Posted on 12/19/2008 12:25:19 AM PST by hoosiermama
Edited on 02/09/2012 7:04:21 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Crime in Chicago has been in the news lately, but it is nothing new. Historically it dates back over a hundred years. From the tale of the Gray Wolves
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/540.html
The 1890s Chicago City Council was notorious for corrupt political practices orchestrated by a faction of its aldermen known as the Gray Wolves. So named because they were viewed as preying upon the defenseless public, the Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Mike Kenna, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward. These elected officials were not only skilled at trading votes for favors, but once in office they excelled in making municipal decisions to profit themselves financially.
TO the present, it is a compelling historical subject.
“Please post links and information, or connections of dots to this thread. Keep chit chat to the minimum or in Freemail. THANKS!”
Olypic /Daley/ Michael Scott Sr
FRom:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310984/posts
Posted on Friday, August 07, 2009 6:46:45 PM by STARWISE
Mayor Richard Daley today declined to answer questions about a Tribune story on how a member of his Olympic bid team arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here.
Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor’s Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics.
*snip*
Daley’s public schedule indicated he would only be taking questions on that topic today (which he did), but a throng of reporters showed up and asked him about Scott’s project.
Daley, however, said he would only be taking questions on the city’s construction plans.
“I’m sorry I can’t answer questions every day. Every day, I do it enough,” Daley said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsblogs.chicagotribune.com ...
FROM:
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/08/daleys-web-of-corruption-and-conflicts.html
The project that Scott is working on is being put together by several politically connected ministers including Rev. Charles Robinson, who is also a member of the board of the Chicago Transit Authority. Here is how I described just one of the corrosive effects of having the games come to Chicago.
The 2016 Olympics will guarantee billions, if not, tens of billions in contracts that the city will have to dole out for construction, security, street cleaning, etc. There is already a standard operating procedure for how these sorts of contracts get doled out now. They go to Daley’s friends, admirers, and allies. Only now the budget is infinitesimal compared to what it will be if the Olympics comes here.
The problem of course is that this particular deal is almost certainly one of many in which political insiders will use their influence to move city contracts their way. There is a web of corruption and conflicts here that are the standard operation procedures for any corrupt endeavor. When I wrote my expose of Grady Hospital, I pointed out that its one time Chairman of the Board, Robert Brown, once directed a massive expansion to his own architecture firm. Here we have Michael Scott in a position to know and suggest the locations of economic developments in Chicago as a result of the Olympics at the same time he is angling for a real estate deal in an area that will be developed.
Scott, for his part, insists he’s done nothing wrong. In fact, he points out that the project in Douglas Park was first developed in 2006 before the Olympics bid was started. That’s all true however the original Olympic plans didn’t have any use for Douglas Park. By March of 2007 however, plans changed and Douglas Park was now prominently a part of the Olympic plans.
Scott is himself no stranger to corruption. Here’s how the Tribune characterized previous run ins with influence peddling.
He was criticized in 1990 for his insider connections when he left his job as city government’s chief cable administrator to go work for a cable company.
Scott is also President of the Chicago Board of Education. In that role, he has been linked to a separate and concurrent story of Chicago corruption. There is currently an internal probe going on about influence peddling at some of the top magnet and charter schools in the city. We recently learned that a top aide of Michael Scott’s used “back channels” to get a relative into the presigious Whitney Young High School. (the alma mater of our current first lady Michelle Obama)
The relative of a top aide to Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott got into prestigious Whitney Young High School through back channels before withdrawing after questions arose, in a case that’s now part of an internal probe, sources told the Tribune on Wednesday.
District officials found out earlier this year about the incident involving Gregory Minniefield, a senior manager for the board. His relative was accepted into Young for the upcoming school year outside the regular application process, and officials “flagged” the admission, sources said. Shortly after, the relative was withdrawn from the ultracompetitive school, sources said.
