By CATHY SANTOS • July 22, 2009
Mark Kirk said during his campaign announcement speech on Monday that restoring integrity to Illinois politics is one of the main reasons he’s running for the U.S. Senate. Maybe Mr. Kirk should start with his own campaign.
According to reports filed recently with the Federal Election Commission, Mark Kirk accepted a donation on June 26, 2009 from Anthony Bruno, President of Illinois Development Services Inc.
Anyone truly concerned about Illinois corruption would know the name Anthony Bruno, especially since his name has been in the news again recently.
In January, Bruno was charged with filing a false federal corporate income tax return for allegedly under-reporting his firm’s taxable income, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Bruno later pled guilty, admitting he falsely claimed losses of more than $100,000 for his Elmhurst-based business, Illinois Development Services, Inc.
In 1993, Bruno was disbarred after the Illinois Supreme Court found “clear evidence of the manufacture of false documents…other misrepresentations concerning the status of his representation of clients and his repeated neglect of legal matters.”
Bruno, a consultant on economic development matters for Cicero, Melrose Park and other suburban governments, earned some $400,000 providing PR services for a $42 million Melrose Park water project before word of a federal investigation shut it down. Bruno earned around $100,000 for similar work on a similar water project in Forest Park, before officials there backed off.
Earlier this year, Bruno - although not a candidate himself - became a target on political mailings during the Melrose Park mayoral race between incumbent Ron Serpico and challenger Jesse Martinez.
And last month Bruno appeared in the news again - this time in a Proviso Herald article covering Vito Scavo’s federal corruption trial:
Prosecutors allege Cinemark agreed to hire security as a result of extortion, one of the charges Scavo faces. Although not charged with extortion, Montino was present during meetings with Scavo and Cinemark managers when village consultant Anthony Bruno threatened the opening of a Melrose Park theater if Scavo’s guards were not hired, according to court testimony.
The Proviso Herald had more about Bruno back in April.
Like other nefarious political characters who’ve contributed to the bi-partisan political culture of sleaze in Illinois, Bruno’s reputation for influence peddling across party lines is well known.
Bruno, individually and through his companies, has contributed over $222,000 to elected officials, candidates and political action committees, according to state and federal reports.
Some people may be willing to brush off the acceptance of a contribution from the likes of Anthony Bruno as an honest mistake on Kirk’s part. But recall the hissy fit Kirk’s campaign and the Illinois Republican Party threw last year when Kirk’s opponent, Dan Seals, was seen accepting an envelope from former Congressman and convicted felon Dan Rostenkowski.
Before hopping-up on his high-horse proclaiming he’ll put an end to corrupt politics in Illinois - you would think that Kirk would have checked his own list of contributors first (especially after making such an issue in his last campaign about his opponent’s contact with a convicted felon).
Anthony Bruno’s name has appeared frequently in the news and he’s been around Illinois politics for a long time. His contribution should have raised an immediate red flag.
Kirk tried to tell anyone who would listen on Monday that he needs to get to the U.S. Senate so that he can clean up corruption. Of course he’s had nine years as a U.S. Congressman. What’s he been doing all that time?
Well, during all the years that he served under his political Godfather Denny Hastert, Kirk never said a peep about corruption. Kirk has always been Mr. Go-Along-To-Get-Along when it came to wrongdoing by his friends.
In the wake of Hastert’s sleazy land deal, the preying on teenage boys by a homosexual GOP Congressman (Mark Foley), and all of the other GOP scandals involving Hastert, Bob Ney, Randal “Duke” Cunningham, Tom DeLay, and Jack Abramoff - Kirk was always silent.
At home in Illinois, Kirk’s closest allies like Hastert, Andy McKenna, Jr., Judy Baar Topinka and Jim Edgar wrecked the party and worked against anyone who wasn’t part of their little pro-homosexual circle. Now in desperation, the old faces turn to this Democrat in Republican clothing to try and head of yet another disaster at the polls for the Illinois GOP next year.
It may already be too late. After nine years in Congress, less than 200 people cared enough to attend Kirk’s campaign announcement in Kenilworth. That’s pretty sad considering that wealthy suburb in the heart of Kirk’s district is about as Kirk-friendly as it’s going to get.
The wheels are already coming off Kirk’s campaign. The GOP base was already fed-up with this Cap’n Traitor. Yesterday it was revealed his campaign lied about his endorsers, and now today we find out Kirk has accepted money from a well known convicted felon. Couple all that with an apparent pay-to-play conflict involving one of his largest contributors and its hard to see where the “reform express” goes from here.
With Roland Burris not running for election, the open seat does offer an opportunity for Republicans. But we need a candidate who can compete statewide.
Mark Kirk is clearly not the guy. But in a state with over 12 million people, surely Republicans can find one real leader of integrity.
Milquetoasts and Go-Alongs-To-Get-Alongs need not apply.
Cathy Santos is a Republican political consultant.
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