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Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a former Air Force pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said on Thursday that Donald Trump is openly advocating war crimes that would cause the soldiers who obeyed his orders to be jailed. “If you’re a private in the field and your major or your colonel orders you to do something that is a war crime, you actually bear responsibility, you can’t say that the colonel made me do it,” said Kinzinger, who is supporting Marco Rubio. “What Donald Trump, as wanting to be president of the United States is advocating, is a war...

Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger is claiming “profiteers” are hijacking the conservative message and causing disfunction in Congress. Without naming names, although it should be pretty obvious who he’s speaking of, Kingziner writes in Crain’s Chicago Business (other outlets have picked up the op-ed as well) that all the “profiteers” want is money.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., has been deployed to the southern border as a member of the Air National Guard four times now, and says he's never seen more drug smuggling and human trafficking than he did on his most recent deployment this month. “There were a lot more drugs. You’d see people drop bundles,” the Illinois Republican told the Washington Examiner. He was referring to large bags of narcotics that had been carried from Mexico and dropped from planes flying over Arizona or by groups on foot for the next smuggler to move further north. Kinzinger, a lieutenant colonel with...

ROCKFORD - Sunday, an emboldened Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) pointed his Facebook followers to a Rockford Star editorial that lauds Kinzinger for slamming Ted Cruz and Congressional colleagues that stood against the debt ceiling being raised in last week's vote. Earlier in the week, the Congressman also criticized colleagues for how they handled the government shutdown. The home district editorial Kinzinger referenced called the small cadre of budget hawks in Congress -including Congressman Randy Hultgren, who was the only Illinois "no" vote on the debt ceiling vote - "nihilists" and "bullies": One who did show his mettle, however, was Rep....

A close associate of convicted businessman Tony Rezko testified in Rod Blagojevich’s trial this afternoon that a onetime National Republican Committeeman loaned him $600,000 — no questions asked. As it turned out though, there was a hitch. Businessman Joseph Aramanda, testifying under a letter of immunity, said Springfield lobbyist and onetime National Republican Committeeman Bob Kjellander was “very receptive,” to loaning him the money so Aramanda could build up his pizza franchises. Prosecutors appear to be trying to link money that was in Aramanda’s account to earlier testimony, which indicated that more than half a million dollars was routed through...

The combine was reported weaving from ditch to ditch on U.S. 56 highway. It struck a guy wire and caused damage to power poles near the intersection of Southeast 10 Road and U.S. 56 Highway. It then continued West and entered the city of Ellinwood around 10:47 p.m. The driver drove through a residential neighborhood, striking several power poles and a 2005 Cheverolet pickup truck parked on the road. The pickup truck sustained extensive damage and the 8-row combine header was torn from the combine. An Ellinwood police officer attempted to contact the driver around 10:52 p.m. While doing so,...

Did Denny Hastert, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, really think he could get away with it? He must have. He kept paying and paying, until the FBI came knocking, asking about all that cash he was withdrawing from his bank accounts. And you know the rest. Whether you consider it hush money to cover up sexual misconduct when he was a teacher and coach, or an attempt to right what he considered to be the wrongs of his past, there's one thing we do know:

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Chicago. The Illinois Republican, 73, is charged with trying to evade cash withdrawal requirements, and with lying to the FBI about it.

Tim Tebow finally knows how to throw spiral, but he won't get to show off his new skill at the NFL's first-ever veteran combine on March 22 -- because he wasn't invited. The NFL released a list of players who have been invited to the combine on Wednesday and Tebow's name was nowhere to be found ... Although Tebow won't be in attendance at the combine, Michael Sam will be there ...

With Bruce Rauner’s election in Illinois, the Republican Governor’s Association has checked this bluer-than-blue state off its Democrat tick list. It must feel good—but I’m less than sanguine. For the better part of a year, powerful Chicago Democrats have been whispering in my ear, extolling Rauner’s virtues. I heard similar insider political “chatter” about Barack Obama from these same Democrats long before he ran for U.S. Senate. Even the left-leaning Chicago Sun-Times suddenly changed its no-endorsement policy to back Rauner — and only Rauner — without even the basic formality of a candidate questionnaire or interview.