In fact, Scott was recently called in front of a grand jury on the matter. The investigation into all of this influence by the school system is being conducted by CPS CEO Ron Huberman. When news of that scandal broke, Mayor Daley expressed “confidence” in Huberman. (Huberman hasn’t yet been linked to any criminality or unethical behavior) Daley should have confidence in Huberman. After all, Huberman was recently his own Chief of Staff for about two years. Prior to that he ran the same CTA that Robinson is on the board of for two years. Prior to that, he was a beat cop. This is all very reasonable. Since cronies are given free reign to use the full weight and power of the city’s resources for their own benefit, it only makes sense that another crony should investigate them when their influence peddling is discovered.
Filemarker
In it they said that shortly there would be the exposure of a ponzi scheme that would make Made=Off, look like an amateur. It is international in scope and involved member of major foreign governments....I should have linked it when I read it, and now can't find it.
Take note of what I call Obama's UN...where they are from and what their connections are. Also, If I've collected this much information here, with the help of a few freepers, think what the FBI/CIA must have.
Link to the India article?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2316970/posts
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Alderman Flores and the Olympic Bid
Saturday, August 15, 2009 6:08:55 PM · by fiscon1 · 3 replies · 73+ views
The Provocateur ^ | 08/15/2009 | Mike Volpe
A couple weeks back, Alderman Manny Flores (1st Ward) did a very bold thing in Chicago politics. He took on the mayor. In June of 2007, the mayor was able to extract from the city council a commitment of $500 million as a cushion for the Olympic bid. This was supposed to be a cushion because the mayor insisted that the games would pay for themselves and could be financed entirely with private funds. Then, in May of this year, the Mayor lead a delegation of Olympic bid supporters to Copenhagen. After meeting with the IOC, the Mayor proclaimed that...
Thanks Maggie.
Lots of good posts regard Rahm E’s at this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2317287/posts?q=1&;page=51
The Wilmette mansion of former Rod Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko sold today for the opening bid of $2.8 million to the same bank that put the house up for auction.
Bank of America, which foreclosed $5.9 million on the property last May, was the only bidder.
Stolen: It’s the Chicago way! Keeps it all together to help connect the dots. Make yourself at home and add anything you want.
FROM:
http://chicago.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/cg081409.htm
CHICAGO—A Chicago man was indicted on federal charges for allegedly providing false information about possible terrorism activity to the FBI, causing agents to aggressively investigate the information before determining that it was a hoax. The defendant, Uzair Ali Hashmi, was indicted on three felony counts of making false statements to FBI agents, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northen District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today.
Hashmi, 20,of the city’s far north side, is scheduled to be arraigned at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19 before Judge Milton Shadur in U.S. District Court. He was charged in an indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
“We take very seriously any allegation of terrorism activity and we will aggressively investigate every lead. But, while we want to encourage people to report genuinely suspicious activity, we also will seek to prosecute anyone who deliberately provides false information that diverts agents and resources from other important matters,” Mr. Grant said.
According to the indictment, on July 28, Hashmi first lied to FBI agents when he told them that he had been approached the day before by an individual who asked him whether he carried a firearm and was proficient with firearms; asked him his opinion about “homegrown jihad” in the United States; suggested that he join in “God’s military;” and asked him whether he was familiar with downtown Chicago. Hashmi allegedly knew that the individual had made no such statements.
The next day, on July 29, Hashmi allegedly lied again to agents to when he told them that a second individual had approached him and said that in a few minutes Hashmi would find something near the trash cans in the alley behind his home. Again, Hashmi allegedly knew that this individual had made no such statements. Hashmi allegedly made additional false statements the same day when he provided FBI agents with a fabricated letter, purportedly prepared by another individual and directed to Hashmi, which contained the following statements:
“[Y]ou are the exact person we have been looking for.”
“Our job here is to carry out ‘the mission’ of giving the nonbelievers what they deserve.”
“You seem to have the drive it will take to inflict damage to where it will hurt most. This is your calling to Jihad my brother. You have a key roles in our Operation.”
“We ... do not have much time till our operation in completed.”
“We will be in touch with you soon.”
All of the information that Hashmi provided to agents was exhaustively probed by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, which later determined that it was all a hoax, officials said.
