Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey resigns amid criticism

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ legislature will once again soon find itself without a legislative inspector general.

Michael McCuskey will resign that watchdog post amid criticism about his ability to handle investigations. It’s the latest twist for a post that McCuskey’s two immediate predecessors described as “broken” and a “paper tiger.” Prior to that, the LIG’s office sat vacant for three years.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, chair of the Legislative Ethics Commission that will search for a replacement, declined to comment beyond a notice of vacancy released by the bipartisan, bicameral commission, which does not publicly disclose when they meet or what gets discussed.

“The Commission considers the Legislative Inspector General to be a vital position that should be filled as expeditiously as possible to ensure the integrity of the Office and to preserve the citizens’ trust in the functions and operations of the legislative branch of government for which the LIG has jurisdiction,” Keicher said in that statement.

The LEC announced Tuesday they were notified on Aug. 31 that McCuskey’s position was going to become vacant and they were searching for a replacement. McCuskey, a former federal judge, told Capitol News Illinois his resignation will take effect Sept. 30. He added, however, that the LEC had “not yet accepted” his resignation as of Tuesday afternoon, “but they know that I have offered it.”

Pressure from lawmakers

Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, chairs the House Democratic women’s caucus and previously called on McCuskey to resign.

“LIG McCuskey’s resignation is significant, but it does not end the culture of harassment that has persisted in Springfield for far too long,” Canty said in a statement Tuesday. “We must strengthen the laws that guard against harassment, build a process that survivors can trust, and show the leadership required to earn the public’s confidence. The work is not finished.”

McCuskey’s Aug. 31 resignation announcement came just days after a damning Chicago Tribune report about a lobbyist he interviewed as part of the investigation into former Rep. Harry Benton. The lobbyist sent a letter to the General Assembly’s four caucus leaders saying McCuskey “violated the confidence of other victims and me.”

McCuskey ultimately found Benton engaged in “a pattern and practice of inappropriate sexual conduct,” but it was the nature of his investigations that drew criticism.

That same lobbyist also sent a letter to the LEC on July 29 saying McCuskey’s final report to the commission regarding Benton contained six inaccuracies.

“It is likely that these errors stem from the fact that LIG McCuskey did not record our one-on-one interview or take contemporaneous notes,” the lobbyist wrote in July.

‘Highly inappropriate’ commentary

In another letter detailed in the Tribune’s report, the lobbyist explained four interactions with McCuskey that she deemed problematic. She said McCuskey shared confidential information, including the names of other victims, with her, and took other actions that led her to question McCuskey’s professional judgement.

During an interview with McCuskey on May 12 about allegations against Benton, the lobbyist said the LIG made his own comments about the lobbyist’s physical appearance.

“LIG McCuskey interrupted the interview to ask me if I knew that I did not look as old as I am,” the lobbyist said. “He told me that I look very young, that his son was 32, that he is well aware of what 30-year-olds look like, and I look like his son’s friends. I found this commentary on my physical appearance highly inappropriate and concerning.”

The lobbyist said she also learned that McCuskey left a voicemail with her 81-year-old mom in Michigan seeking information for his investigation into Benton.

In follow-up phone calls on June 1 and June 5, the lobbyist said McCuskey disclosed more private information about other people involved in the Benton investigation.

Later in July, McCuskey contacted the lobbyist to get her approval to release information to the LEC. During that phone call, the lobbyist said she corrected McCuskey about a statement by Benton that was going to be attributed to her, but McCuskey responded by saying “that doesn’t matter.”

“I was shocked and disturbed when I got the report and there were claims included that were completely made up,” the lobbyist said in the letter obtained by the Tribune.

McCuskey disputed that characterization in a follow-up statement included with Benton’s report.

“There are no inaccuracies in my founded summary report. I stand by it completely,” McCuskey said. “My judgments have never been attacked by an individual doubting my credibility!”

McCuskey also raised more questions for lawmakers when he discussed Benton’s investigation in detail on a Springfield radio show.

The LIG and ethics reform

Whether it’s been filled or not, the legislative inspector general’s office has been a lightning rod in recent years.

The post sat vacant through much of 2014 into 2017, when ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office became embroiled in a sexual harassment and workplace culture scandal. In that span, more than two dozen complaints were made to the office but not investigated.

In 2017, former federal prosecutor Julie Porter took the job on an interim basis, ultimately becoming a critic of the office and calling it “broken.” She was succeeded full-time by Carol Pope, a retired appellate court judge and state’s attorney.

Pope held the job from 2019 until resigning in January 2022, criticizing the office as a “paper tiger” and saying lawmakers “demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority” through their inaction in strengthening the office that year.

The law passed at the time stopped lawmakers from lobbying on behalf of municipalities, strengthened financial disclosure requirements and created “revolving door” prohibitions on lawmakers immediately becoming lobbyists.

While it gave the LIG independent authority to launch investigations after a formal complaint is filed, it also restricted those investigations to matters that arise out of government service, not to outside employment.

“The public has had it up to their eyebrows with public corruption, and when I came to this job, I really felt like by appointing somebody with my background, if I had the ability to do the job in the right way, it would…improve the public’s view of the legislature,” Pope told NPR Illinois at the time. “But I just don’t feel like I’ve been able to do that at all. It’s just time to move along.”

Strengthening the office?

Republicans on multiple occasions have called for ethics reforms, including strengthening the LIG’s office.

“As the internal watchdog of the legislative branch, the LIG must have the tools and authority to be effective,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said in a statement. “The legislature should move quickly to strengthen anti-corruption safeguards and increase the jurisdiction and authority of the office of the LIG. House Republicans have legislation ready that should be taken up during the veto session.”

Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday that he also supports reforming the ethics complaint process.

“We need to make sure that we’re implementing — for people who are subject to sexual harassment and have claims — they should be able to adjudicate those claims quickly and we should be able to get to a conclusion quickly,” Pritzker told reporters in Bloomington.

McCuskey took office in February 2022, about a month after Pope resigned. The Senate voted along party lines, 37-18 but McCuskey managed to gather some support among House Republicans with a 77-16 margin of approval with 19 “present” votes.

Republicans speaking against the appointment didn’t specifically cite concerns about McCuskey’s background or character, but they rather took issue with the Democratic effort to bypass certain steps in the appointment process.

“I want them to be a little scared of me,” McCuskey said of the lawmakers who appointed him in an interview with Capitol News Illinois.

Records show he collected $136,700 in salary as of Aug. 31.

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in session Nov. 17-19 and Dec. 1-3.

Brenden Moore contributed.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.