Ever get the feeling that you can smell political corruption in the air you breathe? In Illinois, it may not be quite so metaphorical:
On Sunday, the Chicago Tribune published an article saying that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration wouldn’t refer criminal cases against polluters to the attorney general’s office because of Blagojevich’s political fight with Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
The article prompted [Dan] Hynes, a Democrat who will face Quinn in the gubernatorial primary in February, to say [Doug] Scott should be removed as director of the IEPA.
“I’m disappointed in the comptroller’s statements,” Scott said on Tuesday. “I’ve gone back a long ways with him.”
Hynes isn’t backing away from the remarks, said campaign spokesman Matt McGrath.
The Tribune article thoroughly detailed that “for years, pollution investigations were routinely stalled or altogether dropped because Rod Blagojevich and his enablers, including (Scott), were playing politics,” McGrath said in an e-mailed statement. “Pat Quinn’s inexplicable inaction in response to this scandal is outrageous and totally inadequate, and that’s the real disappointment.”