\ The one-time chief of staff to former state GOP House leader Lee Daniels ( who, at one point, was allegedly behind the dissemination of anti-gay literature ) was hit with a nine-count federal indictment on May 19, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The indictment accuses Michael Tristano of diverting taxpayer money to finance political campaigns and for shaking down a real-estate venture to help a Republican candidate.
Tristano, 49, of Glenview, who was credited as the driving force behind the GOP winning the House majority in 1994, was charged with fraud, theft, and extortion for directing state employees to work on state and local campaigns on state time from 1998 to 2001. The charges stem from a three-year federal probe into the alleged Republican misuse of state workers, cars, and expense reports.
By capturing Tristano, federal agents appear to have taken a clear step toward Daniels, longtime House minority leader and state Republican chairman, who has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. The indictment also alleges that Tristano, former state lawmaker Roger 'The Hog' Stanley, and others pushed $1.3 million in state money to Willow Springs to benefit a private real-estate partnership. In return, the partnership ghost-payrolled a Downstate GOP candidate who sources identified as Harry Jankowski, according to media reports.
According to a 1995 GLAAD/Chicago newsletter, Tristano oversaw the distribution of defamatory anti-gay literature to Illinois households prior to the Nov. 8, 1994, elections while executive director of the Illinois House Republican Campaign Committee.