Stolen for CHicago thread (It’s the Chicago way) Trying to keep it all in one place. Feel free to add or connect to other dots on this thread.
HERE’S WHAT HE SAID Obama “said” in the FOIA memo (below), “The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.” Obama added later that “In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public.”
HERE’S WHAT HE DID Freddie Mac records exempt from FOIA (Obama Admin Denies Request)
Sunlight Foundation | 03/26/2009 | Bill Allison
FR Posted 03/27/2009 by BuckeyeTexan
Journalists Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac of the Chicago Tribune report that, while researching what went at Freddie Mac during the period White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel served on the government sponsored enterprise’s board of directors, they were unable to get minutes of board meetings and other information.
The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel’s time as a director. The documents, obtained by Falcon for his investigation, were “commercial information” exempt from disclosure, according to a lawyer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Freddie Mac executives cooked the books, mismanaged the firm, and ultimately drove it into the ground, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
The “commercial information” exemption is reserved for private companies–Freddie Mac is by no means a private company anymore.
BACKSTORY Rahm Emanuel was director when Freddie Mac board was tipped to fraudulent BONUS scheme “On (Rahm) Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments.
The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass. The accounting scandal wasn’t the only one that brewed during Emanuel’s tenure. During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle.
That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago.
The board was throttled for its acquiescence to the accounting manipulation in a 2003 report by Armando Falcon Jr., head of a federal oversight agency for Freddie Mac. The scandal forced Freddie Mac to restate $5 billion in earnings and pay $585 million in fines and legal settlements.
It also foreshadowed even harder times at the firm. Many of those same risky investment practices tied to the accounting scandal eventually brought the firm to the brink of insolvency and led to its seizure last year by the Bush administration, which pledged to inject up to $100 billion in new capital to keep the firm afloat. The Obama administration has doubled that commitment.”
SOURCE http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story
More and more....Is there anyone in Chicago with a dollar in their pocket that didn’t take it from someone else?
FROM:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-05-jul05,0,1570658.column?page=1
VIA:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285968/posts
Whether the name of Richie Urso ever makes it into the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich next June is anybody’s guess.
You’ve probably never heard of Richie Urso. But the FBI sure has heard of him.
His is a classic Chicago story, about a beefy yet charming guy born on Grand Avenue, who got in trouble with the law as a kid, only to make political friends and become extremely wealthy.
He was arrested once for jewelry theft in the ‘60s by the Outfit’s top Chicago police detective, William Hanhardt. Urso’s alleged partner in the theft was the mob enforcer Frankie Cullotta, who later became the technical adviser for the movie “Casino.” The charges against Urso went away. Like I said, it’s a Chicago story.
...snip...
He was worth millions in real estate. He was also the victim of an Outfit shakedown that figured in the FBI’s landmark Family Secrets case against top mob bosses.
Now the FBI is going through his business, interested in his associates, including former Mutual Bank of Harvey boss Amrish Mahajan, who has dropped off the political map. Though not charged, Uncle Amrish is under investigation
...snip...
Amrish Mahajan was a political connection for Daley, Blagojevich and other politicians to the Indian community. His wife, Anita, said, “He did not go on the trip with the mayor.”
Anita — charged with bilking the state out of millions of dollars in phony drug tests — said her husband was in India, and unreachable.
After Richie’s death in 2003, lenders called in their notes. Lawyers demanded big fees. The will that he told Joanne was stashed in a Mutual Bank safe deposit box was never found.
And Daley’s City Hall, which had never given Richie much trouble, suddenly slapped Joanne with a series of citations on their properties.
...snip...
She told me Richie died of a heart attack on the kitchen floor of a girlfriend’s home, on April 15, 2003.
...
...The woman is Mary Ann Dinovo, who works in human resources for the county tax review board, which handles tax appeals for every parcel of real estate in the county.
More and more....Is there anyone in Chicago with a dollar in their pocket that didn’t take it from someone else?
FROM:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-05-jul05,0,1570658.column?page=1
VIA:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285968/posts
Whether the name of Richie Urso ever makes it into the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich next June is anybody’s guess.
You’ve probably never heard of Richie Urso. But the FBI sure has heard of him.
His is a classic Chicago story, about a beefy yet charming guy born on Grand Avenue, who got in trouble with the law as a kid, only to make political friends and become extremely wealthy.
He was arrested once for jewelry theft in the ‘60s by the Outfit’s top Chicago police detective, William Hanhardt. Urso’s alleged partner in the theft was the mob enforcer Frankie Cullotta, who later became the technical adviser for the movie “Casino.” The charges against Urso went away. Like I said, it’s a Chicago story.
...snip...
He was worth millions in real estate. He was also the victim of an Outfit shakedown that figured in the FBI’s landmark Family Secrets case against top mob bosses.
Now the FBI is going through his business, interested in his associates, including former Mutual Bank of Harvey boss Amrish Mahajan, who has dropped off the political map. Though not charged, Uncle Amrish is under investigation
...snip...
Amrish Mahajan was a political connection for Daley, Blagojevich and other politicians to the Indian community. His wife, Anita, said, “He did not go on the trip with the mayor.”
Anita — charged with bilking the state out of millions of dollars in phony drug tests — said her husband was in India, and unreachable.
After Richie’s death in 2003, lenders called in their notes. Lawyers demanded big fees. The will that he told Joanne was stashed in a Mutual Bank safe deposit box was never found.
And Daley’s City Hall, which had never given Richie much trouble, suddenly slapped Joanne with a series of citations on their properties.
...snip...
She told me Richie died of a heart attack on the kitchen floor of a girlfriend’s home, on April 15, 2003.
...
...The woman is Mary Ann Dinovo, who works in human resources for the county tax review board, which handles tax appeals for every parcel of real estate in the county.