Ag Director Sullivan resigns amid email fallout

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — At the request of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, John Sullivan resigned as the state’s agriculture director.

Jeremy Flynn, Pritzker’s chief of staff, will serve as acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

“Director Sullivan had a long and productive public service career as a state senator, and the governor is grateful for his willingness to serve in the administration. Director Sullivan put together an outstanding team at the Department of Agriculture, and as a result, the department’s work thrived,” said Emily Bittner, Pritzker’s communications deputy chief of staff.

“However, the governor holds all state employees to the highest ethical standards, and the governor requested the director’s resignation because he is disturbed that then-Senator Sullivan became aware of the existence of the July 31, 2012, email contemporaneously and did not handle it appropriately, including not alerting the inspector general or other authorities.

“The governor’s general counsel (Ann Spillane) has shared all of the information she learned from Director Sullivan with the Office of the Executive Inspector General and offered to share this information with all law enforcement agencies looking into this situation. The administration will continue to assist in the ongoing investigation.”

The email noted by Pritzker’s office was sent by former state lawmaker and lobbyist John McClain of Quincy. As originally reported by WBEZ public radio in Chicago, the email was sent to the then-Gov. Pat Quinn administration in 2012 asking for a political favor for state employee and Quincy resident, Forrest Ashby. The email was later forwarded to Sullivan.

McClain was trying to seek leniency for Ashby who was facing disciplinary action at his state job. McClain’s email stated the employee was loyal to the administration and “(Ashby) has kept his mouth shut on Jones’ ghost workers, the rape in Champaign and other items.”

Details of the alleged ghost workers and the alleged rape in Champaign are not known at this time.

Pritzker’s lawyer became aware of Sullivan’s knowledge of the Ashby case and asked Sullivan whether he received the original McClain message.

“That information led me to conduct a review of my own personal emails from that same period of time,” Sullivan said in the statement.

“My search discovered a forwarded copy of McClain’s July 31, 2012, email reported by WBEZ. I shared this information with Gov. Pritzker’s general counsel.”

Sullivan, who resigned Jan. 12, said he was “well aware” of McClain’s efforts to get leniency for the state worker and that he did not read the July 31 email in its entirety.

“The summer of 2012 was a stressful time for me. I was in the middle of a state Senate re-election campaign as well as preparing for and undergoing cancer surgery in Baltimore, Md.,” Sullivan stated.

Sullivan said that had he read the entire email “my reaction would have been disgust and I would have immediately notified the property authorities.”

“Bottom line: I accept responsibility for what was truly an unintentional oversight and the subsequent inaction,” Sullivan wrote.

“It has been an honor to serve Illinois and the agriculture industry. I cannot say enough about the outstanding and dedicated employees at the Illinois Department of Agriculture and all they accomplished this last year.”

Sullivan served in the state Senate from 2003 to 2017 and became ag director in January 2019.