A press release from State Senator Dan McConchie:
Sen. McConchie joins legislators calling on Auditor General Mautino to step aside while investigations continue
Chicago, IL… Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) joined a group of Illinois legislators today urging Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino to voluntarily take an unpaid leave of absence while numerous investigations persist into irregular campaign expenditures and reporting procedures dating back to his time in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Springfield press conference calling for Auditor General Frank Mautino to step down. From left to right are Reps Tom Morrison, Mark Batinick, Peter Breen, Grant Wehrli, Keith Wheeler, Margo McDermed, and Steve Andersson.
The legislators stressed that Mautino cannot effectively do his job while under a lingering cloud of suspicion.
“I joined my colleagues today in demanding answers from Auditor General Frank Mautino on his highly irregular campaign account spending,” said Sen. McConchie.
“For months we have formally asked him to provide answers, but he has yet to do so.
“Republican efforts to call on Frank Mautino to step aside have now turned into a bipartisan one.
“He cannot effectively do his job while he’s defending himself against these charges.”
A group of twelve legislators from the House sent an initial request for answers to Auditor General Mautino on February 1st asking for a written reply within 10 days.
Mautino replied on February 9th that he needed more time to properly address the request.
Frank Mautino
To accommodate the Auditor General, the legislators on February 11th extended their request deadline to February 25th. Mautino replied that he had retained a legal firm to assist him and would be working ‘…during the next few weeks in order to respond to your letter.’
In May legislators sent another request to which the Auditor General responded that the issue would be resolved by the State Board of Elections.
Since that time, however, it has been revealed that the matter has grown into a federal investigation.
“The Auditor General is charged with being the taxpayers’ watchdog against fraud and waste, and Frank Mautino can’t possibly fulfill those duties while he’s under numerous investigations,” State Rep. Wehrli, a leader in this effort, said.
“Illinois taxpayers have seen enough scandal. They need government they can trust. For the integrity of the office of Auditor General, we are demanding Frank Mautino’s immediate assurance that he will step aside until the investigations are concluded.”
Today, a growing group of 21 legislators from both the House and Senate demanded in writing that Auditor General Mautino take an unpaid leave of absence until the federal and state investigations into his past financial conduct are concluded.
Way to go!