Former Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg takes focus statewide as top aide to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul

For years, Deborah Witzburg sounded the loudest alarm when uncovering hundreds of cases of corruption and fraud inside Chicago city government.

Earlier this year, she left her post as the city's independent inspector general after her four-year term expired, later becoming the chief of staff to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

For the first time since she made her move, she discussed how the investigations she led and the whistleblowing skills she developed as Chicago's inspector general will now be used on a statewide basis.

Witzburg, along with her small army of investigators, forced open the city's gift closet that the mayor's office fought her on, tracked O'Hare International Airport workers drinking on the job with bosses footing the bill, and uncovered Chicago Police Department employees scamming the federal government for COVID money.

Now serving as Raoul's top aide, she's turning her focus to the state of Illinois.

"I think there are opportunities to apply that kind of efficiency lens to the work of the office," she said.

The attorney general's office is increasingly busy with unprecedented complexity. It was Raoul's team that fought all the way to the Supreme Court to keep the National Guard from deploying in Illinois during Midway Blitz, the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.

"What the fed government was going for was just uncontrolled authority for the president to deploy the National Guard without regard to what the facts were on the ground," Raoul said.

The high court will again focus on Illinois next session, examining whether Cook County's assault weapons ban is constitutional.

A conservative-leaning court with a history of expanding the Second Amendment leaves Raoul worried.

"These are types of weapons being trafficked into the hands of people who are ineligible to possess them," Raoul said. "Those are the things that sort of keep me up at night."

It's also his job to thwart the growing number of child predators using online gaming services to find victims, while technology reshapes risks in predictive markets and sweepstakes – like Polymarket and Kalshi.

"We have to evolve to match what's going on and what might pose a threat to consumers," Raoul said.

Raoul is also concerned about the simultaneous changing of the guard atop the Chicago Police Department and the FBI's Chicago office.

As for the reports of rampant mismanagement inside the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago, with several cases dropped following revelations of a federal prosecutor's misconduct in grand jury proceedings, and the departure of several top staffers under new U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, Raoul said, "I think this is a challenge that's occurring throughout the country."

Recent turnover at the U.S. Attorney's office has actually created some opportunities for Raoul to poach strong candidates for his office.

As for landing Witzburg as his chief of staff, Raoul said he tried to hire her in the past, but this time was a fit.

He also noted Witzburg is not serving as his inspector general. That role is already filled by Diane Saltoun.