The Chicago Reader has done another very interesting article about Congressman Jerry Weller of IL-11. Many of you know Weller as the Congressman married to Zury Rios Sosa, the daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt. A lengthy article about the couple was published in August at:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/...
This week Frank Smyth published another investigative article article about Weller and his congressional financial disclosure forms. It appears that Jerry Weller has unreported assets in Nicaragua.
What is galling about Weller is that he is married to a Senator from Guatemala... his child was born there... he owns land in Nicaragua... he recently sold his Chicago condo...and accuses his opponent John Pavich of being a carpetbagger from Virginia. John moved to Virginia to serve his country in the CIA. John grew up in IL-11 (before the 2000 census changed the boundaries) and has made his home in the district, in Beecher, for several years.
Frank Smyth of the Chicago Reader writes:
JERRY WELLER, THE 11th District representative who's up for reelection in November, has some explaining to do. As I wrote in an August 25 cover story, "The Congressman and the Dictator's Daughter," he's already raised questions about whether he has a conflict of interest because he's refused to step down from the House of Representative's influential Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere even though he's married to Zury Rios Sosa, a third-term legislator in Guatemala. Since then I've discovered that the congressman, a Republican whose district encompasses parts of the south suburbs, hasn't revealed the value of any of the wedding gifts he and Sosa received when they were married two years ago in Guatemala. Such gifts are supposed to be listed on the publicly available financial disclosure forms congressmen file every year, but the House ethics committee routinely grants waivers, and Weller got one. Still, his request raises questions, because Sosa is the daughter of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt and the second most powerful person in the party he heads, so lots of people may have wanted to give the couple something very nice.
More troubling, I've also learned that Weller owns several pieces of property in Nicaragua, some of which he's disclosed to Congress as required by its rules--and some of which he apparently hasn't.
You can read the entire article at: http://www.chicagoreader.com/...
It is quite fascinating.
John Pavich is Weller's opponent. He is a former CIA Agent and he is a great candidate. See info about John at: http://www.pavichforcongress.com
Pavich has raised over $550,000 on his own without DCCC help. This race can be won. You can donate at: http://www.actblue.com/...