Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR1191
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Full Text of HR1191  97th General Assembly

HR1191 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Illinois State Representative Derrick Smith,
3representing the 10th Representative District in the State of
4Illinois, was arrested on March 13, 2012, by federal agents on
5the charge of violating 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B), namely that
6Representative Smith accepted a cash bribe in exchange for
7recommending an Early Childhood Construction Grant (ECC Grant)
8to the Capital Development Board, an Illinois State agency; and
 
9    WHEREAS, On March 12, 2012, a Criminal Complaint was filed
10in the United States District Court for the Northern District
11of Illinois, Eastern Division, against Representative Smith
12alleging that Representative Smith violated 18 U.S.C. §
13666(a)(1)(B) by accepting a cash bribe in exchange for
14recommending an ECC Grant to the Capital Development Board; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Attached to the Criminal Complaint was an
16Affidavit sworn to and signed by Special Agent Bryan M. Butler
17of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Butler Affidavit), that
18contained numerous factual allegations supporting the ultimate
19allegation that Representative Smith violated 18 U.S. C. §
20666(a)(1)(B) by accepting a cash bribe in exchange for
21recommending an ECC Grant to the Capital Development Board; and
 
22    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit alleges that Representative

 

 

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1Smith was covertly recorded engaging in several discussions
2with an individual cooperating with the federal government,
3known as the "Cooperating Source," between December, 2011 and
4March, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit alleges that Representative
6Smith and the Cooperating Source were covertly recorded on
7several occasions in which Representative Smith indicated
8that, in exchange for a cash bribe, Representative Smith would
9be willing to write a letter on behalf of a daycare center in
10support of an ECC Grant from the Capital Development Board; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit alleges that Representative
12Smith and the Cooperating Source were covertly recorded
13discussing on several occasions that the cash bribe
14Representative Smith would accept in exchange for writing that
15letter of support would be in the amount of $7,000; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit alleges that Representative
17Smith did in fact sign a letter of support for an ECC Grant for
18the above-mentioned daycare center, and that he did so on
19official state letterhead; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit alleges that, in exchange for
21writing this letter of support, Representative Smith did in
22fact accept $7,000 in cash; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On March 21, 2012, under House Rule 91, 5 members
2of the Illinois House of Representatives filed a Petition
3containing suggested charges against Representative Smith that
4outlined the allegations contained in the Criminal Complaint
5and the Butler Affidavit (Petition); and
 
6    WHEREAS, Under House Rule 91, following the filing of the
7Petition on March 21, 2012, the House Special Investigating
8Committee (House SIC) was formed, consisting of 3 members
9appointed by the Speaker of the House and 3 members appointed
10by the Minority Leader of the House; and
 
11    WHEREAS, On April 10, 2012, a federal grand jury indicted
12Representative Smith on the charge of violating 18 U.S.C. §
13666(a)(1)(B), which indictment further contained a forfeiture
14allegation under 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 28 U.S.C. §
152461(c) for unrecovered proceeds approximating $4,500 of the
16cash bribe that Representative Smith was alleged to have
17received; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The House SIC held a public hearing on March 27,
192012, at which Representative Jim Sacia, one of the signatories
20to the Petition, submitted a suggested Charge as follows:
21"Representative Smith provided an official letter of support on
22his letterhead for a daycare owner's application for a state

 

 

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1grant from the [Illinois] Capital Development Board in exchange
2for personally accepting a $7,000 bribe."; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The House SIC engaged in written and oral
4communications with the United States Attorney for the Northern
5District of Illinois in an attempt to determine (1) whether the
6House SIC could obtain evidence in the U.S. Attorney's
7possession, and (2) whether the U.S. Attorney would consider
8any independent investigation by the House SIC to be an
9interference with the federal investigation; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The U.S. Attorney informed the House SIC that he
11could not provide the House SIC with any information or
12evidence in his possession and that he would consider an
13independent investigation by the House SIC to constitute an
14interference with the federal investigation, which he
15characterized as "ongoing"; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The House SIC held public hearings on April 26,
172012, and on May 10, 2012; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The House SIC entered into the Record eleven
19exhibits, including Exhibit 11, which was received from
20Representative Smith's counsel and which was entered into the
21Record by unanimous consent of the House SIC members; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The exhibits, public notices, and transcripts of
2hearings are included in the House SIC Record, available for
3public view on the General Assembly's website; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The House SIC Record is adopted and incorporated
5herein as if fully set forth; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The House SIC gave ample notice to Representative
7Smith and his attorney of each and every hearing, and confirmed
8with Representative Smith's attorney that he had received
9notice; and
 
10    WHEREAS, While the House SIC gave Representative Smith the
11opportunity to testify under oath, he declined to do so; and
 
12    WHEREAS, While the House SIC gave Representative Smith's
13attorney the opportunity to specifically admit or deny various
14allegations in the Butler Affidavit, he declined to do so; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The House SIC gave Representative Smith the
16opportunity to provide the House SIC with any information he
17deemed relevant to the House SIC's investigation; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Butler Affidavit contains lengthy excerpts of
19alleged statements that were recorded and attributed to
20Representative Smith, indicating that Representative Smith was

 

 

