The scandals surrounding Will County Democrat Jacqueline Traynere keep piling up.
Traynere, a Democrat Will County Board member serving Bolingbrook, Illinois, is now officially charged with three counts of computer tampering, according to documents filed in Will County Circuit Court this week, Patch reported.
The charges stem from an incident in March 2024 when Traynere allegedly accessed the private email account of Republican Board Chair Judy Ogalla without authorization. Prosecutors say Traynere then forwarded Ogalla’s conversations to Democrat County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant in an apparent attempt to undermine her political opponents.
Computer tampering is a Class B misdemeanor in Illinois.
More from the Chicago Tribune:
Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat, allegedly accessed the email account of board member Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican, in March 2024 without Ogalla’s authorization, according to the charges.
The misdemeanor charges filed by special prosecutor William Elward state Traynere forwarded emails from Ogalla’s account to herself and others.
Ogalla, who was the Will County Board chairman at the time, said that Traynere knowingly accessed her email and knew it was unethical.
Ogalla questioned whether Traynere had opened her email more than once. She said she doesn’t know what all Traynere saw.
“Was she in my email other times and I just didn’t know?” Ogalla said. “She shouldn’t have done it.”
An email exchanged between board member Steve Balich, a Homer Glen Republican, and Ogalla regarding the controversial 143rd Street road widening project had been forwarded to the county executive, who replied to the email, Balich said during a July 2024 news conference with other County Board Republicans.
This isn’t Traynere’s first brush with controversy. Earlier this year, she was involved in a disturbing incident where she struck a child riding a bicycle with her car.
Hellbound and Down 