UPDATE, 10/30/14
The man behind the recording that sparked the resignation of Congresswoman Cheri Bustos' top staffer has been identified. He's Austin Quick, a seminary student who worked for Bustos' opponent Bobby Schilling during his 2010 campaign. Quick is also a Northern Illinois University graduate who served as a Student Association Senator. He had a hand in several Republican candidates' campaigns, including State Representative Tom Demmer and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk.
Schilling spokesman John Schweppe told WNIJ news Wednesday the person who secretly recorded Bustos' district coordinator Heidi Schultz was being kept anonymous to protect his privacy. He said the man was not associated with the Schilling campaign. Schweppe did not mention that Quick had worked for Schilling in the past.
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos is responding to the sudden resignation of a top staffer after a secret recording became public one week before Election Day.
The voice on the recording makes disparaging remarks about residents in the Rockford portion of the 17th U.S. House District. A woman's voice can be heard describing the constituents as "Very, very urban, very poor, very underprivileged. Not people that spend a lot of time in church. More in jail than church.”
The Quad Cities Times reports that Heidi Schultz identifies herself as the voice on the recording. Until Tuesday, Schultz was the district director for Bustos. The audio was released by Republican Bobby Schilling's campaign, which presents the video on its website -- not with an image of Schultz but with Bustos.
Director Schultz apologized for what she called "an unprofessional remark." Bustos, a Democrat, released a statement saying she accepted Schultz's resignation, and called the comments "unacceptable on every front." According to Schilling's campaign website, the recording was made by a man who visited the Rock Island office in December, 2013.
Schilling's campaign spokesman John Schweppe says the man is not being identified to protect his privacy, and that he is not associated with the campaign in any way. He was secretly recording Schultz while talking with her about Bustos' stance on abortion. He decided to turn the tape over to the Schilling campaign a few months ago. Schweppe says the timing of the audio's release -- about a week before the election -- was delayed because it took a while for the office to verify it and examine legalities.
The recording may have been made while it was still illegal in Illinois to record another person without their knowledge.
