Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky says Blago free to talk
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
A proven, reliable source informs IP2P that Sheldon Sorosky, Rod Blagojevich’s attorney, has confirmed what we’ve long suspected: Blago’s silence has been bought. The payoff is ahead.
Here’s how it stacks up.
Rod Blagojevich is free to talk publicly about any, and all, of the phone conversations recorded by federal agents. And, there’s no protective judicial order restricting him from doing so.
When asked why his client would pretend he’s prohibited from talking about the conversations, Sheldon had no clear explanation.
Sheldon was then asked: If the contents of the tapes prove Blago is innocent, why has Blago remained silent? Sheldon has no clear explanation.
When asked if Rod Blagojevich's pending appeal would be based on the claim that the defense could not play the tapes, Sheldon said that the appeal would focus on specific tapes.
Oh, okay.
Then, Sheldon was asked – why, if those specific conversations would prove Blago innocent, hasn’t Blago identified those with whom he had those conversation, and what those conversations were about, Sheldon acknowledged that nothing restricts Blago from revealing that information.
Oh, okay, nothing stops Blago from talking. We get that.
Asked why Blago hadn’t revealed what’s on the tapes, Sheldon had no clear explanation. (You see a pattern here?)
Here’s what we at IP2P suggest: Sheldon should just put Blago's recollection of those conversations in his appellate brief due May 30, 2013.
Absolutely nothing prevents him from doing that.
Nothing, that is, unless there’s a deal in place that assures that the public never knows what’s on those tapes, in exchange for a significant reduction in Blago’s jail time.
In short, we believe Blago's silence has been bought.
It is the Chicago Way. Right?
The underlying question is this: Besides getting himself an early Out-of-Jail Card, who is being protected by Blago’s silence?
Developing…..
Chicago Review Press: Do they ignore the facts?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Since the release of the book "Golden," by authors and Chicago Tribune reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen, serious questions have been raised about the honesty of the book's claims.
IP2P has received information from several sources that lead us to conclude this: Someone is not telling the truth about the claims made in the Chicago Review Press publication.
These public assertions lead us to that conclusion:
(1) The man who warned Rod Blagojevich that the feds were recording him, Tribune reporter John Chase, was a co-author of the book.
(2) Chase and Coen claim, in their book, to have listened to, and read, the transcripts of all the Blagojevich wiretaps...that have never been made public.
(3) The U.S. Attorney's Office insists the wiretap tapes and transcripts were provided to no one - including Chase and Coen. Even though Chase and Coen insist that the USAO did provide the material.
(4) Prior to Chicago Review Press publishing "Golden," a credible source made attempts to provide important information to the publisher that would have helped insure that their book was factual.
U.S. Attorney's Office claims author's of Blagojevich book "Golden" lying
(5) To date, Cynthia Sherry and the Chicago Review Press have refused to answer basic questions that a publisher should expect from the media: (A) Did Chicago Review Press fact-check the book they published as non-fiction? (B) Did the authors actually have access to the tapes and transcripts of the Blagojevich wiretaps that were not made public?
From: (Redacted)
To: csherry
Sent: 2013-02-01 21:00:02 +0000
Subject: Fwd: Publishing False Information
Ms. Cynthia Sherry
Did The Chicago Review Press verify that John Chase and Jeff Coen actually possessed and listened to all the Blagojevich wiretap tape recordings and read transcripts that were never made public, per their claim in the book you published titled "Golden" ?
If you did verify, please explain how.
(Name redacted)
-----Original Message-----
From: (Redacted)
To: csherry
Sent: 2012-12-08 23:15:43 +0000
Subject: Publishing False Information
Ms. Cynthia Sherry
The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern Dist. of Illinois has just gone on the record saying that John Chase and Jeff Coen are not telling the truth about having access to tapes a transcripts of the Blagojevich wiretaps that were never made public.
Ms. Sherry, as publisher of Chase and Coen's book "Golden" you can clearly understand the ramifications if this is true.
Did Chase and Coen publish false information? The USAO says yes.
Ms. Sherry, what do you say?
(Name redacted)
All of this begs the question: Was Chicago Review Press so concerned with telling the authors' version of the Blagojevich story that they ignored the facts?
