ILGOP Chair Sets Deadline for Mike Frerichs and John Cullerton To Come Clean

This #FOIAGate story just won't go away.  Shame for Mike Frerichs.  Good for us here at the Truth Team.  (as an aside...we can't really believe our good luck that Frerichs' campaign doesn't understand that the longer they keep this issue alive, the worse it gets for them...)

With this story going into it's second week, we have to wonder, what exactly is Mike Frerichs and his campaign hiding?  Must be some nasty stuff for him to stonewall voters from seeing what he's been up to in the Illinois State Senate.  

Now, Tim Schneider, the Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party has set a deadline for Mike and his crony John Cullerton to come clean:  he's given them 7 days to release the public information before they turn to the Attorney General.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider today again called upon Democrat State Senator Mike Frerichs and Senate President John Cullerton to release records as required under the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). To date, release of these records has been denied. 

Speaker Mike Madigan has already released nearly identical data on Representative Tom Cross, as requested by the Frerichs campaign. 

“The simple question everyone is asking right now is what is Mike Frerichs hiding?” said Schneider. “Taxpayers have every right to see how their tax dollars are spent, but Mike Frerichs and his powerful allies in state government continue to block public access to these records. Why?” 

If the records are not released in seven days - by Monday, July 7 - the party will work with the FOIA filer to submit an official Request for Review of the denial with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office, as set in state law. 

The FOIA requests detail how Frerichs has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in office – important information to know for a candidate running for state treasurer – and to disclose what role he may have had in the scandal-plagued Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and possible illegal hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Repeated requests have been denied by the FOIA officer representing Senate President John Cullerton. Cullerton donated $50,000 to Frerichs’ campaign in March, 2014.

Talk about great campaign 'optics', right?  A campaign is fighting to keep information out of the public's hands?  Fits into a pattern, doesn't it?   The voters love to hear about candidates who refuse to release info.