After being placed in contempt of court earlier this month, a former Democratic “super mayor” from a Chicago suburb is facing yet another legal challenge for neglecting to deliver public records from her time in office.
Tiffany Henyard’s attorney, Beau Bridley, pled the Fifth on her behalf during a hearing on Friday after she was forced to turn over public records from her time in office.
“The smear campaign against Tiffany Henyard, which began while she was in office, continues even now that she is out of office,” Bridley told Fox News Digital.
Bridley admitted that the former mayor does not have the necessary document, and an Illinois judge allowed Henyard’s legal team to file an affidavit instead.
“The mayor has no document that the plaintiff seeks,” Bridley stated. “This matter will be settled with a simple affidavit. “The entire hearing was pointless.”
The hearing is the result of a lawsuit brought by the Edgar County Watchdogs Inc., which accused Henyard and the Village of Dolton of failing to deliver financial data after being sought under the Freedom of Information Act.
“We had little doubt Ms. Henyard would use losing the election as an excuse not to produce the documents,” Edward “Coach” Weinhaus, attorney for Edgar County Watchdogs, told Fox News Digital. “Using the Fifth Amendment to conduct a criminal investigation was an added wrinkle. The Watchdogs will continue to seek for the records, even if voters may have unintentionally tossed them out with the mayor.”
The troubled former mayor was ousted after losing her re-election bid to Jason House, who was sworn in last month. Henyard was also defeated by Illinois state Sen. Napoleon Harris in her bid to retain her position as Thornton Township supervisor.
Henyard was pushed into the national spotlight in April 2024 after the FBI delivered subpoenas to officials at Dolton Village Hall in connection with a corruption investigation, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Henyard, however, was not charged with any wrongdoing.
In response to the FBI’s investigation of Henyard’s administration, village trustees opted to hire former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate the former mayor’s spending. During the original voting, supporters of Henyard clashed with her opponents, resulting in a yelling match between parties.
Lightfoot’s inquiry reportedly discovered that the village’s fund had fallen from an initial $5.6 million balance to a $3.6 million deficit, with the local government’s credit card payments totaling $779,000 in 2023.
On the day Henyard lost the mayoral race, the Village of Dolton was apparently served with a federal subpoena, with officials seeking data related to a land development purportedly linked to Henyard’s partner.
Henyard is required to appear for a hearing on June 11, where a judge will decide if she will remain in contempt of court and face a $1,000 fine per day.
