Trump-appointed U.S. attorney investigating bribery scheme implicating former Illinois House Speaker to be retained by Biden
(The Center Square) – The Donald Trump-appointed U.S. attorney investigating public corruption in Illinois will be retained by President Joe Biden afterall.
Biden had requested the resignation of U.S. attorneys from across the country, including the three from Illinois appointed by former President Trump.
U.S. Sens Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworkth announced Tuesday that John Lausch, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, will be kept on by the Biden administration until a successor is confirmed.
There was bipartisan support for Lausch, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, to be kept on.
Lausch has pressed charges against several Illinois politicians and other actors in the public sphere. Most notably, Lausch has cases pending against former officials of utility ComEd and associates of former longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Madigan hasn’t been charged with a crime and maintains he’s done nothing wrong. He is pegged as “Public Official A” in a deferred prosecution agreement where the utility admitted to prosecutors it paid Madigan associates more than $1.3 million over nine years in an effort to influence the speaker.
“We are pleased the Biden Administration is acting on our request to retain U.S. Attorney Lausch until his successor is confirmed by the Senate,” Durbin and Duckworth said in a joint statement. “Mr. Lausch has served with professionalism and without partisanship. While the President has the right to remove U.S. Attorneys, there is precedent for U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of Illinois to remain in office to conclude sensitive investigations. After our repeated calls, we appreciate that Mr. Lausch will be given this opportunity.”
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