Pritzker’s past tax scandal resurfaces as Trump slams Chicago crime record in escalating public safety feud
CHICAGO, IL – As tensions rise between Governor J.B. Pritzker and Donald Trump over crime and public safety in Chicago, a years-old property tax controversy involving Pritzker is resurfacing, drawing new attention as both sides accuse each other of failure and hypocrisy.
The feud intensified this week when Trump blasted Pritzker in a national interview, calling Chicago “a war zone” and accusing the Democratic governor of failing to protect residents from violent crime. Pritzker fired back, slamming the former president’s record on gun violence and accusing him of politicizing tragedy.
But now, a scandal from Pritzker’s past — involving five toilets and a multimillion-dollar tax break — is back in the spotlight.
Back in 2015, Pritzker and his wife were embroiled in controversy after they had five toilets removed from a vacant mansion they owned next to their primary residence on Astor Street in Chicago. The move wasn’t cosmetic — it was strategic. According to a report by the Cook County Inspector General, the toilet removal was part of a property tax appeal aimed at having the mansion reclassified as “uninhabitable.”
The result: Cook County slashed the mansion’s assessed value from $6.3 million to just over $1.1 million, resulting in more than $330,000 in property tax refunds and savings over multiple years. The report described the move as a “scheme to defraud,” stating that the county “ultimately fell victim” to the maneuver.
An FBI probe was launched but went nowhere. Now, renewed calls for justice are being heard.
Pritzker has insisted he followed the rules and agreed to repay the full amount after the report became public in the final stretch of the 2018 gubernatorial race. But opponents at the time — including then-Governor Bruce Rauner — seized on the scandal, dubbing him “the porcelain prince of tax avoidance.”
Now, as Pritzker positions himself as a national Democratic voice on crime and justice — often in direct opposition to Trump — critics are raising questions about whether his past actions undermine his credibility.
“A billionaire who guts a mansion to dodge taxes has no business lecturing anyone about fairness or law and order,” said one Republican strategist, echoing the sentiment Trump has recently been pushing as he zeroes in on Chicago’s crime statistics.
Despite the controversy, Pritzker cruised to victory in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022. But with his name increasingly floated in national circles — and Trump targeting Democratic governors — the toilet tax scandal is proving harder to flush away.