Prairie State Wire

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider believes that the sudden resignation of former state Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) as Director of the Department of Agriculture in the wake of a controversial 2012 email by a longtime associate of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) raises yet more questions while answering none.

The email, sent by powerful lobbyist Mike McClain, was made public last week by WBEZ and referred to a state worker who remained silent about “the rape in Champaign.”

“If a random state legislator like John Sullivan knew about McClain’s email at the time, surely there were others who knew about it and also kept their mouths shut,” Schneider said in a press release. “It defies belief that John Sullivan knew of the email and its contents, but Speaker Mike Madigan, a close confidant of the email’s author, knew nothing.”

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider

Schneider has vowed to keep the pressure on Madigan, who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Party.  

“Today’s news begs additional questions,” Schneider said. “Who else knew about the 'rape in Champaign'? When did they find out? Why didn’t they do anything? These questions deserve answers, and that’s why I agree with [GOP] Leader [Jim] Durkin that there should be a House investigation to get to the bottom of this scandal.”