Dear Chairman Brady:

In the wake of the George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich scandals, I am sure you, as a former federal prosecutor and Assistant State’s Attorney, will agree how important it is for Illinois politicians to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. As such, I call on the Illinois Republican Party to donate to charity the Griffin money that was possibly illegally channeled to the state Republican Party during Rodney Davis’ tenure as the party’s Acting Executive Director.

As you know, billionaires Ken and Anne Griffin funneled more than $200,000 to local Illinois Republican groups and several of those organizations soon thereafter channeled approximately $140,000 of that money back to the Illinois Republican Party via purchases of tickets to an event with Karl Rove, among other routes. Rodney Davis freely admits that, as Acting Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party, he helped the Griffins find local Republican entities to receive the Griffin’s largess.  Many of the targeted local Republican entities had rarely, if ever, received such large donations.  Yet, instead of holding onto the surprising windfall to assist their programs and efforts, these local entities almost immediately funneled the money back into state Republican party coffers.

After Rodney Davis’ helpful directions to the Griffins that enriched the state Republican Party coffers, party officials then rewarded Davis with the nomination to run for Congress in the 13th district, following the withdrawal of Rep.Tim Johnson.

While the facts of the Griffin/Davis transactions hint at some potentially illegal efforts to skirt Illinois’ tougher new campaign finance laws, there is no question that the Griffin/Davis transactions smell bad.  To remove the taint, the Illinois Republican Party should disgorge itself of the “laundered” Griffin funds and donate the money to a worthy charity.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that the corruption that was rampant in Illinois politics during the George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich-eras will one day become a distant memory.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Gill