If convicted, each count of making false statements carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
Stolen: It’s the CHicago way....Trying to keep it all together. Make yurself at home and connect a few dots...there are plenty here. If we’ve collect this much since Christmas think what the FBI has!
From Hugh’s site: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
David Axelrod’s Very Big Problem
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 6:27 PM
The allegations in this Bloomberg story —if true— pose a huge problem for a senior advisor to the president, David Axelrod. This is the heart of the problem:
Axelrod was president and sole shareholder of AKPD from 1985 until he sold his interest after Obama’s victory, government records show. The firm owes Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay in installments beginning Dec. 31. Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there. He didn’t return a phone call. The firm’s Web site continues to feature David Axelrod’s work on the Obama campaign. (Emphasis added.)
The problem is that Axelrod’s former firm is currently receiving huge fees “from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA,” as well as AARP, the SEIU and other big players in the health care debate.
If Axelrod has been negotiating any part of any deal involving any of these players which are funneling money to the firm that owes him money, or if he is advising the president on the deals with any of these groups, that’s a conflict of interest. Laundering the money through a “coalition” doesn’t remove the conflict much less the appearance of impropriety. The coalition is in effect partially funding David Axelrod’s severance package though its members might have done so unknowingly. These forthcoming payments to Axelrod are much more significant than the sort of “retained ties” that Democrats blasted Dick Cheney for vis-a-vis Halliburton even though there was no high level negotiations between the vice president and his former company.
David Axelrod has some tough questions to answer, and according to Politico’s Mike Allen, Politico’s Ken Vogel will be publishing more on matters Axelrodian tomorrow. (Thetranscript of my interview with Allen will be posted here later tonight.) Vogel’s story on Axelrod’s son from a few days back casts doubt on the Bloomberg story’s accuracy as Bloomberg has Axelrod’s son still at Axelrod’s old firm, but Vogel has him at The Huffington Post.
If it was Karl Rove in a similar set of circumstances, the blogs and some in MSM would already be demanding a special prosecutor. There are lots of questions for Mr. Axelrod, the first one being whether the Bloomberg story is accurate. if the answer is “yes,” the second will be: “Have you lawyered up?”
Didn’t even get to the second link before I knew it was from you....Gonna keep over here too. You do great work!
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=6665918
Obama Aide Axelrod Leaves Chicago Firm
David Axelrod, a top Obama aide, sells stake in Chicago consulting firm
WASHINGTON January 16, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press
David Axelrod, President-elect Barack Obama’s top political adviser, is severing his ties with the Chicago media consulting firm he founded 23 years ago.
Axelrod, who will be a White House senior adviser with an office near the Oval Office, said Friday he has sold his stake in AKPD Message and Media. Among the remaining partners is David Plouffe, who was Obama’s presidential campaign manager.
(snip)
http://minstrelboy.blogspot.com/2009/05/chris-kenndy-is-in-for-senate-seat.html
Chris is in
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Author: Michael Sneed, The Chicago Sun-Times
SCOOPSVILLE . . .
Bet the ranch!
- Translation: Sneed has learned the Merchandise Mart’s Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, will announce he is running for the U.S. Senate early next week.
- Tip ‘em: Sneed tipped (April 28) that Kennedy, who will be the first member of his famous family to run for office from Illinois, had commissioned Obama pollster John Anzalone — and talked to media consultants Larry Grisolano and John Kupper, who now run the AKPD firm once headed by David Axelrod , President Obama’s senior adviser.
- To wit: Kennedy will be running for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, now held by Roland Burris, the beleaguered appointee of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
- The upshot: The AKPD firm has reportedly prepared an Internet commercial, which will be aired next week introducing Kennedy’s candidacy.
(snip)
NYS: DiNapoli hires Del Cecato for 2010 campaign
Newsday: Blogs (Long Island, NY) - Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Author: Dan Janison
Ramping up his 2010 election campaign, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today hired a veteran of Barack Obama’s presidential bid to advise him on media matters.
John Del Cecato, left, a partner in the firm AKPD founded by Obama media guru David Axelrod , will serve as a consultant to DiNapoli 2010.
