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Heather Steans Lies About Hubby's Blago Connections

Heather Steans, Liar
Illinois State Senator Heather Steans lies about her husband's relationship to disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich.

Three days ago, CNB looked at how Steans lied about her past work experience. A press release from Steans's Democrat opponent Jim Madigan (7th District IL State Senate) dated January 14, 2010 examined the fudged Steans resume, and that press release got some attention.

Surprisingly, only the first half of the Madigan release got any traction. It was, in fact, a two-part document that addressed not only Steans's resume exaggerations, but also some intentionally misleading statements about her husband Leo Smith's curriculum vitae and his friendship with Rod Blagojevich.

The Steans-Smith-Blago relationship is not news. Chicago News Bench and a few other bloggers have been screaming about Steans corruption for a long time. A year ago, we noted this: Steans and hubby Leo Smith have given Blago some $200,000 for his election campaigns. Unlike the questionable contractors, however, Steans will actually be one of those who will soon be judging Blago in his upcoming Illinois Senate trial. Full Post...

Let us turn, again, to the Madigan press release:

In [a] Sun Times questionnaire, Sen. Steans responded that [Leo] Smith “worked for the Governor’s Office from 1987-1990. No other family members have worked for government.” Sen. Steans’ response is blatantly inaccurate. Sen. Steans’ husband Leo Smith had multiple roles with the Blagojevich administration: 

 1. On December 3, 2002, Rod Blagojevich named Steans' husband Leo Smith as one of his Senior Policy Advisors on the transition team. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111258&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=570076&highlight

The hapless Leo Smith
  2. On January 13, 2003, Rod Blagojevich named Steans' husband Leo Smith as a member of his Budget Advisory Board. http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=36&RecNum=2004 

 3. Rod Blagojevich appointed Steans' husband Leo Smith to the Illinois Early Learning Council, which met for the first time on January 12, 2004.[1] http://www.illinois.gov/gov/elc/minutes/JAN2004.pdf  The Steans’ campaign has engaged in a systematic pattern of deception about both the employment and qualifications of Sen. Steans and the ties of her husband to the Balgojevich Administration.
Additionally: Steans went on to protect Blagojevich just like her predecessor. A measure passed the Illinois House of Representatives in 2008 with a 60% majority to allow voters to recall the Governor. Both State Representatives Greg Harris and Harry Osterman voted in favor of the recall. The bill got a majority vote in the Illinois Senate, but fell just 3 votes short of the required 60% supermajority. Steans voted against recall. She is one of those few Senators who killed the measure.

Source: http://howtobuyasenateseat.com/
Leo Smith, you may recall, crashed one of Madigan's fundraisers and made a complete fool of himself. Steans later released a statement in which she said "While chivalry may not be dead, in this case it surely looks stupid. Leo should not have been at the back of the room of Jim Madigan's event, even if it was in a public place, and had no business talking to Jim at this event. I will continue to focus on presenting my legislative record and discussing the many critical issues facing the 7th District." 

So Leo Smith hides behind his wife's statements of explanation. When will he be man enough to issue his own apology?

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Steans' Campaign Engages in a Pattern of Deception - Jim Madigan
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