Leslie Munger and Susana Mendoza during pre-election Chicago Tribune editorial interview
CHICAGO – The move from Republican IL Comptroller Leslie Munger's office to incoming Democrat Susana Mendoza's people hasn't been smooth, especially after Mendoza told a reporter over the weekend "it did kind of feel like the place was looted,” rhetoric notched up on Monday.
Mendoza complained in a radio interview that her staff moved into nearly vacant state offices, with televisions and sofas gone and files, keys, and documents missing.
While Munger admitted to POLITICO ILLINOIS that televisions and sofas owned personally by employees were removed from the state office in Chicago, nothing owned by the state was removed, despite Mendoza's claims.
Many of Munger's staff remained from her predecessor, the late Judy Baar-Topinka, whose sudden death in 2013 led to Munger's appointment to office.
“There was nothing that were state items, that belonged to the state, that left the office. I'm guessing that [Mendoza's] doing this because it's a challenging time to be the comptroller for the state,” Munger told POLITICO Monday.
The Munger ramped up the accusations against Mendoza, saying Mendoza's behavior was "unbecoming."
“She spent her entire campaign lying about me. Now she's inherited an office that is extremely challenging. She doesn't know what she's doing … I think it's behavior that's unbecoming for a constitutional officer of this state,” she said.
Munger threatened to sue Mendoza if the false accusations didn't cease.
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