On July 7, the latest federal criminal indictments were filed, this time against Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, a former drug dealer, and his wife, State Representative Carol Ammons, who has served as Democrat State Representative of the 103rd District since 2015, on a series of criminal charges.
The latest indictments against Carol & Aaron Ammons include wire fraud, making a false statement to the FBI, and obstruction charges, as well as receiving alleged personal cash kickbacks.
Controversy has continuously dogged the Ammons’ public service:
- Rep. Carol Ammons arrested (though, not charged) for shoplifting a purse from a local charitable resale store
- County Clerk Aaron Ammons served prison time for dealing hard drugs before receiving a pardon from Governor Pat Quinn
- Their daughter, Champaign County Board member and Chief Deputy Circuit Clerk Titianna Ammons, stands accused by the US Department of Justice of unemployment benefit fraud between October 2020 and October 2021.
Despite these many, recent corruption cases, Illinois Democrats who control the state legislature still refuse to pass the meaningful ethics reform necessary to stop the grift in Illinois politics and restore trust in government for the people of Illinois.
Grievously, since Michael Madigan was removed as Speaker, House Democrats have allowed only one ethics-related bill to pass. However, that new law (Public Act 102-664) was so watered down and filled with loopholes that the then Legislative Inspector General, Carol Pope, resigned in protest. This bill actually made it harder to investigate corruption. It is not reform when you tie the hands of the person tasked with investigating legislative corruption.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have served up bills to empower the Legislative Inspector General (Spain – HB 1382), improve lobbying regulation (Spain – HB 1384, HB 1385, Windhorst – HB 2413), enforce conflict of interest rules and prevent campaign funds from being used for criminal defense (McCombie – HB 1554).
Grievously, since Michael Madigan was removed as Speaker, House Democrats have allowed only one ethics-related bill to pass. However, that new law (Public Act 102-664) was so watered down and filled with loopholes that the then Legislative Inspector General, Carol Pope, resigned in protest. This bill actually made it harder to investigate corruption. It is not reform when you tie the hands of the person tasked with investigating legislative corruption.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have served up bills to empower the Legislative Inspector General (Spain – HB 1382), improve lobbying regulation (Spain – HB 1384, HB 1385, Windhorst – HB 2413), enforce conflict of interest rules and prevent campaign funds from being used for criminal defense (McCombie – HB 1554).