Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch on Wednesday called for embattled Representative Harry Benton to resign and promised to initiate expulsion proceedings against the Plainfield Democrat if he doesn’t.
Welch’s demand comes five months after he kicked Benton out of the Democratic caucus and stripped him of his committee assignments with no public explanation.
Capitol News Illinois later confirmed that allegations of sexual harassment were made against Benton, a two-term legislator who represents a southwest suburban Chicago swing district, and that the matter had been referred to the Legislative Inspector General’s office.
LIG Mike McCuskey told Capitol News Illinois that he completed his investigation and delivered his findings to Welch’s office Wednesday afternoon.
