FBI agents raided the offices of Illinois state Sen. Martin Sandoval on Sept. 24, reports indicated.
At least eight agents left the Senate Democratic offices with two boxes, two brown bags, and what appeared to be a computer.
At Sandoval’s house, a man who answered the door told the Tribune the Democratic senator was not home. Two officials later emerged from the house to get hand trucks to take inside and one said he was from the IRS criminal division.
Sandoval has not commented on the situation as of yet.
Sandoval is the latest ally of state House Speaker Mike Madigan, a Democrat, to be probed by federal agents. Alderman Edward Burke was indicted for racketeering earlier in the year, former Alderman Michael Zalewski hired a criminal defense law firm, and former Alderman Daniel Solis was working as a government mole after federal agents built a case against him, the Sun-Times reported. Additionally, Alderman Carrie Austin is the subject of a grand jury investigation.
At least one man pointed a fake gun at another person wearing a mask of the president. As the man pointed the gun, the person dressed as Trump held two hands to their heart as if fatally wounded.
It wasn’t clear whether the senator knew about the mock assassination before it occurred and Sandoval later said, “The incident that took place is unacceptable. I don’t condone violence toward the President or anyone else. I apologize that something like this happened at my event.”
Sandoval, 55, was born in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood and graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary South High School before going on to Loyola University Chicago where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, according to his state senate biography.
His life before becoming an elected official included stints at the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
He was elected to the state senate in 2003 and has been in office since. He has three children and a wife.
