Prairie State Wire

GOP attorney general candidate Tom DeVore is claiming his opponent incumbent Kwame Raoul lied about his part in not prosecuting Jenny Thornley.

DeVore has been doggedly following the scandal which has called into question Thornley’s direct relationship with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his wife M.K., and the governor’s office direct intervention to a debunked workers compensation claim – stemming from her false accusation of her boss of sexual harassment.

 Now he is calling out Raoul for lying about the attorney general’s office’s reason to not prosecute Thornley.

“When the powerful protect the powerful, people get hurt. This email is direct proof that Kwame Raoul lied to the people of Illinois in order to protect his boss, Gov. JB Pritzker,” DeVore said in a press release titled "FOIA-ed email reveals Raoul lied to protect Pritzker."  

“In fact, Pritzker and Raoul went so far as to attack those who questioned the handling of the Thornley work comp fraud case, which implicates the governor’s office at the highest levels,” DeVore said. 
“Corruption in government hurts the people who have to live under that government. One-party rule in Illinois has bred a culture that disdains transparency and diminishes accountability. The people of this state need a check on government. Illinoisans are generally decent people who hate the corruption that runs rampant in their state. In less than 100 days, they’ll have an opportunity to restore balance in the executive branch, and to put a check on power in the state. I am ready to stand up for them as Illinois attorney general, just as I have as a private practice lawyer."

Pritzker campaign aide Thornley, in her employment as chief financial officer and the personnel director of the Illinois State Police Merit Board, was accused of overtime fraud.

Raoul said he passed the case on to another court due to a “conflict of interest” but emails uncovered by The Center Square from Tim Diamond, the attorney general’s criminal enforcement division chief, and from David Robinson, chief deputy director of the state’s attorneys appellate prosecutor, allegedly prove otherwise.

“[We] have not seen any appointment or any investigation by law enforcement that would initiate an appointment,” Robinson wrote in the email obtained by The Center Square through a public records request. “[The appellate prosecutor’s office] has never done – to my knowledge – any worker's compensation fraud case. Our experience has been that those issues are directed to the AG’s worker’s comp fraud division.”

DeVore has been following the scandal doggedly on his Facebook page.

Michelle Winn-Cunney, leader of the Illinois Chapter of Parents’ Rights in Education National, recently cited DeVore's opposition to corruption as the basis for her support for his campaign.

“There is no question that we need him to be Illinois’ next attorney general," she posted on Facebook. "Corruption is corruption no matter what your political beliefs are. No one is above the law. If you break the law you do deserve to be held accountable and accept the consequences that come with whatever it is you have done. Tom has proven that he will do that already, he’s done more the for all of us who live in Illinois than our current 'attorney general' Kwame Raoul has ever done, and he isn’t even in office YET.”