SPRINGFIELD — A former staffer for a Democratic downstate legislator went public Thursday with salacious allegations of harassment and misconduct against her former boss that were deemed unfounded last year by a top legislative watchdog.
Republicans say self-described progressive Laura Jackson “felt ignored by Springfield” after she filed formal complaints against state Rep. Amy “Murri” Briel, D-Ottawa, but Democrats dismissed the charges as “a misleading political attack” in a district that’s expected to be closely contested in the Nov. 3 election.
In a press release shared by a GOP-aligned consultancy firm and the campaign of Briel’s Republican challenger, Liz Bishop, Jackson accused Briel of unwanted “repeated sexual advances, workplace drug use, harassment and retaliation” while working in the legislator’s district and campaign offices.
The ex-staffer claims in a a 43-minute interview posted online that Briel told Jackson she “could be Briel’s sexual ‘prize’ after winning the election,” supplied Jackson with Adderall in a frantic run-up to the 2024 election, smoked marijuana while working in Springfield and gave weed to staff as a “bonus.”
Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey said Jackson filed a complaint with his office in April 2025, and that he deemed it unfounded a month later. McCuskey declined to outline the allegations in the complaint, but said Jackson waived her right to confidentiality.
He sent the results of his investigation to the bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission, which would have to vote to release the report publicly. A commission spokesperson didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
Briel called for the immediate release of McCuskey’s report and rejected the allegations from what she termed a “malicious and false campaign video.”
“Liz Bishop can’t run on her blind loyalty to proven abuser Donald Trump, so her campaign is recycling malicious claims previously proven to be false,” Briel said in a release. “The statements in the video produced by her MAGA political operatives were previously taken to the Legislative Inspector General in 2025 and were found to be without merit.”
Asked to respond to McCuskey’s dismissal of Jackson’s complaint, Bishop said in an email that the “situation certainly underscores the need for ethics reform in Illinois and a more robust process for review of complaints and victim support.”
“Laura Jackson felt ignored by Springfield and sought assistance elsewhere. After working hard to promote a candidate she felt obligated to correct the record,” Bishop said.
Republicans claimed Jackson’s case as another test of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who has faced criticism even from within his own caucus for how he handled sexual harassment allegations against ex-state Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield.
Benton resigned last month following accusations of making lewd comments to a lobbyist at a River North bar, but Welch was aware of a separate complaint against Benton about two years earlier when the speaker directed $1.4 million into his reelection campaign.
Unlike the initial complainant against Benton, Jackson chose to file a formal complaint with the inspector general.
TaQuoya McConnico, executive director of the House Democrats’ political arm, called it “a clever political tactic by House Republicans, who have made Rep. Briel one of their top targets.
“Like many political attacks designed to generate headlines, it leaves out a critical fact: these allegations were investigated by the Inspector General’s Office and found to be unfounded,” McConnico said in a statement. “We will not allow a misleading political attack to distort Rep. Briel’s record or diminish our commitment to the values she has consistently fought for.”