Rahm's Residency Response Video. Now this is funny. Don Surber
3 Replies to “Rahm's Residency Response Video. Now this is funny. Don Surber”
November 26, 2010 at 5:54 PM
From Free Republic:
Rahm Emanuel Ethics Abuses Pile Up
email | Tuesday, February 17, 2009 9:16 PM | Allegedly Dick “Toe-sucker” Morris & Eileen McGann
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:02:36 PM by BenLurkin
News broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent-free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn. — and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel’s previously undisclosed ethics problems.
One issue is the work Emanuel tossed the way of De Lauro’s husband. But the bigger one goes back to Emanuel’s days on the board of now-bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Emanuel is a multimillionaire, but lived for the last five years for free in the tony Capitol Hill townhouse owned by De Lauro and her husband, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.
During that time, he also served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — which gave Greenberg huge polling contracts. It paid Greenberg’s firm $239,996 in 2006 and $317,775 in 2008. (Emanuel’s own campaign committee has also paid Greenberg more than $50,000 since 2004.)
To be fair, Greenberg had polling contracts with the DCCC before — but each new election cycle brings its own set of consultants. And Emanuel was certainly generous with his roommate.
Emanuel never declared the substantial gift of free rent on any of his financial-disclosure forms. He and De Lauro claim that it was just allowable “hospitality” between colleagues. Hospitality — for five years?
Some experts suggest that it was also taxable income: Over five years, the free rent could easily add up to more than $100,000.
Nor is this all that seems to have been missed in the Obama team’s vetting process. Consider: Emanuel served on the Freddie Mac board of directors during the time that the government-backed lender lied about its earnings, a leading contributor to the current economic meltdown.
The Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Agency later singled out the Freddie Mac board as contributing to the fraud in 2000 and 2001 for “failing in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention.” In other words, board members ignored the red flags waving in their faces.
The SEC later fined Freddie $50 million for its deliberate fraud in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Meanwhile, Emanuel was paid more than $260,000 for his Freddie “service.” Plus, after he resigned from the board to run for Congress in 2002, the troubled agency’s PAC gave his campaign $25,000 — its largest single gift to a House candidate.
That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?
Updated: Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 9:37 PM CST
Published : Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 8:45 PM CST
By Dane Placko, FOX Chicago News
Chicago – A FOX Chicago News investigation has uncovered new evidence that could play a role in the battle over Rahm Emanuel’s residency.
His entry in the race to replace Mayor Daley is being challenged by some who say he lost his Chicago residency while working as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff in Washington.
FOX Chicago News acquired a copy of an affidavit Emanuel signed just three weeks ago that he sent to the Cook County Assessor’s Office.
It’s essentially an appeal to restore the homeowner’s exemption on his property tax bill.
He got that exemption in 2007 and 2008.
So why didn’t he get it in 2009? That’s what the assessor’s office is now trying to find out.
Asked if anybody knows why his name was removed, the Assessor’s spokesperson Kelley Quinn said: “We don’t. We don’t. This exemption is automatically given to a homeowner unless there is a question whether or not they occupy the residence.”
In fact, Emanuel is entitled to his homeowner’s exemption for the 2009 tax year, because he and his family were still living in their North Side home on Jan. 1 — the day the exemption is determined.
They did not move to Washington and rent the home until the middle of 2009.
But for some reason someone in the assessor’s office, under the previous administration of Jim Houlihan, pulled Emanuel’s exemption.
Why is that important now?
Well it allows the lawyers working to keep Emanuel off the ballot to argue that an important Cook County agency was skeptical about his residency.
“Well from what we can tell, during the previous administration someone saw a media report about the tenant that lives in Mr. Emanuel’s home, property, and manually removed Mr. Emanuel from the homeowner’s exemption database,” Quinn said.
Then on Nov. 15 of this year — a little more than three weeks ago — as the challenge to his residency was growing, Emanuel sent the assessor a signed affidavit swearing that he did qualify for the homeowner’s break.
And within a couple days he got it — a property tax reduction of about $925.
