Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has dismissed a long-time political consultant after an investigation found he sent inappropriate text messages to a colleague.
Madigan identified the consultant as Kevin Quinn in a statement Monday.
Madigan attorney Heather Wier Vaught says the woman is a political consultant not employed by Madigan.
Vaught says Quinn texted the woman seeking a date in 2016. There were fewer than a dozen texts but they continued after the woman told Quinn she wasn't interested.
A message left at a telephone number listed to Quinn was not returned.
Campaign records show that Madigan-affiliated political committees have paid Quinn $513,000 since 1999.
The woman came forward in November as Madigan was pressing legislation to clearly define sexual harassment as a state ethics-code violation.
