Chicago 23 July 2018 — Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, campaigning as an anti-corruption crusader, spoke at a church event where a political ally handed out $300,000 in cash. The cash giveaway was from Willie Wilson, a onetime presidential candidate and 2019 mayoral challenger.

Both Rauner and Wilson, political allies, addressed the congregation with the governor stating: “We’re honored to help you pay your property taxes. Happy to do it.” Wilson then stood inside the church holding stacks of cash and handed out bills to passersby. Wilson later confirmed that the money was from his private foundation — and that $100,000 of it came from Rauner himself.

Election experts advised the governor was not in the legal peril under American law. “It’s always happened, it just depends on what scale, what magnitude … Situations close to this but smaller in scale were prevalent back in the day. Not to this magnitude and not to this openness, but yes, I’ve seen this before,” said Burt Odelson, an election attorney for 45 years.

Source: www.politico.com