Previously, Del Cecato worked on races for Philadelphia mayor, Congress and for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, as well as former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.
(snip)
Patrick picks Obama aide for his 2010 campaign
Boston Globe, The (MA) - Friday, June 5, 2009
Author: Matt Viser Globe Staff Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick is tapping the architect of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign to help run his bid for reelection next year, an indication of the type of political star power the governor may be able to utilize as he seeks another four-year term.
David Plouffe, who was Obama’s campaign manager and is widely credited with Obama’s successful run, will work as a campaign consultant focusing on Patrick’s message and strategy.
“What I’m excited about is bringing about change,” Plouffe said by phone yesterday. “And doing longer- term things is hard in politics. But I think he’s trying to bring about a lot of reforms and has been successful about them already.”
The announcement of Plouffe’s role in Patrick’s campaign is a sign the governor is beginning to build his campaign network and trying to put to rest doubts political insiders have raised about whether he is committed to running again.
“David Plouffe’s credentials speak for themselves,” said Steve Crawford, spokesman for the Patrick campaign. “It’s great to have him back as part of the campaign team.”
Plouffe is credited with keeping Obama’s campaign a tightly run ship, building a national grass-roots network and a fund-raising powerhouse, and running the mechanics of the race. He was the quieter, behind-the-scenes operator, while campaign strategist David Axelrod , who is now in the White House as an Obama senior adviser, was more of a public face for the campaign.
Plouffe did not take a position in the Obama administration and has maintained a low profile since the conclusion of the presidential campaign. He has been doing corporate consulting work, writing a book about the campaign called “The Audacity to Win,” and spending time with his family, who now live in Washington.
Plouffe is scheduled to be in Boston tonight for a fund-raiser, and is also delivering a keynote address at the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention tomorrow in Springfield.
“I feel a lot of loyalty to him,” he said of Patrick. “This will be the one race I spend a lot of time on.”
(snip)
...............................................
Numerous people with knowledge of PhRMA’s plans said they had been told it would likely reach $150 million and perhaps $200 million. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to divulge details.
Additionally, the industry is the major contributor to Healthy Economy Now, which recently completed a $12 million round of advertising nationally and in several states. The ads were made by companies with close ties to Democrats and the White House and generally reflected the administration’s changing rhetoric on health care.
In an interview, Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, said, “We will have a significant presence over the August recess, both on television and newspapers and on radio, but we have not finalized details for our fall campaign.”
Independent calculations show Healthy Economy Now has spent about $12 million on three ads that ran nationally and in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
The messages meshed with the White House’s changing rhetoric. An ad that began in mid-June said patients would be able to choose their own doctors. Another, launched in mid-July, focused on consumer protections, including a ban on insurance companies denying coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.
To make the ads, the group hired GMMB, a political consulting and advocacy advertising firm with close ties to the White House and Senate Democrats, as well as AKPD, top White House strategist David Axelrod’s former firm.
22 posted on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:22:43 PM by kcvl
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011802286_pf.html
As the Consultants Turn
The world of political consulting has been compared to a soap opera — drama galore and a lot of sudden breakups and overdue reconciliations. The early days of 2009 are proving to be no exception, as a number of high-profile consultants are opening new shops, joining forces and otherwise re-orienting the professional political class.
Among the most noteworthy changes:
· David Axelrod, the lead strategist for Obama, has sold his ownership stake in the firm AKPD Message and Media. The new firm will comprise three of its current partners — John Kupper, David Plouffe and John Del Cecato — as well as Larry Grisolano, who coordinated the ad strategy and polling operations for Obama. Grisolano will be the managing partner of AKPD and will retain an “of counsel” role to the Strategy Group, a direct-mail firm in which he served as a partner. Axelrod’s decision to go into the White House necessitated a clean break with his consultant past. “It’s really difficult for me to leave a company that’s been such a huge part of my life, but I enter my new post with enormous pride and confidence in the team that’s taking over,” Axelrod said of the move.