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1intentionally and knowingly trading a letter of support for an
2ECC Grant for a cash bribe of $7,000; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The House SIC unanimously found that reasonable
4grounds existed to prefer a Charge against Representative
5Smith, to wit: "Representative Derrick Smith abused the power
6of his office by participating in a scheme to obtain a personal
7benefit in exchange for his official acts."; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Charge was supported by the following
9Specifications:
10        (1) Representative Smith, in his official capacity as a
11    State Representative, has an obligation to faithfully
12    discharge his duties in the best interests of the people of
13    the State of Illinois and not for his own personal benefit;
14        (2) During the time period beginning on or about
15    December, 2011 through March, 2012, Representative Smith
16    agreed that, in exchange for a cash bribe, he would provide
17    an official letter of support for a daycare's Early
18    Childhood Construction Grant to the Illinois Capital
19    Development Board;
20        (3) On or about March 1, 2012, Representative Smith
21    did, in fact, sign this official letter of support in his
22    official capacity as a State Representative and planned or
23    intended for that letter to be submitted to the Illinois
24    Capital Development Board;

 

 

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1        (4) On or about March 10, 2012, Representative Smith
2    did, in fact, receive a cash bribe in exchange for
3    providing this official letter of support;
4        (5) Accepting a cash bribe in exchange for an official
5    act, or even plotting or attempting to do so, constitutes a
6    breach of Representative Smith's obligation as a public
7    official to faithfully discharge his duties in the best
8    interests of the people of the State of Illinois and
9    warrants disciplinary action by the House of
10    Representatives; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Under House Rule 93, the House SIC appointed
12Representatives Lou Lang and Jim Durkin to serve as the House
13Managers to present the case for disciplinary action against
14Representative Smith; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Under House Rule 94, a House Select Committee on
16Discipline (Select Committee) was formed, with 6 Members
17appointed by the Speaker of the House, including Representative
18Barbara Flynn Currie as Chairperson, and 6 Members appointed by
19the Minority Leader of the House, including Representative
20Chapin Rose as the Minority Spokesman; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The Select Committee held a Final Hearing on July
2219, 2012; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Representative Smith declined to appear at the
2Final Hearing, but was represented by counsel in attendance on
3his behalf; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Select Committee considered portions of the
5Butler Affidavit that were admitted into evidence by
6stipulation as part of Select Committee Group Exhibit 4; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Those portions of the Butler Affidavit were
8accepted as credible evidence by the Select Committee; and
 
9    WHEREAS, At the Final Hearing, the House Managers called
10Representative Smith as a witness to testify, but
11Representative Smith declined to do so; and
 
12    WHEREAS, At the conclusion of the presentation of the
13evidence and argument at the Final Hearing, the Select
14Committee recessed to deliberate over the evidence; and
 
15    WHEREAS, After this consideration, the Select Committee
16re-convened for the purpose of taking a record vote on the
17Charge and Specifications; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Select Committee unanimously voted to find
19Representative Smith at fault on the Charge and on each
20Specification; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Following this finding of fault, the Select
2Committee considered the appropriate penalty to recommend to
3the House of Representatives; and
 
4    WHEREAS, By a vote of 11 Members voting "yes" and one
5member voting "no," the Select Committee adopted a
6recommendation that Representative Smith be expelled from the
7House of Representatives; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Under House Rule 96, the Select Committee prepared
9and filed a Report with the House Clerk; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Report of the Select Committee is adopted and
11incorporated herein as if fully set forth; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In its Report, the Select Committee determined
13that credible evidence existed that Representative Smith
14engaged in and carried out a plot to write an official letter
15of support to a daycare center for a capital grant in exchange
16for a bribe of $7,000 in cash; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In its Report, the Select Committee properly
18concluded that the principal purpose of disciplinary
19proceedings before the House is not to punish a Member but to
20protect the public from official misbehavior and to preserve

 

 

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1the people's trust in their representatives and in the General
2Assembly as a whole; and
 
3    WHEREAS, In its Report, the Select Committee properly
4determined that Representative Smith's refusal to testify
5could be considered not to suggest the truth of the evidence
6against him but because a public official owes the people of
7this State an obligation to affirmatively assure them that he
8has put the interests of the people before his own and to
9assure them that he did not, in fact, trade an official act for
10a cash bribe; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In its Report, the Select Committee emphasized
12that any consideration of Representative Smith's refusal to
13testify was ancillary to the credible evidence presented
14against Representative Smith, which by itself was sufficient to
15reach a finding of fault on the Charge and each of the
16Specifications; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In its Report, the Select Committee, by a vote of
1811 to one, determined that expulsion was the only appropriate
19remedy given the credible evidence against Representative
20Smith and given that the Charge against him was a breach of the
21public trust of the highest order; and
 
22    WHEREAS, The House finds that the Select Committee properly

 

 

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1interpreted House Rule 95(c), including the waiver of that
2Rule's protection, in all respects; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The Select Committee Exhibits, the Procedural
4Rules adopted by Chairperson Currie, and the transcripts of
5proceedings before the Select Committee are adopted and
6incorporated herein as if fully set forth; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Article 4, Section 6(d) of the Illinois
8Constitution provides that no Member shall be expelled by
9either house of the General Assembly, except by a vote of
10two-thirds of the Members elected to that house; and
 
11    WHEREAS, House Rule 97(f) provides that a resolution the
12effect of which is to expel a member may be adopted only by the
13affirmative vote of 79 Members elected; therefore be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, That
16the House of Representatives finds Representative Smith to be
17At Fault on the Charge and on each of the Specifications
18against him as preferred by the House Special Investigating
19Committee and as determined by the House Select Committee on
20Discipline; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That Representative Smith is hereby Expelled

 

 

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1from the House of Representatives, the Expulsion to take effect
2immediately upon adoption of this Resolution by a record vote
3of 79 Members elected.