Questions remain as Welch discusses Benton harassment case

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch sat down for interviews with selected reporters last week. He told most of them that his office had conducted an “informal investigation” into sexual harassment allegations against former Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, in 2023. Welch’s staff has not responded to our request for an interview (same goes for the Chicago Tribune). But nobody asked whether he and his staff spoke to anyone other than Benton and the 22-year-old district office staffer who…