THE EMANUEL END GAME?

January 9, 2016
by Ken Berwitz
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Ken Berwitz


This looks like the end of Rahm Emanuel.  For real.

City of Chicago lawyers, after meeting with Mayor RahmEmanuel, demanded the Laquan McDonald family bury the video showingthe killing of their son by a police officer.

Emanuel said last month that Stephen Patton, Chicago\’s corporationcounsel, briefed him “towards the end of March”about what the dashboard-cameravideo showed and about the proposed $5 million settlement with McDonald\’sestate. After that briefing, Patton\’s second-in-command, Thomas Platt, draftedsettlement language to keep the dash-cam video hidden for at least severalyears, according to emails reviewed by The Daily Beast (PDF).

That was the same day that Emanuel was fighting for hispolitical life in a runoff election after he failed to win 50 percent of theprimary vote in the February. (Emanuel won with 56 percent against ChuyGarcia.)

Emanuel had maintained since McDonald\’s death that he hasnever seen the dash-cam video, but the emails prove the mayor knew exactly whatthe footage showed when city lawyers negotiated a deal that would at leastdelay the video\’s release. Attorneys for McDonald’s estate sent Plattscreenshots of the video and a detailed description.

If this were just some obscure right wing web site, maybe – maybe – Emanuel could ride it out.  

But The Daily Beast is not obscure, and it is not right wing.  In fact, even the most leftward web sites – like dailykos.com and thinkprogress.com – among many others – have reported it as well.  Almost a month ago, in fact.

Without the left covering his back, I do not know how Rahm Emanuel survives this. 

Not to worry, though, Democrats.  If Emanuel goes down, his party is not going down with him.  Democrats own Chicago, lock stock and Wrigley Building.  They have for over 80 years (the last Republican Mayor of Chicago – William Hale Thompson, who was second to none in his own corruption, by the way – left office in 1931).  

No, Chicagoans will remain under wholly Democrat governance even if Emanuel is gone.

Lucky them.

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