WBEZ reports that Pritzker is the subject of a federal probe for a “dubious residential property tax appeal” involving a mansion he purchased next to his residence in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
This isn’t the first time Pritzker’s actions have raised legal questions. During his campaign for governor, it was revealed that Pritzker had tried persuade disgraced former Democrat Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is currently serving a prison sentence for soliciting bribes for political appointments, to appoint him to a political office.“After just a few short months in office, J.B. Pritzker has already proven to the people of Illinois that he is completely unworthy of their trust,” said RGA Deputy Communications Director John Burke. “This investigation raises serious questions regarding Pritzker’s conduct and shows that he is nothing more than another corrupt politician who thinks he’s above the law, just like his friend Rod Blagojevich.”
A Cook County inspector general’s report, first published by the Chicago Sun-Times, later found [First Lady] MK Pritzker directed workers to remove all toilets from the mansion in order to have it declared ‘uninhabitable,’ which gave the Pritzkers a huge property tax break.
The report also found that [MK Pritzker’s personal assistant Christine] Lovely and the governor’s brother-in-law, Thomas J. Muenster, made ‘false representations’ on tax appeal documents.The county watchdog said all of that amounted to a ‘scheme to defraud’ taxpayers out of more than $331,000.