(The Center Square) – After months of investigation and leadership discussions, an investigative report on a former Illinois state lawmaker was released Friday, detailing sexual harrassment allegations.
However, one of the female complainants said the report has a number of factual inaccuracies.
Following the unanimous vote from the Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission to release Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey’s investigation report into former State Rep. Harry Benton last week, a redacted version of the report, the complaints made against Benton and other communications about the investigation were made public.
The documents show an initial verbal complaint was made Feb 19 by two unnamed lawmakers to House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch regarding potential misconduct by Benton.
An official complaint was filed with the LIG on March 4.
Welch said the report reaffirms his claim that his office acted in-line with procedure.
“We will work together to strengthen our laws, improve our policies, modernize our practices, and continue building a General Assembly worthy of the trust placed in it by every employee, every legislator, and every Illinois resident we are privileged to serve,” Welch said in the statement.
Benton did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square.
The report provides a narrative account of Benton’s actions, including claims and corroborating accounts from both named and unnamed witnesses of Benton acting “indecently” at different events.
Much of those allegations are listed as unfounded claims due to a variety of factors, including a lack of evidence and being beyond a one-year statute of limitations or outside of the official scope of the investigation.
There are only two founded complaints in the report.
The first complaint details Benton allegedly sexually harassing an unnamed district office director during an event at a bar in Springfield.
“Benton approached her and leaned over her and put his hand on her back. She said that made her feel very uncomfortable. He began a conversation by lamenting that [redacted] county elected officials disliked him,” the report read. “He continued to lean over her while touching her back. She then backed away from him because he made her feel uneasy.”
The second founded complaint details an interaction at a Chicago bar between Benton, another male lawmaker and a female lobbyist. Benton reportedly made a comment regarding his sexual prowess, before asking the lobbyist if she wanted to leave the bar with him.
The other unnamed male representative was asked if he would do anything about Benton’s statement, to which he reportedly responded, “What do you want me to do about it? He is always like this.”
The answer was corroborated by the unnamed lawmaker in an interview with the inspector.
In response to the report this week, the lobbyist disputed the narrative of the complaint and called into question the investigation’s quality.
“There are inaccuracies in the Legislative Inspector General’s report that must be addressed. It is likely that these errors stem from the fact that LIG McCuskey did not record our one-on-one interview or take contemporaneous notes,” the lobbyist wrote in a letter to the commission following a vote to release the report.
McCuskey responded in his statement alongside the report’s release, defending his work.
“I have never tried cases in the press. Nor will I ever do so! My judgments have never been attacked by an individual doubting my credibility! Being the Legislative Inspector General is a much different experience than being a Federal or State Judge. I have nothing more to add,” McCuskey’s statement said.
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie gave McCuskey the benefit of the doubt, noting inaccuracies may be due to previous ethics laws weakening the inspector general’s abilities – which she said drove out previous inspector general Carol Pope.
“I think that is going to be up to the commission and us to review now that we’ve seen this, but the fact of the matter is that there should have been a report done in 2023,” McCombie said. “Even Carol Pope quit because the legislation that was passed weakened the office. And maybe that’s the trouble that the LIG is having right now. His office is too weak to actually do a real investigation.”
Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, released a statement Friday afternoon calling on Welch to publicly acknowledge wrongdoing and apologize for his own reported misconduct toward a former intern, who sought his help after Benton sexually harassed her.
Cassidy also said Welch has provided “a series of excuses, victim blaming, and a failure to publicly acknowledge shortcomings.”
McCuskey recommended in the report that disciplinary hearings occur and Benton remain permanently removed from the Democrat Caucus and speaker’s office resources.
In subsequent letters to the LEC following Benton’s resignation, McCuskey recommended no further action be taken.
Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, chair of the LEC, said Friday the recommendation of further action against Benton was being followed, citing the time and resources that would be required.
“The representative has already been removed from office. The representative has been removed from the ballot process and that the anything foregoing would would not necessarily be a good use of time and resources,” Keicher said.