Emanuel’s campaign released a statement saying he’s just taking advantage of the exemption like any other Cook County resident. And the campaign pointed out the exemption and the rules of residency are two different standards.
chicagotribune.com
Emanuel to face lengthy grilling from objectors to his candidacy
Residency hearing set to begin Tuesday; 25 people will get chance to question him
By Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter
7:21 PM CST, December 10, 2010
Advertisement
Rahm Emanuel is known for playing political hardball, winning a seat in Congress and dealing with the pressures of being White House chief of staff, but even he could have his hands full next week when he’s expected to face hours of questioning at a hearing on whether he’s eligible to run for Chicago mayor.
On Friday, an elections hearing officer called a lengthy inquisition “inevitable” because Emanuel will be queried by his own lawyers in addition to as many as 25 objectors or their attorneys.
Emanuel is expected to be the first witness at the residency hearing, now set for Tuesday morning, and will immediately be quizzed by Burt Odelson, a lawyer for the leading objectors. Odelson argues that because Emanuel has been in Washington much of the last two years, he doesn’t meet the statutory requirement that mayoral candidates live in Chicago at least a year before the election.
After Odelson finishes his examination, other objectors get their chance. They include lawyers for vocal Chicago activists, citizens acting as their own attorneys and others who might be described as fringe City Hall characters seeking a public stage.
One repeatedly tried to shout down Friday’s hearing while wearing an “Indict Rahm” button and saying he wanted to subpoena the head of the FBI in Chicago. Hearing officer Joseph A. Morris sarcastically suggested maybe he should subpoena the Russian government for information.
Other objectors include “Queen Sister” Georzetta Deloney and Sylvester “Junebug” Hendricks.
Morris, wearing a bow tie and at times struggling to keep things orderly, made it clear there won’t be a lot of room to turn questioning a national political figure into a spectacle.
“Your job is to ask questions that elicit evidence,” Morris said. “This is no occasion for making campaign speeches.”
Morris said Emanuel should expect 25 “episodes of questioning” by objectors, a round of questioning by his own lawyers, and then 25 more shots from those trying to knock him off the Feb. 22 ballot. That could be followed by a last round from his own attorneys, for a grand total of 52.
“I’m prepared to sit here and get it done,” Morris said. He gave no hint at how long — or how many days — he expects the proceedings to last.
It remains to be seen whether Emanuel’s wife, Amy Rule, will face the same situation as her husband. Morris said he would grant a subpoena for her testimony on a preliminary basis, but might reconsider at a Monday morning status hearing if he is satisfied that Odelson and Emanuel’s lawyers have agreed on enough facts that her presence would add nothing to the proceedings.
Morris said he would allow lawyers in the case to meet over the weekend, to exchange documents and see if they can agree on the facts involving Rule.
But the other objectors, who complained throughout the hearing that Odelson was running the show while they got the short end of the stick, insisted Rule appear. Emanuel’s attorneys said they would do everything they can to keep that from happening.
“We object strenuously; she is a mother of three young children,” Emanuel lawyer Michael Kasper said. “It’s no secret they are in Washington, D.C.”
That response brought catcalls from the room. “Where she lives!” one man shouted.
Objector Alice Coffey said it’s relevant that Rule would have to fly back to Chicago from Washington to testify that the family are city residents. “Am I missing something?” Coffey said.
Other witnesses Morris said he’ll allow include real estate people who played a role in seeing Emanuel’s North Side home leased while he was in Washington; and Rob Halpin, Emanuel’s renter, who declined to end his lease and who last week scuttled his own mayoral bid.
Odelson also may call a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners official to discuss Emanuel’s voting status. And a lawyer for community activist William “Dock” Walls received permission to bring in information on what city stickers Emanuel recently has purchased.
Emanuel’s camp has argued that he meets the standard because he owns the home, has voted here and always intended to move back.
Morris also ruled against letting objectors call former city workers who lost their jobs because of Chicago residency requirements. That’s simply not relevant to Emanuel’s issue, he told the crowd, which again reacted with grumbles.
“Is mayor of the city of Chicago considered a job?” asked objector Denise Gilbert.