· Jason Ralston, one of Obama’s lead admakers, is leaving the media consulting powerhouse GMMB to start a new company with John Lapp, the man who directed House Democrats’ 30-seat pickup as executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 cycle. Lapp and Ralston got to know each other during that election as Ralston was the lead media consultant for the multimillion-dollar independent expenditure effort. Lapp, who spent the 2008 election cycle at the media firm McMahon Squier Lapp and Associates, said that he and Ralston “look forward to working together — to grow a progressive majority all across the country.” The new firm will be known as Ralston Lapp Media.
· Steve McMahon and Alex Castellanos — two of the most frequent TV guests among the world of political consultants — are teaming up to form Purple Strategies, a “strategic public affairs communications firm,” according to a news release trumpeting the new company. McMahon is best known as a senior adviser to the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign of former Vermont governor Howard Dean, and Castellanos was the lead media consultant for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2008 Republican presidential bid. Bruce Haynes, who served as chief of staff to Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), will be the new firm’s managing partner, while John Donovan, a longtime Democratic media adviser, will lead the company’s creative team. The goal of the company is to offer “the complete perspective” on issues to corporations and nonprofit organizations, according to McMahon. Neither McMahon nor Castellanos will leave their political firms.
Political Insider Reed lays claim to Obama campaign advisors
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - Thursday, February 26, 2009
Author: JIM GALLOWAY ; Staff
7:10 pm February 26, 2009
Last year, Councilwoman Mary Norwood said she’s the Barack Obama candidate in the race to succeed Shirley Franklin to become Atlanta’s next mayor.
But when it comes to Obama infrastructure, much of that has been snagged by state Sen. Kasim Reed, according to my AJC colleague Eric Stirgus.
Reed announced Thursday that AKPD Message & Media will serve as his camp’s media consultants. Some of the firm’s better known names include David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager; John Del Cecato, who produced many of the presidential candidate’s TV ads; and John Kupper, who helped the president-to-be as a message and advertising consultant.
Additionally, Reed said he has lined up Cornell Belcher, who was Obama’s pollster.
(snip)
//
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/03/AR2009030303210_pf.html
Minority Leader Limbaugh
By David Plouffe
Wednesday, March 4, 2009; A15
The 2008 election sent many messages. At the top: Americans wanted to turn the page on the politics of division and partisan pettiness, and they wanted a government — and country — that would put the middle class first.
Watching the Republicans operate this past month, it would appear that they missed that unmistakable signal.
Instead, Rush Limbaugh has become their leader.
(snip)
But if the GOP sticks with its strategy of failure as the only option, further eroding its brand with the people who decide elections, we may find out what it means for a political party to hit rock bottom.
The writer is senior adviser at AKPD Message and Media, a political consulting firm. He served as campaign manager for Obama for America and Obama-Biden 2008.
//
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/08/AR2009020802333.html
Obama Confidant Plans To Meet Azerbaijani Leader
Washington Post, The (DC) - Monday, February 9, 2009
Author: Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer
David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and was cited by Obama as the “unsung hero” in his ascendancy to the White House, is expected to meet this week with Azerbaijan’s president, who has been accused of undermining democracy in that oil-rich country.
Plouffe does not work for the White House, but he remains close to top White House officials. His outreach to Democrats, particularly through new-media ventures, was credited with propelling Obama to victory, and he continues to play an integral role with President Obama’s grass-roots political operation, Organizing for America. Last week, he e-mailed that group’s 13 million addresses with a video from Obama that urged support for the economic stimulus plan.
His trip to Azerbaijan is scheduled to include a speech today at Gerb University in the capital of Baku, followed by a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev and the speaker of the parliament, Oktay Asadov, according to Radio Free Europe, which first reported on the trip.
“Plouffe is coming as a private citizen,” Terry Davidson, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, told Radio Free Europe. “The embassy is not in charge of his schedule.”
//
(link available via google)
President Obama is holding a live strategy meeting on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time for all Organizing for America supporters. I hope you can join us, online or by phone.
The President will update us on the fight to pass real health insurance reform — what’s happening in D.C. and what’s happening around the country. He’ll lay out our strategy and message going forward and answer questions from supporters like you. And we’ll unveil the next actions we’ll organize together.
