even a legitimate hearing. The Chairman of the Committee was Chris Welch, who ultimately killed the investigation. In January of 2021, Chris Welch became Speaker of the Illinois House. ONLY IN ILLINOIS!” 

Welch distanced himself from the now-disavowed "indictment talking points" memo in which Democrats were advised to say "while I always stand with law enforcement, I, unfortunately, feel I must call into question certain aspects of the investigation process regarding Speaker Madigan’s case. From the start, he has faced unfair, partisan accusations; charges which appear to have influenced the indictments laid out today," according to a CapitalFax.com report. 

The memo, which according to Welch via CapitalFax, was erroneous, also encouraged the party to affirm its support to him and to "focus on the focus on the needs of the people of Illinois, and continue the legislative process to best address their needs" regardless of the proceeding results.

"Despite my misgivings regarding this case, I want to reiterate that Speaker Welch has my full support," CapitalFax reported. "Our legislative accomplishments since he has taken the lead, including a major Medicaid Reform and the landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, are undoubtedly victories to be proud of." 

A hand-picked successor of Madigan, Welch was accused of protecting the former House Speaker in 2020 after closing a probe into the ComEd bribery scandal. Welch was the chairman of the committee investigating Madigan’s behavior.

"You’re going through excruciating lengths to protect Michael J. Madigan from ever having to testify to his nefarious behavior," Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) said at the time. 

Madigan was indicted for running a racketeering ring involved in a $150 million bribery scandal.

The accusations were strongly denied by Madigan saying he was "never involved in any criminal activity" in his 50 years in office. Madigan, who spent 36 years as House Speaker, the longest in the country’s history, is accused of using the office for personal gain. "I adamantly deny these accusations and look back proudly on my time as an elected official, serving the people of Illinois," Madigan added.