McClain email fallout continues as authorities investigate ‘rape in Champaign’ and Pritzker ally resigns

In a 2012 email directed to two top aides to then-Gov. Pat Quinn, lobbyist Michael McClain sought leniency for a state administrator who faced discipline for an unspecified job infraction.

“He kept his mouth shut on Jones’ ghost workers, the rape in Champaign and other things,” McClain wrote in the email, first obtained by WBEZ reporters Tony Arnold and Dave McKinney. “He is loyal to the Administration.”

McClain is a close ally of House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Law enforcement officials are now investigating the “rape” section of the email, while McClain is under federal scrutiny as part of an ongoing investigation into ComEd’s lobbying practices in Illinois, the Sun-Times and other news organizations have reported. He hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing. Several other lobbyists with ties to Madigan are part of that investigation, too.

Since the email was discovered, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s agriculture chief has resigned. The governor’s office says Pritzker asked for John Sullivan’s resignation because Sullivan was aware of the email and “did not handle it appropriately.”