“That’s an excellent question for your closing argument,” Morris said.
November 26, 2010 at 5:54 PM
From Free Republic:
Rahm Emanuel Ethics Abuses Pile Up
email | Tuesday, February 17, 2009 9:16 PM | Allegedly Dick “Toe-sucker” Morris & Eileen McGann
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:02:36 PM by BenLurkin
News broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent-free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn. — and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel’s previously undisclosed ethics problems.
One issue is the work Emanuel tossed the way of De Lauro’s husband. But the bigger one goes back to Emanuel’s days on the board of now-bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Emanuel is a multimillionaire, but lived for the last five years for free in the tony Capitol Hill townhouse owned by De Lauro and her husband, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.
During that time, he also served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — which gave Greenberg huge polling contracts. It paid Greenberg’s firm $239,996 in 2006 and $317,775 in 2008. (Emanuel’s own campaign committee has also paid Greenberg more than $50,000 since 2004.)
To be fair, Greenberg had polling contracts with the DCCC before — but each new election cycle brings its own set of consultants. And Emanuel was certainly generous with his roommate.
Emanuel never declared the substantial gift of free rent on any of his financial-disclosure forms. He and De Lauro claim that it was just allowable “hospitality” between colleagues. Hospitality — for five years?
Some experts suggest that it was also taxable income: Over five years, the free rent could easily add up to more than $100,000.
Nor is this all that seems to have been missed in the Obama team’s vetting process. Consider: Emanuel served on the Freddie Mac board of directors during the time that the government-backed lender lied about its earnings, a leading contributor to the current economic meltdown.
The Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Agency later singled out the Freddie Mac board as contributing to the fraud in 2000 and 2001 for “failing in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention.” In other words, board members ignored the red flags waving in their faces.
The SEC later fined Freddie $50 million for its deliberate fraud in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Meanwhile, Emanuel was paid more than $260,000 for his Freddie “service.” Plus, after he resigned from the board to run for Congress in 2002, the troubled agency’s PAC gave his campaign $25,000 — its largest single gift to a House candidate.
That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?
Updated: Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 9:37 PM CST
Published : Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 8:45 PM CST
By Dane Placko, FOX Chicago News
Chicago – A FOX Chicago News investigation has uncovered new evidence that could play a role in the battle over Rahm Emanuel’s residency.
His entry in the race to replace Mayor Daley is being challenged by some who say he lost his Chicago residency while working as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff in Washington.
FOX Chicago News acquired a copy of an affidavit Emanuel signed just three weeks ago that he sent to the Cook County Assessor’s Office.
It’s essentially an appeal to restore the homeowner’s exemption on his property tax bill.
He got that exemption in 2007 and 2008.
So why didn’t he get it in 2009? That’s what the assessor’s office is now trying to find out.
Asked if anybody knows why his name was removed, the Assessor’s spokesperson Kelley Quinn said: “We don’t. We don’t. This exemption is automatically given to a homeowner unless there is a question whether or not they occupy the residence.”
In fact, Emanuel is entitled to his homeowner’s exemption for the 2009 tax year, because he and his family were still living in their North Side home on Jan. 1 — the day the exemption is determined.
They did not move to Washington and rent the home until the middle of 2009.
But for some reason someone in the assessor’s office, under the previous administration of Jim Houlihan, pulled Emanuel’s exemption.
Why is that important now?
Well it allows the lawyers working to keep Emanuel off the ballot to argue that an important Cook County agency was skeptical about his residency.
“Well from what we can tell, during the previous administration someone saw a media report about the tenant that lives in Mr. Emanuel’s home, property, and manually removed Mr. Emanuel from the homeowner’s exemption database,” Quinn said.
Then on Nov. 15 of this year — a little more than three weeks ago — as the challenge to his residency was growing, Emanuel sent the assessor a signed affidavit swearing that he did qualify for the homeowner’s break.
And within a couple days he got it — a property tax reduction of about $925.
