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House Committee Finds Cause in Smith Case

A legislative committee says there's enough evidence for the Illinois House to punish state Representative Derrick Smith.
He's facing a federal indictment for allegedly accepting a 7-thousand dollar bribe. The House committee that investigated the Chicago Democrat released its recommendation Wednesday.  The panel considered if there were "reasonable grounds" to discipline Smith.  Smith's attorney had argued his client is innocent until proven guilty, and asked legislators to wait for the case to play out in federal court. But Republican Representative Dennis Reboletti from Elmhurst says the committee gathered enough information to justify the move forward: "It's fair to say that our unanimous decision is based off a thorough review of all the evidence, of all the testimony, of all the exhibits, and that waiting any longer was not going to change the decision."
 
It's now up to a new committee to choose whether to reprimand, censure, or expel Smith.  The committee could also decide to take no action.  Smith says he won't resign from the House because he's not guilty.  Smith is still on the general election ballot. Chicago Democrats formed a new party, so they can run a candidate against him.

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