Four Illinois Supreme Court justices affirmed earlier rulings holding there are circumstances under which political campaign committees can pay for the legal expenses of public officials under criminal indictment or facing a corruption investigation.
In October 2019, 25th Ward Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections over a May 2019 payment of $220,000 to the Foley & Lardner law firm from the 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization on behalf of Daniel Solis, the former alderman.
In addition to representing the 25th Ward, Solis was chairman of the Zoning Committee and also led the ward committee. Sigcho-Lopez alleged the payment violated Illinois Election Code because Solis retained Foley & Lardner in connection with federal corruption allegations, and campaign funds can’t be spent on personal debts.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is using campaign funds to pay for his legal defense against federal corruption criminal charges.
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The ISBE conducted a closed preliminary hearing and dismissed the complaint after determining state law allows politicians to use campaign contributions “to defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions.”
Though it was not publicly known at the time, Solis had since June 2016 been cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice. Part of the ISBE’s decision was a determination the legal fees were related to that cooperation, which wouldn’t have been possible absent his municipal position.
In April 2021, a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court upheld the election board’s dismissal on administrative review, prompting Sigcho-Lopez’s appeal of the ISBE’s original decision. Justice David Overstreet wrote the opinion, issued March 24; Justices Rita Garman, Michael Burke and Robert Carter concurred.
As part of Solis’ deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, he wore a wire to help investigate Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, husband of Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke. Ed Burke has been indicted by federal prosecutors on corruption charges.
Chief Justice Anne Burke recused herself from the decision on Sigcho-Lopez’s appeal. Two of her fellow Cook County Democrats on the court, justices Mary Jane Theis and P. Scott Neville, also took no part in the proceedings.
“The campaign disclosure and regulation provisions of the Election Code consistently reveal the legislative intent to preclude payments from campaign funds for merely personal use,” Overstreet wrote. “We decline to adopt the Committee’s argument that the payment of criminal defense fees from campaign funds is in all circumstances consistent with the Election Code because the General Assembly declined to specifically designate criminal defense fees as a prohibited expenditure.”
What that means, Overstreet continued, is the question of whether a legal expense can be properly paid with campaign funds is based upon the question of whether the defense was public in nature.
“We cannot ignore that not all allegations by political rivals are sound and that baseless allegations are at times asserted against public officials because of their very capacity as public officials,” Overstreet wrote. “Until the General Assembly amends the statute to, for example, specifically prohibit payment from campaign funds for legal fees incurred in defense of criminal allegations against a public official or candidate, the issue requires the (ISBE’s) consideration on a case-by-case basis.”
Among the cases that could one day apply are those of former Democratic powerbrokers Ed Burke and former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who face prosecution on federal corruption charges and are using millions of dollars accrued in campaign funds to pay for defense in those proceedings.
The March 24 opinion doesn’t specifically address those concerns, but it did ultimately affirm the ISBE’s determination and the appellate review that, because Solis was cooperating with the FBI, his legal defense wasn’t a matter of subsidizing public corruption, but a reasonable extension of his public service.
Sigcho-Lopez was represented in the case by attorney Adolfo Mondragón, of Mondragon Law Group, of Chicago.
Solis' 25th Ward Democratic Organization was represented by attorney Michael C. Dorf, of Skokie.