RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch sat down for interviews with selected reporters last week. He told most of them that his office had conducted an “informal investigation” into sexual harassment allegations against former Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, in 2023.
Welch’s staff has not responded to our request for an interview (same goes for the Chicago Tribune). But nobody asked whether he and his staff spoke to anyone other than Benton and the 22-year-old district office staffer who accused Benton of sexual harassment during that informal investigation after she’d resigned to avoid more harassment. Benton resigned last month.
Jessica Dixon Heitman also worked in Benton’s office at the time and has said she left because of the treatment of the young woman. But as far as I can tell, nobody talked to her in 2023. Heitman was recently appointed to replace the disgraced Benton.
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So based on talking to just two people, Welch concluded that this was a "he said, she said" dispute, and, therefore, since no formal complaint was filed, Benton “was entitled to a constitutional right to due process,” Welch told WGN TV. “I had to support a member, and I supported a member.” His caucus committee contributed $1.4 million to Benton’s reelection campaign.
Set aside for a moment the constitutional right to receive $1.4 million in campaign contributions after an overly narrow informal probe. Welch also told WGN, “We had to respect the wishes of the survivor, even though she didn't want to go through a formal complaint process.”
However, as the Tribune has reported, the accuser’s main reason for coming forward was to make sure that no other woman would be harassed by Benton.
At least two more women were sexually harassed by Benton after that, according to the legislative inspector general.
And despite what Welch reportedly told the House Democratic Women’s Caucus last month and then WGN last week, the Illinois AFL-CIO issued a remarkably forceful response to a question I asked by releasing a statement saying, “Any suggestion that Harry Benton — or any elected official — controlled labor's support for a candidate or caucus is false.”
Last month, I informed my subscribers that Welch told members of the Women’s Caucus, “Harry Benton went around telling union people that the speaker retaliated against him and should have given more support in his last [2022] race,” a member paraphrased Welch’s response at the time.
The Tribune reported last week that the newspaper learned from participants in the meeting that “Welch assisted the now-disgraced former lawmaker’s 2024 reelection campaign with $1.4 million to prevent Benton from actively working to curb organized labor support to the speaker’s war chest.”
And Welch told WGN last week that, while he regretted supporting Benton, “labor was a big advocate of Rep. Benton. As a union member himself, he had a lot of support.”
Some folks I talked to said it looked like Welch was throwing labor under the bus, so I reached out to the Illinois AFL-CIO and asked for its reaction to last week’s stories.
“The Illinois AFL-CIO has no tolerance for sexual harassment, in the workplace or anywhere else,” the labor umbrella organization declared. “We were deeply disturbed by the legislative inspector general's report and by recent reporting on former Rep. Harry Benton's egregious conduct, and we agree with his decision to resign. Any suggestion that Harry Benton — or any elected official — controlled labor's support for a candidate or caucus is false. It is clear the General Assembly needs to take further action to strengthen its policies and procedures to combat harassment and support the brave victims who come forward.”
The Tribune also quoted some Democrats close to organized labor who accurately noted that “Benton had little power to influence organized labor or its massive fundraising apparatus.”
Labor did support Benton in 2024, and a big reason was that Benton’s Republican opponent was Gabby Shanahan. At the time, Shanahan worked for the anti-union Illinois Policy Institute. I’ve written several times (including in my syndicated newspaper column in 2024) that there was no way on this earth that organized labor wanted an Illinois Policy Institute staffer in the General Assembly. Shanahan is running again this year, but she no longer works for the Illinois Policy Institute.
Now, a question could be asked about what would’ve happened if Welch or someone in his organization had told union leaders about the 2023 sexual harassment allegations against Benton by a 22-year-old district staffer.
But remember, Welch’s “informal investigation” included talking to only Benton and the staffer. And then the matter was closed.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
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