The campaign committee of former state Rep. Frank Mautino, who is now the Illinois auditor general, violated state law when it spent campaign funds on gas and car repairs for personal vehicles, the Illinois Supreme Court decided Thursday.
But the court did not find Mautino’s committee violated a separate section of state election law that prohibits spending more than fair market value for goods and services.
However, since Mautino’s committee was dissolved in 2015, any fines levied against it would likely not be collected, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Elections said Thursday.
The case against Mautino’s campaign committee dates back to early 2016 when Mautino resigned from his position as a state representative, after 25 years in the General Assembly, and was appointed auditor general.
Top officials from Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration claimed Thursday that they were misled by leadership at the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs regarding a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the state-run LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
Deputy Gov. Sol Flores and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said, as a result of this misinformation, they were unaware of the breakdown in basic infection control protocols at LaSalle that led to a November COVID-19 outbreak that killed 36 veterans.
During the nearly four-hour House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing Thursday, Flores blamed senior officials at IDVA and the home for the staff’s failure to follow state and federal health guidelines.