Listen to Cynthia Sherry explain Chicago Review Press promotion of progressive writings and social justice.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/299785-1
At IP2P we ask this: Did the truth about the Blagojevich case not work for their progressive agenda?
More on this soon............
The truth about the Valerie Plame case. (10 years later)
Hugo Floriani, Investigative Reporter
We're going into the final year of a decade since the Valerie Plame case burst into the national news, and still the truth remains untold by key persons involved. Why is that?
Is Richard Armitage telling the truth when he says he didn't tell President Bush that he was the leaker in the Valerie Plame case because of U.S Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald?
In an interview with CBS News national security correspondent David Martin, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he didn't come forward as the source of the leak because "the special counsel, once he was appointed, asked me not to discuss this and I honored his request".
Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed special counsel on December 30, 2003.
Let's examine Armitage's claims.
Armitage has stated that reporter Bob Novak's column, published October 1,2003, caused him to (1) immediately meet with the FBI and confess to being the leaker, and (2) then call Secretary of State Colin Powell and tell him he was Novak's source and, therefore, responsible for leaking the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA employee.
According to court records Richard Armitage went to Marc Grossman, the Undersecretary of State, on the evening of October 16, 2003 and told Grossman that he, Armitage, was the leaker. Armitage did this knowing that Grossman was scheduled to be questioned by the FBI the next day.
Undersecretary Marc Grossman is the author of the memo that started it all by identifying who Valerie Plame was to his superiors at the State Department - Armitage and Powell.
So, what do we know?
(1) We know that as of Oct. 16, 2003 the top three officials at the State Department and the FBI knew that Richard Armitage was the person who divulged Valerie Plame's identity to the press.
(2) We know that, between Oct. 16 - Dec. 30, it was not Patrick Fitzgerald who was keeping the three top officials in the U.S. State Department from divulging that Armitage was the leaker.
And (3) we know, that, if in the time between Oct. 16 - Dec 30, any one of the State Departments top three officials (Powell, Armitage or Grossman) or the FBI would have gone public with what they knew, Patrick Fitzgerald would have never been appointed Special Counsel.
Consequently, New York Times reporter Judith Miller would not have spent nearly three months in jail, and Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, would not have been prosecuted.
As this unfolds, ponder this:
Did our current FBI director Robert Mueller keep the identity of the "leaker" Richard Armitage from his boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft?
And, if not, did John Ashcroft neglect to tell President George W. Bush?
To be continued....
Rezko’s partner testifies against the Feds?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
For the moment, Illinois PayToPlay is going to let this provocative document created by Daniel T Frawley speak for itself.
But we do want to suggest that reporting on allegations of corruption, involving government officials tied to the Rezko investigation, does not fit the the current political agenda of the Chicago Sun Times or the Chicago Tribune.
Could that be because Chicago is a "Sanctuary City" for corrupt government officials?
For the lucky politicrooks allowed to set-up shop in Chicago, there's a blanket of protection provided in large part by the two major dailies. Who protects the honest citizen?
Perhaps in 7-8 years, when it's politicly expedient, the Chicago Sun-Times will be all over this Frawley story.
From:
Date: Thu, May 10, 2012 at 7:19 PM
Subject: Fwd: FYI
To: Ernie Souchak<address withheld>
Date: Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 7:07 AM
Subject: Fwd: FYI
To: robert XXXXX <Bob Cooley's email address withheld>
1) The USAO told Tom Durkin during Tom’s meeting with Fitzgerald, Shapiro, Ridgeway and FBI agent Jay Hagstrom that I was considered a fully co-operating witness until 2008.
The USAO was told in 2008 that I tipped him (Rezko) off that I was recording Rezko and the USAO had co-oberating evidence and because of this declination was off the table.
Tom mentioned this to me in Tom’s email to me re: the meeting at 219 South Dearborn.
1) Tom called me and asked me about the incident and I had no recollection. I did not because it did not seem important at the time and I will explain later. I went and met with Sam Doerger as well as speaking to him on the phone about it. Sam suggested I ask Jay, I did.
2) I met with Jay at the FBI office in Lisle. Jay did not give me all the details but let me know almost 99% the incident happened before Jay was assigned to the case and it happened at Tony’s office in the Sears Tower on July 3rd the year Sam retired.
