Results tagged “rahmemanuel”

• A Chicago Public Schools student has been arrested for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old.
• State legislators approved a plan to place a constitutional amendment that allows for the recall of the governor on next year's ballot.
• GQ has put together their list of D.C.'s most powerful people and Rahmbo comes in at Number One.

That then-U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel of the 5th Congressional District of Illinois wanted a hand-picked replacement who could essentially serve as a "seat-warmer" when he was selected as then-President-Elect Obama's Chief of Staff is no surprise. That "seat-warmer" would hold Rahm's seat in Congress until Rahm was done working for Obama and could return to his place on the Hill. And that Rahm had contact with Blagojevich about various replacements - including the infamous "for sale" U.S. Senate seat - is also no surprise. Rahm's admitted they talked shop but also maintained he did nothing wrong. But this morning we're getting more specifics courtesy of an investigation by the Sun-Times who reports that Rahm wanted Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool as his "seat-warmer."

Speaking of the Windy City White House, check out the official cabinet pic for Obama's current administration. Besides the President and his (literally) right-hand man Rahm-bo, you can also spot Illinois guys Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (back row, all the way to the left) and Education Secretary Arne Duncan (standing, all the way to the right).

       

Yes, outside of Michael Jackson, it is a pretty slow news day. Yesterday, President Obama held a luau for members of Congress at the White House, which included a dunk tank. While the sinking of press secretary Robert Gibb was captured on film, what we sadly have no pictorial evidence of is the report that First Daughter Sasha Obama was responsible for getting Rahm Emanuel all wet in the dunk tank (the press had been booted at that point). The luau was Obama's way of bringing his own personal touch to the president's annual picnic via his co-home state of Hawaii. We guess next year's will be an Illinois theme featuring Goose Island, brats, and cornhole, right?

Rahm Emanuel doesn't care that NBC was filming a special about the Obama White House (part 2 airs tonight). He's got work to do, dammit. So you kids get out of his office with your cameras and your nonsense, okay?

Yesterday evening, the other shoe dropped and Rod Blagojevich and five others were indicted on a wide range of fraud and corruption charges. The indictment contains 19 charges in all against Blagojevich, his brother Robert, former Chief-of-Staff John Harris, former adviser Lon Monk, former fundraiser Christopher Kelly, and power broker William Cellini. Here are some of the highlights from the news surrounding the indictments.

While this skit, from this weekend's episode of SNL, isn't the funniest Obama-themed skit the show has produced, it's worth it just for Andy Samberg's brilliant Rahm Emanuel impression.

• Police have arrested Marni Yang in connection with the 2007 murder of Rhoni Reuter who, at the time, was pregnant with the child of former Bears star Shaun Gayle.
• It seems Rahm Emanuel has several earmarks, worth $8.5 million, in a bill that's before the U.S. Senate this week.
• The City of Chicago has signed on its 11th PR firm, bringing the grand total of money being spent on PR to $55 million.

Early voting has already begun in Illinois's Fifth Congressional District, and Chicagoist is taking a look at each of the candidates vying to keep Rahm Emanuel's seat warm for him. Read Part One here, Part Two here and Part Three here.

Early voting has already begun in Illinois's Fifth Congressional District, so Chicagoist figured that with 25 candidates in the race to keep Rahm Emanuel's seat warm for him, we'd look at five each day all this week. Read Part 1 here.

Irving Park bus rider/POTUS Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel earned headlines this week upon word that his "renting" of the basement in scarily-spectacled Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)'s Capitol Hill abode is illegal. Delauro tried to clear up the matter, telling the press that Emanuel's been staying there for free. Scandal averted? Nope: "Free" is actually worse than "renting," thanks to the Obama administration's new and improved ethics rules regarding acceptance of private gifts from personal friends in high places. Delauro's hub, a Democratic pollster, owns the house. Whoops!

As Barack Obama's inauguration approaches, incoming chief of staff and former Fifth U.S. Congressional District rep Rahm Emanuel appeared on NBC's Meet The Press Sunday and talked the inauguration, the economy, and even Burris & Blago. To no one's surprise, Rahm maintained his insistence that he did nothing inappropriate: "As described in the document we made public, we talked in general about the, the right type of people that could be served as U.S. senator. And those are the conversations you would have with the chief of staff, and they're all the appropriate conversations." Check out video of the entire video below or, if you're the reading type, read the transcripts.

Mayor Daley yesterday said he would stay out of the crowded 5th Congressional District race, which once included more than 20 candidates competing for the seat formerly held by Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Daley’s decision sets the stage for what could be an open primary on March 3, which some critics say might be disastrous with such a smorgasbord of candidates (others say it’s just democracy in action). Without the influence of an endorsement from Daley, candidates for the seat must now charm Democratic ward committeemen if they want to be the party frontrunner. Committeemen, a shadowy bunch who are elected and often members of the Chicago City Council, are charged with deciding party candidates in various races. Alderman William Banks (36) told the Sun-Times that he hopes committeemen will meet sometime in the next two to three weeks for a vote. “Right now, it seems to be fairly fragmented. If it stays every man for himself, virtually anybody could get elected. . . . It could be somebody totally unrepresentative of the district. That would be unfortunate,” he said.

Now that we've said farewell to Rahm and set the date for elections to replace him, it's time for speculation on who will take the reins in the 5th congressional district, the former seat of our beloved Governor. The field is crowded now with counts of as many as 18 people running, but Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) appears to be pulling ahead of the pack, since he is poised to receive the critical Democratic Party endorsement after Ald. Tom Allen (38th) dropped out, citing his desire to remain on the City Council: "My passion is more on the local level of government and helping people in the neighborhood...It's not a money factor [tied to a lingering debt from his campaign for state's attorney]. It's merely that I can accomplish more in the job I'm doing right now."

Ladies and gentlemen, start your campaign engines. Now that Rahm Emanuel has officially resigned his Fifth U.S. Congressional District seat, it's time to pick a new representative. Beleaguered Governor Rod Blagojevich has set March 3 as the date of the primary election and April 7 as the general election. Given all the interest expressed in the seat, we put the over/under on the final number of candidates at lucky 13. Because it is, after all, the seat once occupied by Blago. [Trib]

AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson