SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The recently departed legislative inspector general calls the watchdog post “broken.”
Julie Porter says in an op-ed in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune that the Legislative Ethics Commission denied her request to publish a report on a legislator’s wrongdoing just before she left office. The commission is made up entirely of lawmakers.
The former federal prosecutor served as a temporary inspector from 2017 to last month. She says the inspector should not have to seek the commission’s permission to initiate an investigation, issue subpoenas or publish a report of substantiated wrongdoing.
Porter and Rep. Avery Bourne, the commission chairwoman, said the law precludes them from discussing the unpublished report. Bourne says there are legitimate reasons not to publish.
Bourne says the process is important and the General Assembly should continue discussing changes.
