April 5, 2002

BY DAVE MCKINNEY SUN-TIMES SPRINGFIELD BUREAU

State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka became the latest Republican on the statewide ticket to distance herself from Gov. Ryan by disclosing Thursday she will return campaign cash she has received from him.

Since 1993, Topinka has received $47,750 from the governor, according to state records and an analysis by the Sunshine Project, a campaign finance watchdog.

"She is going to give the money back," Topinka spokesman Carolyn Barry said. "I think, basically, considering the current issues involving the fund, she feels it's more appropriate to return the money. It's the right thing to do."

Ryan's $2.3 million political fund was indicted Tuesday, along with two top campaign aides, in a sweeping round of charges tied to the Operation Safe Road investigation.

Topinka made the move amid calls from her opponent in this fall's race for state treasurer to divest her political fund of any "tainted" cash donated by the governor.

"Anybody who had anything to do with any of those funds should feel some moral obligation to give that money back, and I can't see why Judy Topinka shouldn't do that," said Rep. Tom Dart (D-Chicago), who is challenging her this fall.

Topinka's decision follows Attorney General Jim Ryan's announcement Tuesday that he would return contributions from Gov. Ryan.

A spokesman for the GOP gubernatorial nominee said his campaign had sent a check for $38,300 to Ryan on Wednesday.

George Ryan's office had no reaction to the decision by either Jim Ryan or Topinka.

"It's up to them, but I'd simply point out that long ago we donated $200,000 to charity after the convictions of those who were taking bribes," said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for the governor's office.

The only other member of the Republican statewide ticket who got money from George Ryan, U.S. Senate candidate Jim Durkin, said he is still weighing a decision. Records show the state representative from Westchester accepted $200 from Ryan in 1995.

Meanwhile, the governor said the public would "have to wonder" whether he committed any crimes related to his campaign fund.

"They'll have to wonder. They'll have to wait and watch the courts just like I do, OK?" he said. "The answers will come through the normal process of the investigation and the trials that are ahead."

The governor himself has not been charged.

Prosecutors contend Citizens for Ryan broke the law between 1992 and 1999 by benefitting illegally from state employees and resources, accepting bribes and engaging in a criminal coverup. If the charges stick, the war chest that once set fund-raising records could be drained by the federal government.