Illinois Senate President John Cullerton calls latest federal raids ‘very troubling’

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, left, is handed an oversized gavel by Illinois Sen. Martin Sandoval during swearing ceremonies on the Senate floor in 2013. File Photo. | Seth Perlman/AP

With two fellow Democratic state senators facing federal heat, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Wednesday said he has no information on what appears to be a “criminal investigation” that resulted in the latest federal raid — on state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s home and offices, including in the state Capitol.

A day after federal agents carted off boxes and electronics from Sandoval’s Chicago home and his offices in Springfield and Cicero, Cullerton said he has not heard from the senator.

Sandoval has not spoken publicly. But his lawyer, Craig Tobin, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday the senator had no advance knowledge of Tuesday’s raid. Though Tobin said Sandoval did nothing to interfere with the agents’ work, the attorney said Sandoval would have cooperated and “given them access” if he’d known they were coming.

Tobin declined to comment further.

Speaking to reporters before a community center opening in Lincoln Park, Cullerton said he did not know the circumstances around the raid, but he noted it is “obviously very troubling.”

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton speaks to the City Club of Chicago at Maggiano’s in 2017. File Photo.

“It doesn’t look good, but we don’t know what it’s about. We don’t even know if he’s the subject matter,” the North Side Democrat said. “But it looks like it’s a criminal investigation.”

Asked if Sandoval will lose his chairmanship of the Senate’s Transportation Committee, Cullerton said he’ll “wait and see what happens” — since Sandoval has not been charged.

“I’d like to be informed about what’s going on before I make any decisions,” Cullerton said, adding he has not heard from Sandoval and has not attempted to call him. Cullerton, too, said he has not been approached by federal authorities about the investigation.

Illinois Sen. Martin Sandoval on the Senate floor at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield in 2008. File Photo.

The Senate president noted state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, who is a distant cousin, “is alleged to have done something in the private sector.”

Sen. Tom Cullerton last month was hit with a 41-count embezzlement indictment alleging he took a salary and benefits from the Teamsters while doing little to no work. After the Villa Park senator was charged, he was removed from the Illinois Senate’s Labor Committee and named to chair its veterans affairs committee instead. The shift in leadership posts ensured Tom Cullerton wouldn’t lose any legislative compensation.

“I hope to God that nothing was done involving the Legislature,” the Senate president said, adding he hopes “the same inquiries about Sen. Sandoval are the same case [involving the private sector].”

State Sen. Thomas E. Cullerton walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after pleading not guilty to federal charges he had been a ghost pay-roller for the Teamsters union last month. File Photo.

“If somebody’s done something wrong, I hope it doesn’t involve the Legislature.”

Officials with the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation confirmed the agencies’ participation in Tuesday’s coordinated raid.

The raid is the latest public signal of multiple, ongoing investigations into public officials in Chicago and Illinois. The first arrived when the FBI last November raided the City Hall office of Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), who has since been hit with a 59-page racketeering indictment. Former Ald. Danny Solis (25th) has also been outed as a cooperator who recorded Burke.

The feds conducted a similar raid in June on the offices of Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), though she has not been charged with any wrongdoing.