When Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch was first elected to the powerful legislative position in 2021, the National Organization for Women’s Chicago chapter raised concerns over accusations he had engaged in domestic violence and sexual harassment years earlier, saying they were serious enough to warrant some kind of investigation.
That echoed remarks at the time from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who, according to published reports, said: “It is my fervent wish that these allegations will be vigorously reviewed so that we can move forward as a unified caucus embracing this historic moment.”
But five years later — as new questions emerge about whether Welch slow-walked sexual harassment accusations brought against now-former state Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield — there is no indication any such investigation ever occurred.
Said one person familiar with the situation: “I don’t think it was ever spoken of again.”
If that’s the case, it’s unclear why.
Welch’s government spokesman Jon Maxson said it was news to him if there was ever talk in 2021 about an investigation into this “very old story,” but he said he would check into it. He never got back to a reporter.
Cassidy declined to comment, and officials from NOW couldn’t be reached.
But as Welch finds himself facing a new crisis, an apparent lack of any investigation in the five years since the 2021 speaker election seems to indicate the old crisis was never fully resolved.
A 2002 suburban police report alleged that Welch slammed his girlfriend’s head into a countertop during an argument, though he was never criminally charged and has denied wrongdoing. He later said he has “reconciled with the individual since that night. … Their family lives in my district and are proud supporters of my public service and work.”
A former school board member of Proviso Township High School District 209, Welch was accused in lawsuits of sexually harassing one female employee there and retaliating against another after she rejected his attempt at a hug, records show. Both cases were later dismissed.
A Hillside Democrat, Welch was chosen as speaker after his predecessor and longtime political ally, Michael J. Madigan, was forced out of the post amid a corruption investigation that later saw him charged, convicted and sent to prison.
Among the schemes outlined by federal prosecutors: Madigan associates helped alleged sexual harasser Kevin Quinn, a Madigan political aide, get hired and paid by lobbying firms so he could stay afloat financially after being fired by Madigan’s political operation in the wake of the sexual misconduct accusations.
Among the lobbyists who helped out Quinn was Will Cousineau, whose lobbying firm Cornerstone Government Affairs also helped Welch’s wife during her successful run for Cook County judge in 2022.
Benton resigned earlier this month amid unspecified harassment allegations that were deemed “outrageous, unethical, and unbecoming” by Welch, who had booted the two-term lawmaker from Democratic caucus meetings in February pending an investigation by Legislative Inspector General Mike McCuskey.
Welch and Gov. JB Pritzker both initially cast doubt on whether McCuskey’s report could be released under state ethics laws, which have long been derided as toothless by both sides of the aisle.
But Welch has stood by his handling of the case.
“I think the process worked,” he said July 6. “I think accountability was had.”
Calls for transparency mounted in the wake of a Chicago Tribune report that found Welch’s office had learned of a previous allegation against Benton three years before the one that prompted the speaker to exile Benton.
Welch’s office allegedly took months to respond and referred that complainant to the inspector general, while Welch-controlled Democrats for the Illinois House political committee went on to pump more than $1 million into Benton’s hotly contested reelection campaign.
Benton most recently was accused of making lewd comments to a female lobbyist at a River North bar, the complainant told the Tribune. He hasn’t addressed the case other than saying it placed “tremendous strain on my family” and asking for privacy. And he hasn’t given up his $72,000-per-year elected post as Wheatland Township highway commissioner.
But the case has raised further questions about Welch, who allegedly sent emojis in social media interactions that left a Benton complainant feeling uncomfortable, the Tribune reported.
Those exchanges aren’t expected to be part of McCuskey’s report, which is slated to be released in redacted form Friday with the approval of the bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission.
Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday that Welch has been “trying to cover up and protect the Democrat caucus — but you can’t protect your members to the detriment and safety of others.”
“He’s not supporting victims” and “at a minimum he should step down as speaker and the Democrats should call for a formal investigation,” McCombie said.
Referring to the 2021 call for an inquiry into Welch’s previous allegations, she added: “I expected it to go away … and it did.”
The speaker went into damage-control mode last week in a series of meetings with members, including the House Democratic Women’s Caucus that is calling for more stringent anti-harassment measures from Welch.
“Simply referring a complainant to the Legislative Inspector General is insufficient — and if the person who reported the harassment chooses not to pursue that route, leadership must take further action to protect others in the workplace,” women’s caucus members wrote.
Pritzker, who said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday that he hasn’t discussed the situation with Welch, has called on the speaker “to be utterly and completely transparent … and to the extent that he made mistakes, to own up to those mistakes.”
Welch previously said McCuskey’s report will provide “a full and accurate account of the steps my office took to support those who came forward. My colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus and I have been clear that the report should be released while taking any necessary steps to protect the privacy and dignity of the innocent people who spoke out.”