Cases have been brought against me that have been dismissed because they were without merit, and I have never shied away from talking about those issues. Court records show Welch filed a report against Johnson with Hillside Police for telephone harassment, but he didn’t sign a complaint. A few days later, Welch alleged, Johnson showed up at a school board meeting to hand Welch a copy of the federal lawsuit. It’s unclear whether the Proviso school board settled the case. * Either way, the cases were not “dismissed because they were without merit,” as Speaker Welch claimed to Politico.