Prairie State Wire

Candidate for Illinois attorney general Tom DeVore lambasts incumbent Attorney General Kwame Raoul for turning a blind eye to possible Gov. J.B. Pritzker corruption.

DeVore wants answers regarding the Jenny Thornley scandal which implicates top Pritzker administration officials in a scheme to defraud the state. When a whistleblower complaint was brought, Raoul successfully filed for the complaint to be dismissed.

"Working hand in glove with Pritzker’s high-level staff, Thornley was allowed to file a false work comp claim alleging sexual assault, wherein she stated she worked for the Office of Governor, and JB Pritzker himself and General Counsel Ann Spillane, were her supervisors," DeVore posted on Facebook. "Thornley event went as far as to list JB’s personal contact information on the claim. Is anyone surprised that instead of pursuing a conspiracy to defraud the state that goes to the highest levels of Pritzker’s administration, and maybe even the governor himself, Kwame Raoul took a pass and moved to have the complaint dismissed by saying he was exercising his discretion not to proceed?"

Illinois taxpayers footed the bill for a $550,000 independent investigation that cleared a state supervisor from a sexual harassment claim from a state employee, Thornley. She collected a workers’ compensation claim for physical and emotional damage but the investigation found no such harassment ever took place. Thornley’s agency never knew about the claim until after it was getting paid out, and the Pritzker administration pushed it through without the agency knowing. 

Thornley was a Pritzker campaign aide in 2018 who also worked for the State Police Merit Board. She was accused of defrauding the state, and her boss, Merit Board Executive Director Jack Garcia caught wind of the allegations. She then accused Garcia of the aforementioned harassment. Thornley then threatened to use her political connections to get her out of trouble. She even texted the governor’s wife in February 2020. She then filed a workers’ comp claim, and she listed Pritzker as her supervisor although she never worked in his office. 

However, the abuse the claim is based on never happened. Spillane processed the claim, even though she knew it was fraudulent. Thornley was fired in July 2020 and incited by a grand jury in Springfield in September 2021 for salary and expense padding. The governor's office knew this was a fraudulent claim, but it secretly pushed it through anyway. To make matters worse, Raoul successfully got a whistleblower claim dismissed, which means he is doing nothing to hold anyone accountable, according to Wirepoints. 

"I personally reviewed the pleadings and other materials: This is a legitimately plead case of fraud and raises a conspiracy within the Pritzker administration," DeVore stated in a press release.

DeVore is one of the only politicians bringing attention to this scandal involving the governor’s office. Raoul had information regarding the matter but refused to act. DeVore pledged that if he is elected, he will fight corruption such as this.

Thornley is scheduled to go on trial in Sangamon County this fall on counts of theft, forgery and official misconduct, according to The Center Square's Greg Bishop. The Merit Board brought a lawsuit trying to get to the bottom of the scheme, but Raoul asked the court to dismiss it, which it did. DeVore wants to know, “Why did they pay her the money after we had already proven that she was not sexually assaulted?” DeVore is bringing light to this scandal and hopes others in the media will as well.