From #MeToo to GoFundMe: Ousted Madigan aide’s sisters seek donations after his ‘life was turned upside down‘

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family of Kevin Quinn — a former top operative to Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan — who was ousted over sexual harassment allegations that rocked Madigan’s political operation.

Quinn is also tied up in a contentious divorce and reportedly caught the eye of federal authorities who are looking into payments he received from Madigan-related lobbyists.

The fundraising page was created by Quinn’s sisters Katie and Meghan. Titled “Help Our Brother Kevin Rebuild His Life,” it went up Sunday morning. Quinn on Monday confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times that the page is authentic.

“Over the last 17 months, we’ve watched our kind hearted brother remain stronger than you could ever imagine as he’s been dragged through the mud by one false and misleading news story after the other,” the page says. “In the midst of a turbulent divorce and insurmountable negative media attention, legal bills have stacked up. We have seen first hand the adversity Kevin has encountered and felt compelled to start this campaign because he needs our help to get the truth out there! The truth is Kevin is honest, sincere, and all around a great person.”

The page describes Quinn as a “loving and caring father, son and all around amazingly kind and thoughtful person.”

“Kevin is a father who never complained about working 80 hours a week to help others, while always providing for his two boys,” the page says. “His life was turned upside down when his 20 year career dramatically ended in the public arena in February 2018.”

Madigan announced he had fired Quinn on Feb. 12, 2018, the day before political consultant Alaina Hampton went public with accusations that Quinn stalked her with barrages of unwanted text messages and phone calls in pursuit of a romantic and sexual relationship.

At the time, Madigan called Hampton “a courageous woman” for bringing the allegations to his attention. The accusations dogged Madigan’s political organization in one of the most damaging #MeToo allegations to hit Illinois politics.

Since then, Hampton has filed a federal lawsuit against the powerful Illinois House speaker’s political committee and the state Democratic party, accusing Madigan of not doing enough to stop Quinn from harassing her.

Quinn has said it was a disorderly conduct misdemeanor conviction stemming from an argument with his estranged wife that led to his dismissal, not Hampton’s allegations.

Last week the Chicago Tribune reported that federal authorities are looking into $10,000 in payments Quinn received from current and former ComEd lobbyists. He received two checks for $1,000 each from Cornerstone Government Affairs in January, four months before Quinn’s home was raided by federal agents. It’s not clear what authorities were seeking in the raid.

Among Cornerstone’s clients is ComEd, which has acknowledged being served with a federal grand jury subpoena seeking lobbyist records. The utility’s large stable of lobbyists include many with close ties to Madigan. Cornerstone’s senior vice president is Will Cousineau, who spent about 18 years working for Madigan, including eight years as political director for the speaker and the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Quinn is also embroiled in a contentious divorce, and in a court filing last December, Quinn claimed he had been “unemployed from February 2018 until mid-September 2018.” He said he had to borrow money from family.

More recently, in April, Quinn — brother of Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) — said in a filing he was “self-employed as a consultant” but “does not have any active clients.”

The GoFundMe page had raised $4,415 as of Monday afternoon, with a goal of $15,000.