Local Republican officials in the 13th district will now select a new nominee to replace Johnson, who was first elected to the House in 2000. A senior Illinois GOP operative immediately pushed Rodney Davis, the former Illinois Republican Party executive director, as a potential successor to Johnson. The source also suggested Davis would have the support of his former boss, Rep. John Shimkus (R). Shimkus currently represents much of the redrawn 13th district but is seeking re-election in a nearby safe Republican district. State Reps. Chapin Rose and Adam Brown as well as state Sen. Sam McCann are also considered...

Veteran Illinois U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson intends to drop his bid for a seventh term and retire, a Republican official said Wednesday. Johnson was expected to make a public announcement of his decision Thursday, said the official, who spoke directly with Johnson but would confirm the decision only on condition of anonymity in order not to pre-empt the congressman's formal announcement.

Bill Daley leaving the Obama administration was big news for ten minutes. But as my friend Streetwise Professor and I discussed on Twitter after the news broke, this really signals a big change in direction on how Obama will campaign. It’s going to get really ugly. How ugly? Think of the election cycle from 1796-1804. It will be that ugly. The culmination of those election cycles was a duel by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, with Hamilton losing his life after the gun battle.Both Hamilton and Jefferson manipulated the press of that time to scandalize the other side. Character assassination...

WASHINGTON--GOP White House hopefuls Rick Perry and Ron Paul did not file correctly for the March 20 Illinois presidential primary "beauty contest," leaving them open to a challenge that could knock them off the ballot. Illinois law requires candidates to file using their home addresses. Paul, a Texas congressman used an address in Virgnia and Perry, the Texas governor used a post office box in Austin, Texas for an address. Newt Gingrich, Paul, Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Buddy Roemer all filed the required 3,000 signatures. Jon Huntsman skipped Illlinois.

True story: Once while working at a hotel in Chicago many years ago, I checked in an alderman and his mistress in one room, a couple of union guys who asked about the alderman and his mistress in another room and some polite law enforcement officers in still another room within a few hours of each other. It was hard to know who was watching who.But somebody was watching someone for sure.  So let’s say I learned a few things growing up in Chicago watching politics and crime in real life. The ways of the Obama administration are something I’m...

Darin LaHood gets GOP nod to replace Risinger in senate Attorney selected over five candidates including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis Darin LaHood makes a reference to his opponent Kevin Lyons during their State's attorney race debate in 2008. By PATRICK OLDENDORF (poldendorf@pjstar.com) Peoria Journal-Star Feb 26, 2011 PEORIA — "Humbled" was how Darin LaHood described himself Saturday afternoon, shortly after being appointed the new state senator for the 37th District. The Peoria attorney defeated five other candidates to replace state Sen. Dale Risinger, who announced his retirement earlier this month after being re-elected in November. "There were many other...

PPP has Bill Brady up by 9 here in Illinois. Definite trend in this race...

I have seen a lot of people writing about Lisa Murkowski’s decision to wage a spoiler write-in campaign, to try to prevent a Tea Party-backed GOP candidate from winning the general election. Most of the writers look at it, incorrectly, in terms of Sen. Murkowski’s personal psychology. For example, they say she feels miffed about losing a seat that is supposed to be hers by right of inheritance. This motive may exist, but it is trivial. In Illinois, there has long been an expression which describes the relationship between the two political parties: The Combine. Chicago Tribune writer John Kass...

ChampionNews.net has a sad tale to tell of the recent meeting of the Will County, Illinois Republican Party. It is an example of why the Illinois GOP is not accountable to the voters in any way. In fact, it proves that many parts of the Illinois GOP isn't even accountable to the elected committeemen! It is the story of Committeeman Mark Batinick of Plainfield, an elected member of the Will County GOP. In this tale of woe, Batinick details how even the votes of the committeemen are ignored by the "combine" styled, powermongers of the moribund Illinois GOP. He reveals...

Think the Chicago Way political machine is all about corrupt Democrat politicians and their cronies? Think again. It’s bipartisan. While Democrats have run the Machine out of Chicago for decades, a supporting cast of Republicans has long participated in Machine enterprises. Chicago Tribune reporter John Kass uses the term, “the Combine” to refer to the combination of Illinois Republicans working with Democrats to make hay for themselves regardless of who’s driving the tractor. As Republican power-broker Bill Cellini once said, When we’re in [Republicans], we’re in. And when you’re in [Democrats], we’re in. This month, the University of Illinois released...