Emanuel’s campaign released a statement saying he’s just taking advantage of the exemption like any other Cook County resident. And the campaign pointed out the exemption and the rules of residency are two different standards.
chicagotribune.com
Emanuel to face lengthy grilling from objectors to his candidacy
Residency hearing set to begin Tuesday; 25 people will get chance to question him
By Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter
7:21 PM CST, December 10, 2010
Advertisement
Rahm Emanuel is known for playing political hardball, winning a seat in Congress and dealing with the pressures of being White House chief of staff, but even he could have his hands full next week when he’s expected to face hours of questioning at a hearing on whether he’s eligible to run for Chicago mayor.
On Friday, an elections hearing officer called a lengthy inquisition “inevitable” because Emanuel will be queried by his own lawyers in addition to as many as 25 objectors or their attorneys.
Emanuel is expected to be the first witness at the residency hearing, now set for Tuesday morning, and will immediately be quizzed by Burt Odelson, a lawyer for the leading objectors. Odelson argues that because Emanuel has been in Washington much of the last two years, he doesn’t meet the statutory requirement that mayoral candidates live in Chicago at least a year before the election.
After Odelson finishes his examination, other objectors get their chance. They include lawyers for vocal Chicago activists, citizens acting as their own attorneys and others who might be described as fringe City Hall characters seeking a public stage.
One repeatedly tried to shout down Friday’s hearing while wearing an “Indict Rahm” button and saying he wanted to subpoena the head of the FBI in Chicago. Hearing officer Joseph A. Morris sarcastically suggested maybe he should subpoena the Russian government for information.
Other objectors include “Queen Sister” Georzetta Deloney and Sylvester “Junebug” Hendricks.
Morris, wearing a bow tie and at times struggling to keep things orderly, made it clear there won’t be a lot of room to turn questioning a national political figure into a spectacle.
“Your job is to ask questions that elicit evidence,” Morris said. “This is no occasion for making campaign speeches.”
Morris said Emanuel should expect 25 “episodes of questioning” by objectors, a round of questioning by his own lawyers, and then 25 more shots from those trying to knock him off the Feb. 22 ballot. That could be followed by a last round from his own attorneys, for a grand total of 52.
“I’m prepared to sit here and get it done,” Morris said. He gave no hint at how long — or how many days — he expects the proceedings to last.
It remains to be seen whether Emanuel’s wife, Amy Rule, will face the same situation as her husband. Morris said he would grant a subpoena for her testimony on a preliminary basis, but might reconsider at a Monday morning status hearing if he is satisfied that Odelson and Emanuel’s lawyers have agreed on enough facts that her presence would add nothing to the proceedings.
Morris said he would allow lawyers in the case to meet over the weekend, to exchange documents and see if they can agree on the facts involving Rule.
But the other objectors, who complained throughout the hearing that Odelson was running the show while they got the short end of the stick, insisted Rule appear. Emanuel’s attorneys said they would do everything they can to keep that from happening.
“We object strenuously; she is a mother of three young children,” Emanuel lawyer Michael Kasper said. “It’s no secret they are in Washington, D.C.”
That response brought catcalls from the room. “Where she lives!” one man shouted.
Objector Alice Coffey said it’s relevant that Rule would have to fly back to Chicago from Washington to testify that the family are city residents. “Am I missing something?” Coffey said.
Other witnesses Morris said he’ll allow include real estate people who played a role in seeing Emanuel’s North Side home leased while he was in Washington; and Rob Halpin, Emanuel’s renter, who declined to end his lease and who last week scuttled his own mayoral bid.
Odelson also may call a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners official to discuss Emanuel’s voting status. And a lawyer for community activist William “Dock” Walls received permission to bring in information on what city stickers Emanuel recently has purchased.
Emanuel’s camp has argued that he meets the standard because he owns the home, has voted here and always intended to move back.
Morris also ruled against letting objectors call former city workers who lost their jobs because of Chicago residency requirements. That’s simply not relevant to Emanuel’s issue, he told the crowd, which again reacted with grumbles.
“Is mayor of the city of Chicago considered a job?” asked objector Denise Gilbert.
“That’s an excellent question for your closing argument,” Morris said.
jcoen@tribune.com