This is a critical time in this President’s administration, and in the history of our country. I hope you can join us.
Here are the details:
What: Organizing for America National Health Care Forum
Story continues below
When: Thursday, August 20th, 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time
RSVP and submit a question for the President.
The President wrote to us a few weeks ago to ask us to go the extra mile this month in the fight for health insurance reform. And so far, you’ve stepped up in a big way: Last week, an astounding 60,000 Organizing for America volunteers stopped by representatives’ and senators’ local offices. You told your health care stories to staffers and members of Congress — of losing insurance after getting laid off, of being denied coverage upon finding out about a serious illness. And you thanked those supporting real health insurance reform for all the work they’ve done so far.
But these local office visits were only part of the story. The D.C. media has been trumpeting coverage of town halls disrupted by angry opposition to reform. But the reality on the ground is very different. Organizing for America supporters are showing up in huge numbers at these meetings all across the country — outnumbering opponents of reform, often by overwhelming margins.
You’ve organized 11,906 local events in all 50 states — from press conferences to community discussions — since we launched our big campaign for reform in June. And you’ve made hundreds of thousands of calls to Congress.
Your work so far has been incredible. But the special interests and partisan attack groups who oppose reform will not let up, and they will tell whatever lies they can to spread fear. There’s a lot more work for all of us to do. This Thursday’s meeting is our chance to huddle as a team, get the latest information and talk about how we’re going to achieve this victory. You don’t want to miss it.
Click here to RSVP and submit a question for President Obama:
http://my.barackobama.com/forum
Hope you can make it,
David Plouffe
Team Obama is making Richard Nixon look like a choir boy!!!
GOT It..think I remember of few of these names....but just liked it to some of the mateial on Rahm=E.
http://www.goldtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26591&page=6
(snip)
“Last week, investigators revealed the boys from the Water Department were heavily involved in Mr. Clean’s 2002 primary. That is important because Emanuel may be sitting in Congress today only because of the illegal contributions and help he received from the Daley machine back then.
Anyone who thinks that’s a stretch should ponder the situation young Emanuel was facing back then. He was one of eight Democrats fighting for his party’s nomination in a district the Democratic nominee was almost certain to win. It was a bitter primary that he finally won by only 11,058 votes. His major advantages were money and the support of the Daley machine. Still, he was forced to spend nearly $2 million and put hundreds of “volunteer” workers onto the streets of his district.
Emanuel denies any knowledge of all that. One assumes he must have just thought his message was really resonating with water department workers as they streamed in to help.
So the man the Democrats have chosen to fight the ethics war was himself elected only as a result of the machinations of a corrupt machine that he must have known was operating on his behalf, and he, like those he attacks, will be forced over and over again to argue that he just didn’t know what was going on around him.”
Conviction Upheld For Former Daley Patronage Chief
Analyst: Ruling May Have Profound Effect On Daley Administration”
(snip)”...Daley’s former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, was among those convicted of mail fraud. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison for his part in the scheme outlined by federal prosecutors, but won a bond allowing him to remain free pending the appeal.
Tuesday’s ruling means the 43-year-old Sorich has 72 hours to report to prison, according to his attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin. Prosecutors said a federal judge would hear their motion to revoke the bond Thursday.
But Durkin noted he would continue the appeal process, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”
40 posted on Friday, August 21, 2009 12:07:39 PM by Conviction Upheld For Former Daley Patronage Chief
Analyst: Ruling May Have Profound Effect On Daley Administration”
(snip)”...Daley’s former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, was among those convicted of mail fraud. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison for his part in the scheme outlined by federal prosecutors, but won a bond allowing him to remain free pending the appeal.
Tuesday’s ruling means the 43-year-old Sorich has 72 hours to report to prison, according to his attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin. Prosecutors said a federal judge would hear their motion to revoke the bond Thursday.
