During Thursday night’s Will County Republican Central Committee meeting, Will County Republican Chair Tim Ozinga and his board were left stunned, when grassroots conservatives showed up to the meeting with copies of mailers, proving that the Republican Party of Illinois took sides and targeted conservative candidates during the April 4th election, despite party officials denying any involvement.

Earlier this week, Illinois Review reported that IL GOP general counsel John Fogarty, who is still paid by the state party – and continues to serve as a top aide to IL GOP chair Don Tracy, was, behind the scenes, approving the usage of the IL GOP postage discount to target a slate of conservative grassroots candidates in Will County during the April 4th election cycle.

Fogarty is one of only a few officials in charge of the IL GOP postage discount – a benefit that implies an endorsement by the IL GOP, and allows candidates and slates to flood mailboxes with mailers at a significantly lower cost than what their opponents would pay – creating an unfair competitive advantage.

At first, during Thursday’s meeting, committee members, including Ozinga denied any involvement – even going so far as to try and discredit this publication for reporting on the original story earlier in the week.

But when grassroots conservatives presented actual copies of the mailers, and passed them around the meeting as evidence, the board members were stunned and in total disbelief that copies of the mailers – a key piece of evidence, still existed.

Sources in the room confirmed with Illinois Review that Ozinga’s face turned red and his hands started trembling – and he immediately picked up his cell phone and started texting.

Sources also confirm to Illinois Review that since last night, Ozinga is in DEFCON 1, and he’s been making phone calls to allies in a panic, trying to figure out how to make this revelation go away.

After initially denying the party’s involvement in the April 4th election, Ozinga immediately pivoted, after evidence (the actual mailers) was presented, that he had no control over who had use of the IL GOP postage discount.

However, that was immediately proven to be a lie, when an attendee pointed out that the executive director of the IL GOP stated in a phone call that Ozinga did in fact control who could use the IL GOP postage discount – once again, leaving Ozinga silenced and shaken.

This past March, Ozinga made a $25,000 payment to the Republican Party of Illinois. On that very same day, he also made a $100,000 wire transfer into the account of the Will County Republican Central Committee.

Odd, considering the Will County Republican Central Committee wasn’t supporting any campaigns at that time. And sources shared with Illinois Review that they have no idea what $125,000 could be used for in the last weeks of the April 4th election other than mailers and postage.

During the 2022 Republican Primary for governor, Ozinga endorsed the anti-conservative grassroots candidate Richard Irvin, who in previous elections, pulled Democratic Primary ballots in 2014, 2016 and 2020.

Prior to running for governor, Irvin spent years praising Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, referring to him as a, “great friend and a great leader.”

And in 2020, Irvin spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally yelling, “I can’t breathe!”

In addition to Irvin, Ozinga also endorsed Republican Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, who was running for Congress in the 6th District.

In February, Pekau honored former US Rep. Marie Newman, a “progressive” Democrat who was in town to receive the Orland Park Community Appreciation Award from Pekau.

Pekau spent the last year attacking Newman on social media, even tweeting,

“Anti-police rhetoric & attempts to defund the police by radical leftists like Sean Casten & Marie Newman have put our communities at risk. As mayor of Orland Park, I’ve stood with law enforcement & kept our community safe. I’ll continue to do so as your congressman.”

But a year later, Pekau was publicly showering Newman with praise and honoring her with an award.

During her time in Congress, Newman was a member of the Progressive Caucus.

During the pandemic, Newman and her husband Jim Newman owned shares in Moderna – the manufacturer of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.

And so it is no surprise that Newman was supportive of vaccinating children during the pandemic, writing in a Facebook post,

“The COVID-19 vaccine is now authorized for kids ages 5-11 in addition to everyone 12+. Vaccines are widely available across Illinois. Get vaccinated.”

And so it’s no wonder Ozinga and Fogarty collaborated to target the conservative base of the party – they were confident no one would be smart enough to figure it out.

But as Thursday’s meeting proved – the joke’s on them.