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MARIJUANA
COMPANY INVESTIGATED FOR PAY TO PLAY? HIRED MADIGAN CRONIES
Illinois Policy Institute/
Patrick Andriesen
A Chicago-based marijuana company is facing
a federal investigation into whether it bought influence to gain state
licenses, sources told the Chicago Tribune. It hired four close
associates of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. |
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 Federal investigators are conducting a probe into influence
peddling for marijuana licenses, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Chicago Tribune reported March 30 that sources revealed a federal
investigation is underway into a possible pay-to-play system between Illinois
politicians and Chicago-based marijuana company Green Thumb Industries. GTI was
unaware of the probe and maintains high ethical and compliance standards, a
company spokeswoman said.
Federal investigators are exploring the role of campaign donations made by GTI
subsidiaries to state lawmakers in securing growing and distribution licenses
for the firm, the Tribune reported. Now one of the largest pot companies in the
nation, GTI helped secure its rise by employing four consultants and lobbyists
with ties to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, including confidant Michael
McClain, who was indicted in the ComEd bribery scandal.
GTI was one of the first pot companies in Illinois to acquire a license to grow
medical marijuana after legalization in 2013. As a medical cannabis producer,
GTI was also given one of the first licenses for the recreational sale of
cannabis after legalization passed in 2019.
State records show GTI executives and affiliates spread cash to numerous
politicians and political action committees who were instrumental in pot
legalization. GTI donated $60,000 through three affiliated companies to ICANN, a
pro-cannabis political action committee.
Records show a month later state Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, the
main sponsor of a 2018 bill to expand medical marijuana laws, received a $50,000
check from ICANN. The House Republican Organization and the Republican State
Senate Campaign Committee both received checks worth $5,000.
“We believe in the democratic process including the transparency of political
contributions,” GTI spokeswoman Linda Marsicano said in a 2019 statement.
A pending lawsuit against GTI CEO Ben Kovler by a former business partner
alleged Kovler bragged in a 2014 meeting that his political and business
connections would guarantee GTI acquire any licenses they needed.
“My access to capital and the relationships I have forged within the Illinois
business and political world from (Chicago) to Springfield, as well as my
family’s name, means that without me it is doubtful you will even secure one
license,” Kovler allegedly told the former partner, according to the Cook County
Circuit Court filing.
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Kovler has denied making the statement. His family
founded the Jim Beam whiskey company.
No charges have been filed against GTI as part of the investigation.
The investigation was revealed on the same day charges were filed
against a longtime political operative for Chicago Ald. Ed Burke and
the late state Sen. Martin Sandoval, both of whom were previously
charged with corruption.
Rudy Acosta Sr. was charged with withholding information from the
FBI about cash payments he made to an unnamed senator, which the
Chicago Sun-Times confirmed was Sandoval. Sandoval last year pleaded
guilty to accepting $250,000 in bribes. Burke was indicted on 14
counts of corruption in May 2019.
Then on March 31 former state Sen. Annazette Collins was charged
with federal tax crimes. She is now a lobbyists and has been tied to
two ongoing federal investigations: the $1.3 million ComEd bribery
scandal and a federal bribery probe into unlicensed gambling
machines.
Illinois is the second-most corrupt state in the nation and that
corruption comes with a heavy price tag for the state economy – more
than $550 million per year.
Not only does this cost all Illinois taxpayers, but it shakes
residents’ faith in state and local politicians when they use
positions of public trust to put their personal gain ahead of public
good.
Power has been taken from Madigan and Burke. The ongoing federal
corruption probes are a reminder that Illinois has a lot of work
ahead to undo the political culture of corruption.
State lawmakers are considering reforms that could help change the
culture by making politics more transparent and ethical. Ethics
reform bills would ban lobbying by sitting lawmakers, block the
Statehouse’s revolving door between lawmaking and lobbying, make
financial disclosure statements more revealing, and empower the
legislative inspector general to investigate and publish political
misconduct without lawmaker approval.
Bribes and influence peddling should become the relics of Illinois
politics, not standard operating procedures.
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