Article Summary
- Illinois lawmakers have introduced legislation to create a governor-appointed commission to investigate Illinois-linked crimes connected to the network of international sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
- The body would have subpoena power for its investigations, which would be referred to the attorney general’s office. An initial report would be expected within 12 months of the body meeting.
- The governor would appoint all 10 members, three of whom would have to be from a different political party.
- Lawmakers hope the state-level approach will prevent accountability being blocked at the federal level amid charges that the Justice Department has withheld and inappropriately redacted records from the Epstein files.
This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
CHICAGO, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) — Illinois lawmakers are calling for an independent commission to investigate Illinois-linked crimes connected to international sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Democratic lawmakers Monday joined advocates for women and survivors of sexual abuse to introduce House Bill 5723, called the Illinois Epstein Files Investigation Act.
The bill, if passed, would create a commission to investigate Illinois-based crimes connected to Epstein’s network. Those would focus primarily on the stories of victims in Illinois and crimes that may have occurred in Illinois.
“Survivors connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network have been telling us the same thing, that the abuse didn’t happen in a vacuum,” said bill sponsor Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Bridgeview. “There were systems behind it, there was power behind it, and in too many cases, there were institutions that looked the other way, institutions that were supposed to protect these young girls but didn’t.”
The measure has a long way to go to become law. Rashid was listed as the bill’s lone sponsor as of Monday afternoon, the day it was filed, though he was accompanied by two other supportive Democrat legislators.
The 10-member commission would be appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate. At least three of those members must be from a different party than the governor. Members of the commission would be unpaid, but could submit for reimbursement of expenses, should the General Assembly decide to provide funding.
While Rashid said he would welcome bipartisan support, the board’s makeup and the governor’s power over it may make Republican votes difficult to find.
Bill advocates say the commission is needed to fill a gap left at the federal level as the U.S. Department of Justice faces criticism for withholding records from the Epstein files, particularly pertaining to President Donald Trump, despite a law that Trump signed mandating their release. Trump is mentioned more than 38,000 times in the documents that have been released so far.
“It’s absolutely stomach-churning and awful to see what these survivors have been through, and to let the wheels of justice fall off at the federal level is an abomination,” said Rep. Anne Stava, D-Naperville. “It’s often said ‘the wheel of justice turns slowly.’ In this case, we need to speed that up.”
Tony McCombie, the Republican Minority Leader in the House, called Epstein’s crimes “horrific,” but added, “Creating a ‘commission’ here may generate headlines, but it does not deliver justice to victims.”
“But let’s also be honest: Illinois legislators cannot subpoena federal investigators, prosecute international trafficking rings, or conduct a parallel federal criminal investigation from Springfield,” said McCombie, who represents the 89th District in northwestern Illinois.
‘Real teeth’
The bill would give the commission investigatory authority to request records from state and local agencies, issue subpoenas for documents and testimony, and provide confidentiality protections to victims and other whistleblowers. Victims would not be compelled to testify against their wishes, according to Rashid.
Like the Illinois Accountability Commission, which is investigating potential abuses by federal immigration agents operating in Illinois, the Epstein commission would hold public meetings and issue public reports, redacted as needed for privacy.
It would be required to submit an initial report within its first year of operation and another before it ceases operations after five years. Any investigative files open at the time the commission closes its doors would be transferred to the attorney general’s office.
“This commission will have real teeth, subpoena power, the ability to refer criminal evidence to the Attorney General and the independence to follow the facts wherever they lead,” Sen. Graciela Guzmán, D-Chicago, said. “The bill also strengthens the Attorney General’s hand by allowing a statewide grand jury when local prosecutors can’t or won’t act.”
The bill would allow the attorney general to call a statewide grand jury to investigate and prosecute crimes related to Epstein, including sexual exploitation of children, child pornography, human trafficking, money laundering, racketeering and perjury.
It would not replace prosecutors, Rashid said, but give the state the tools it needs to fully investigate where Illinois law was broken.
Illinois impact
The governor’s cousin, Thomas Pritzker, recently resigned from his role as the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels after his association with Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell came into clearer view through emails released in the Epstein files tranche.
When asked about his cousin’s connection to Epstein in a recent interview, the governor said that anyone who has done something wrong should be held accountable.
“I’m not close to my cousin, but I can tell you that it’s very important that people be held to pay the price for whatever it is that they may have done,” Pritzker said.
If the bill becomes law, Illinois lawmakers would join New Mexico in creating state-level bodies to investigate Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking network.
Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico has faced scrutiny as a hub of his sex trafficking crimes. New Mexico lawmakers passed the bill unanimously in February.
Supporters of the Illinois bill said they hoped other states would join the fight in lieu of accountability at the national level.
“For years, the country has been told to wait, wait for Washington, wait for the next document drop, wait for the next excuse. Wait while survivors carry the weight,” Jane Ruby, president of the League of Women Voters of Chicago, told reporters.
“If justice remains a locked door in Washington, then let our state be the battering ram,” she added. “Let Illinois lead the way.”
(Reporting by Maggie Dougherty, Capitol News Illinois)
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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