But Durkin noted he would continue the appeal process, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”
posted by 444Flyer
Well..well..well. One of the scumbag lawyers involved in this also represented the Al Qaeda terrorist that plotted to kill Bush.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/27/national/a012409D74.DTL
(snip)
“Defense lawyer Joshua Dratel said he will appeal the sentence. Dratel said he hoped that Abu Ali’s statement did not persuade the judge to impose a life sentence.”
http://www.chicagoclout.com/weblog/archives/2008/08/more_of_mayor_daleys_mbe_in_ac.html
Shortly before Daley was re-elected in 1999, Falcon said, she met with Sorich and Suzanne Kim, a city official who led a Korean-American group of precinct workers. At the City Hall meeting in the mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where Sorich worked, Falcon said Sorich asked the women to deploy their troops to the 39th Ward on the Far North Side for Daley.
Falcon’s group consisted of about 30 Asian-Americans, almost all of them city workers, she said.
She would shut the door of her office, Falcon said, when she asked workers in her departments to campaign during their time off the job for the mayor and candidates he endorsed. “I would ask them to knock on doors” on weekends to ask people to vote for Daley, said Falcon, who was born in the Philippines.
When Rahm Emanuel was running successfully for the Democratic congressional nomination, she again answered the call from Sorich: “They needed some Asians to be at a rally that the Korean-American group held, if I could bring some Filipinos there.”
Falcon made clear that her group and others sometimes worked for politicians that they did not even like. Falcon said she and Kim grudgingly agreed to commit their forces to help re-elect Ald. Patrick Levar (45th) “because Mr. Sorich asked us.”
Kim, now an assistant commissioner in the Water Management Department, did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday
“3 Years, 10 Months For Former Top Daley Aide Robert Sorich Was Convicted In Hiring Scheme”
(snip)”...Robert Sorich, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s former patronage chief, showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge David H. Coar delivered a harsh tongue-lashing. “The offense is corruption — corruption with a capital C,” Coar said. “For people to owe their jobs to political advancement rather than performance on the job stinks. “I don’t give a hoot whether this been going on for 200 years. It still stinks.” (snip)Sorich and his lawyers believe the feds overreached, turning what had been a civil violation — political hiring -— into a criminal offense.
“I think chasing after Mayor Daley on patronage hiring on some novel theory is a witch hunt,” Durkin said.
Got it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/us/politics/16cheney.html?_r=2&ref=politics
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“U.S. moving enemy combatant to Illinois court” (2/26/09-Wow, that was FAST)
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/02/us_moving_enemy_combatant_to_i.html
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“UN expert rips U.S. allies for Anti-terror tactics, plans investigation into CIA, Gitmo detentions” (3/10/09)
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/03/un_expert_rips_us_allies_for_a.html
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“Eric Holder tells West Point: The law was not followed in U.S. War Against Terror”
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/04/eric_holder_tells_west_point_t.html
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ping - thanks for this thread.
One day I’ll make an index to make it easier to follow and connect the dots.....There are a lot of them here. Feel free to connect and add your findings...or add or ping me to any thing that you think might need to be added.
Thanks.
Two of Mayor Daley’s former top aides — and a security company once co-owned by the brother of Ald. Danny Solis (25th) — are poised to make some serious coin from the $1.15 billion deal that privatized Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters.
Under pressure from aldermen to comply with the city’s minority set-aside requirements, LAZ Parking Chicago LLC has hastily assembled a team of subcontractors that includes former mayoral press secretary Avis LaVelle and Cortez Trotter, who was Chicago’s first African-American fire commissioner before being promoted to chief emergency officer.
Monterrey Security — owned by former Chicago Police Officer Juan Gaytan and once co-owned by former Chicago firefighter Santiago Solis — is in line for $1.2 million in 2009 and has already been paid $413,152, according to a document distributed to aldermen.
LaVelle, Daley’s 1989 campaign spokeswoman and first City Hall press secretary, said she watched aldermen lambast the meter deal Monday, even though she had not yet signed a formal contract.
LaVelle’s invitation to attend the hearing came from Trotter, who had an “existing relationship” with LAZ CEO Alan Lazowski.
It was only after the City Council hearing that LaVelle and Trotter were asked to join the team under terms yet to be negotiated, she said.
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