More than forty well-off families in the Chicago suburbs got extra financial aid from the University of Illinois by strategically giving up custody of their kids, sometimes months before their child turned 18. Plus, Illinois State Senator Tom Cullerton has been charged by federal prosecutors. He’s accused of being on a union payroll for hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though he did almost no work for them. And you’ve likely heard the phrase “Will it play in Peoria?”. But its meaning has evolved over the years to adapt to the city’s surprising history. 

Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, turned himself in to the FBI on Monday morning in response to the first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in last year's election.

The grand jury indictment against Aaron Schock accuses the former Illinois congressman of spending $40,000 in government funds to redecorate his Washington office - including the purchase of a $5,000 chandelier. The U.S. attorney's office in Springfield announced the 24-count, 52-page indictment on Thursday. Schock says he will fight the allegations and expose the investigation as a politically-driven witch hunt.

Former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert makes his first appearance in court Tuesday following a federal indictment. The hush money scandal is making waves in the political world.