Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told reporters he supports the investigations into scandals surrounding the self-described “Super Mayor” Tiffany Henyard. The Democrat Mayor of Dolton, Illinois, is under FBI scrutiny for allegations of misuse of office and inappropriately spending public money. Reporters asked Pritzker if he intended to step in and look into the matter, but he said the current investigations were enough, and he would support them in any way he could.
Federal investigations into Henyard’s conduct began after Dolton businessman Laurence Gardner told agents that the Mayor had targeted his trucking company because he refused to donate $3,500 to her political campaign. Gardner donated to Henyard on one occasion but claimed that after that, she demanded more, and he was unwilling to provide it. Gardner subsequently faced allegations that he illegally sold alcohol out of his business premises, and he was closed down.
FBI agents later confirmed that they had received several complaints about the Mayor, including misuse of public funds to bail out her struggling charity and to fund lavish trips.
In March, a female employee at the Mayor’s office accused a trustee of sexually assaulting her, and Mayor Henyard allegedly silenced the victim and removed her from her post. The incident happened during a taxpayer-funded trip to Las Vegas, where the assistant and trustee ate together before she said she became light-headed and disoriented. The following morning, she awoke in the trustee’s bed without remembering how she got there.
A member of the Mayor’s $1 million security team, Officer Byron Miles, filed a report saying he received a phone call from the trustee on the evening in question, who bragged to him that he had taken the female employee to bed and showed him camera images of the woman, who appeared unconscious. When Henyard heard of the incident, she placed the female employee on medical leave without her consent or cooperation. The employee claimed that she received no responses when she inquired about returning to work.
