President Biden fired a prosecutor overseeing a corruption investigation of Illinois (Illinois) Democrats. The move sparked an outcry from lawmakers of both parties.
Democratic congressional senators, Republican House members and the Illinois Republican Party all condemned the firing of Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch.
U.S. federal prosecutors are appointed by the president, and usually a new president starts a new administration by demanding the resignation of nearly all prosecutors appointed by the previous president, but Lausch has received rare bipartisan support. When former President Trump appointed Rausch, Rausch had the support of Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), both federal Democrats.
Durbin is now the Senate Majority Whip and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He and Duckworth issued a joint statement saying the Biden Administration did not seek their advice on firing Rausch and urging Biden not to fire him immediately.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the two Democratic lawmakers wrote in the statement, “While we agree with the Biden administration’s criminal justice agenda, we are disappointed with the decision to terminate federal prosecutor Rausch without consulting us. in 2017, our nonpartisan screening committee gave Mr. Rausch for the position, and the Senate unanimously confirmed him.”
“While the President has the authority to remove U.S. Attorneys from office, there is precedent for U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of Illinois to remain in office to complete sensitive investigations. We believe Mr. Rausch should be allowed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, and we urge the Biden administration to allow him to do so.”
U.S. Representatives Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis, Darin LaHood and Mary Miller, Republicans from Illinois, issued a statement calling the firing of Rausch before a successor is confirmed “reckless and irresponsible.” The four Republican lawmakers also said there is precedent for allowing a U.S. attorney to remain in office until a successor is confirmed, and they strongly believe Rausch should remain in office.
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked the Trump-appointed prosecutor to resign by Feb. 28.
Don Tracy, the new chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, accused Biden of putting politics ahead of justice.
Tracy said Biden is more concerned with taking on Trump than “standing up for the people of Illinois, who desperately want a government that serves them — not politicians. If Mike Madigan doesn’t face any consequences for the corruption in his party, he can now thank Joe Biden for protecting him.”
Tracy praised Rausch for his contributions to dismantling corruption in the Democratic Party.
Rausch is overseeing a public corruption investigation of the Commonwealth Edison Electric Company (ComEd). ComEd and four members of then-Illinois House Speaker John Madigan’s caucus were charged with bribery, federal prosecutors said last year, after the company admitted to providing jobs or contracts “to various people close to a senior elected official in Illinois. The ComEd case implicates Madigan, who has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing.
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