Agency: Dorothy Brown's Husband Lacks Psychologist's License

Chicago Tribune ^ | May 14, 2014 | Hal Dardick, Monique Garcia

[PBRCat]

The husband of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, already under investigation for his role in an Illinois anti-violence program, now finds himself under the scrutiny of state regulators who say he's presenting himself as a clinical psychologist and want him to stop.

Benton Cook III doesn't have the license required to practice psychology in Illinois, according to the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The agency has sent Cook a notice summoning him to appear at a hearing next month to answer the allegation, which carries a fine of up to $10,000.

The move comes as the Cook County state's attorney's office is looking at Gov. Pat Quinn's $55 million anti-violence Neighborhood Recovery Initiative that employed Cook as well as an unusual land deal that netted Brown and Cook a profit of tens of thousands of dollars with no money down.

The anti-violence program, launched as Quinn was in a tight election battle in 2010, was the subject of a scathing state audit that concluded it was mismanaged. Critics also have dismissed the program as a way to funnel money right before an election to parts of the city and suburbs that are home to many Democratic voters.

[PBRCat]

This story is so bizarre that you may need to read the entire article. The incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn used taxpayer dollars to hire a convicted fraud to operate an anti-violence initiative that functioned as a "get out the vote" drive. Quinn's narrow 2010 election victory over a Republican opponent seems tainted and it may cost him reelection in 2014.

The political activities in this case seem like something out of New Orleans or Detroit.

[Red Badger]

I'm shocked.

[Wingy]

The political activities in this case seem like something out of New Orleans or Detroit.

Nope. It sounds just like something out of Chicago.

[Zuse]

Joe the plum... er... psychologist?

[DocJhn]

What about every pundit on MSM!????

[PBRCat]

Brown and Cook are transplants: Brown hailed from Louisiana and her husband was convicted of passing bad checks in Tennessee.

Brown is an older woman trying to hold on to a younger man. The couple wed in 2009.