Married Midwest lawmaker forced to release surveillance video of her KISSING mayor on lips for two seconds in back office, as she insists it was ‘non-romantic peck’

A married Illinois lawmaker has been forced to release surveillance video of her locking lips with a local mayor in what she insists was a ‘non-romantic peck.’ 

Lyons Township Clerk Elyse Hoffenberg, 51, was caught on camera exchanging a two-second kiss with Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek, 70, at the township clerk’s office on July 13.

Surveillance video of the incident, first published by the Chicago Tribune, showed the pair smiling and engrossed in conversation as they stepped into camera view.

A few short seconds later, Landek turned to face her, placed his hands on both sides of her face and planted a kiss on her lips.

The married mother appeared to tilt her head back to lean into the smooch and was still smiling after it ended. 

The pair continued to talk as they walked out of frame, with Landek seemingly leading the way.

Hoffenberg, who is running for Cook County Commissioner as a Democrat, claims the kiss was a ‘lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment among colleagues.’

She told the Daily Mail she is releasing the footage in the ‘interest of transparency’ after ‘my political opponents attempted to extort me regarding this video.’

Hoffenberg says that immediately after the mayor kissed her, she told him the gesture was ‘inappropriate and unprofessional,’ she told Patch.

Landek then apologized, she added.

She is married to Jeff Hoffenberg, 51. He is a managing partner at Chicago-based law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC and a commissioner on the Village of La Grange Plan Commission, his professional biography states.

The pair are understood to have multiple children together.

Although her political campaign emphasizes a commitment to ‘working families,’ the couple keep their family life private, meaning specific details about their children’s ages and genders were not immediately available.

Hoffenberg has now accused Republican Liz Gorman, who is running against her for a Cook County Board seat, of a dirty tricks campaign. 

She also accused her Democrat colleague, Lyons Township supervisor Chris Getty, of leaking information about the video to Gorman after he allegedly improperly accessed the surveillance footage.

Hoffenberg alleges her opponents told her they would ‘drop their threats to release [the video] if I end my campaign.’ 

‘My political opponents attempted to extort me regarding this video, saying they would drop their threats to release it if I end my campaign,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘I am certain that our community will find this kind of old school politics of harassment abhorrent, and I won’t be bullied.

‘While the video lacks proper context to make it clear what is happening, what it shows is a lighthearted, friendly and non-romantic moment among colleagues.’

Hoffenberg did not offer further detail on what ‘additional context’ she claims was missing.  

She added: ‘I am staying focused on my campaign to bring strong leadership to this community, and I look forward to continuing this work.’ 

Gorman has denied the allegations, telling the Daily Mail: ‘I categorically deny that I extorted Elyse Hoffenberg. I have never spoken with Elyse or anyone from her campaign about this matter, and I have never demanded anything from her in exchange for not releasing or doing anything with the video.’

The scandal erupted after Gorman filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request on August 13 to obtain a copy of the video, the newspaper reported.

She requested all footage captured in the township clerk’s office from July 6 through July 20 between 1pm and 8pm, according to Patch.

She included Getty, a Democrat running for Congress as an independent, in her FOIA request. 

Gorman told the Daily Mail she copied him on her request because Hoffenberg, who handles FOIA requests for the township, was directly involved in the matter, creating an ‘obvious concern about a conflict of interest.’

Hoffenberg denied the request, alleging it was ‘unduly burdensome’ and involved more than 100 hours of footage from multiple cameras. She asked Gorman to narrow her request.

That’s when Gorman filed a separate request asking for footage from July 13, between 5pm and 7pm, and July 16 from 4.30pm to 7pm.

Hoffenberg, surprised by the specificity of Gorman’s request, suspected that someone had accessed the footage without authorization.

She alleged the township’s camera told her that Getty had downloaded five recordings within the window requested by Gorman.

Hoffenberg filed a complaint with the Illinois attorney general’s office on Sunday requesting an investigation into the alleged leak, the newspaper reported.

Her complaint was filed after three township trustees had called for an emergency meeting in which they planned to vote on an independent investigation into allegations of surveillance, harassment and political harassment.

The meeting was scheduled for Monday night, but canceled late that morning. The reason for the cancellation is unclear. 

Gorman said she only received a ‘cherry picked’ version of the surveillance footage Friday morning, after Hoffenberg had shared it with the Tribune. She added that she is still waiting for ‘several other FOIAs’ to be fulfilled. 

Getty, who denies leaking information to Gorman, told the Tribune that he encouraged Hoffenberg to turn the footage over after he was first copied on the FOIA request. 

‘There’s no truth to that at all,’ he said of Hoffenberg’s allegations. ‘I’ve advised her all along: You must comply with producing these public documents, and I view these as public documents.’

The Daily Mail has approached Landek and Getty for comment.