US Attorney Says House Committee Can Call Witnesses, but Some Topics May Be Off Limits
US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch.
US Attorney for Chicago, John Lausch, has told members of a State House Special Investigative Committee looking into House Speaker Michael Madigan’s ties to a Commonwealth Edison bribery scheme that they can call witnesses, including Madigan, but he may be severely limiting the topics lawmakers can discuss with witnesses.
Lausch sent the letter to Committee Chairman Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and Republican spokesman Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) Thursday. It came after the two sent dueling letters to Lausch yesterday asking for clarity. Welch practically curbed hearings last week until they had further directions from Lausch.
In the letter, released by House Republicans, Lausch says he does not object to testimony from witnesses or production of documents. He says, though, witnesses cannot be “asked about their knowledge of or participation in proceedings before a grand jury, or to produce materials that disclose grand jury activities,” he wrote. “We likewise object to witnesses being asked about any communications with prosecutors or federal law enforcement agents related to the federal criminal investigation, or being asked to produce materials about communications with prosecutors or federal law enforcement agents.”
A hypothetical from Lausch explained if a witness told prosecutors or law enforcement something, those same facts can be shared with the committee. But, he says, the committee cannot ask that witness revealing confidential information or anything they learned from prosecutors. It wasn’t clear, though, how the committee would know what has or hasn’t been shared with law enforcement or federal prosecutors.
House Republicans, who initiated the investigation into Madigan, call Lausch’s letter a “green light” to conduct a thorough investigation.
“The US Attorney’s Office has given the Special Investigating Committee the green light to pursue all avenues of the investigation, including testimony and documents, that were articulated in the petition,” said Ron Safer, the Chicago attorney representing House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). “We are grateful that US Attorney John Lausch told the committee that his office recognizes the SIC’s ‘separate and independent obligation to conduct its inquiry.”
Safer called on the committee to convene promptly.
It is not clear yet how House Democrats interpret the letter. Calls to Rep. Chris Welch’s office were not answered Thursday afternoon. Republicans would need at least one Democrat to join them in issuing any subpoenas. All three Democrats on the committee are seen as Madigan loyalists.
The next hearing for the committee has not yet been set.