SEARS TOWER MEETING WITH TONY JULY 3rd
1) I met with Sam Doerger and Mary Beth King at a Chinese restaurant on Jackson Blvd. July Fourth. During that meeting Mary Beth and Sam informed me they wanted me to wear a wire and record Tony in his office on the 95th story of THE SEARS TOWER. I told the agents of a prior meeting at the Sears Tower. (I will explain later)
2) The USAO wanted me to walk through a metal detector with metal on, bad idea.
4) Agent King to said Sam that this operation had disaster written all over it. Sam agreed and thought we should not do the taping that day. The agents were under pressure to tape Tony by the USAO.
5) I told the agents there were at least 3 levels of security of the tower
A) No one was allowed in with out having a pass and checking in with the security desk. The desk called Tony’s office to confirm the visit, I also let the agents know most of the time Rezko sent someone down from Rezmar to escort me to the office.
B) The seconded line was a metal detector everybody had to pass through
C) The third line, which I did not have, enough information about was an automatic glass door entrance that set of a green light to allow the visitor to pass. I did not know how this glass door operated or what its function was. I suggested the agents let me go over to the SEARS TOWER let me observe the security and try later that week. I was told, “No”. I then said give me a ten minute head start and let me at least get a look at it and I would figure a way through the system for the recording device.
D) The agents settled on a plan to send Mary Beth King in ahead of me. Mary Beth would gain entrance by going up to a law firm at sears Tower and then meet me on another floor and hand me the devise.
E) Mary Beth was unsuccessful. The law firm would not allow her into the Tower. I entered the tower and received permission from security and Tony to enter the Rezmar 95th floor office. I saw Mary Beth in the vestibule of the building after I received permission to enter. I could tell Mary Beth looked disconcerted. I walked past Mary Beth and dropped my AMX card and handed it to her as if she had dropped it. Mary Beth told me she could not get up to the law offices but she would try another way and meet me on another floor.
F) I went to the scheduled meeting floor and waited for 15 minute, when Mary Beth did not appear I had to go to Tony’s office. I could not just have waited indefinitely; they were expecting me because security notified Rezmar that I was on my way
I AM 99% SURE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED/I NEVER THUGHT ABOUT IT UNTIL TOM ASKED ME AFTER HIS MEETING WITH FITZGERALD BECAUSE EVERYTHING WENT WRONG AND THE AGENTS Were AGAINST THE MEETING FROM THE START AND I WAS NOT RECORDED
1) I met with Tony in his office, by this time the FBI had been called by the Chief of Security of the Sears Tower asking what was Agent Mary Beth King doing in the Sears Tower with Dan Frawley, the jig was up and the whole thing was an avoidable disaster caused by the USAO not the agents who wanted to wait. I had no device when I met with tony and for all I knew he was aware I was with the FBI & had a recorder. I SHOT THE BREEZE ABOUT NOTHING BECAUSE I DID NOT HAVE A RECORDING DEVICE.
2) Tony asked me to take out my cell phone and disassemble it, Tony was afraid it was a recording.
3) I think that is when I handed Tony a note saying I was wiring him, which I was not and then ate the note. I thought it would work to our advantage and Tony would trust me and be more forth coming in meetings when he thought he was not recorded. The plan worked. Tony met with me for another 2 years.
4) I left the Tower and met Sam and Mary Beth, who were waiting in my Tahoe. The agents were frantic. The agents received a call to go immediately upon my return to 55 West Monroe to meet with the USAU because the head of Sears Tower Security called the FBI and was livid about what was happening. The agents never asked me what had happened they were so distraught and worried: 1) That something had happened to me 2) the whole investigation was blown 3) I would never be able to record Rezko again. 4) I never mentioned what happened in Rezko’s office because of the need of the agents were in such a hurry to get to Monroe St. that I was never debriefed. I dropped them off and it never crossed my mind and I was not asked until Tom met with Shapiro
Had I not regained Tony’s confidence that day and continued meeting with him for an additional 2 years I would not have been able to get the following would never have come to fruition?
A) Buddy Wilkins and the second set of Papa John’s books the FBI had no idea about and then later had me obtain and the FBI copied.
I) Tony plead guilty to defrauding GE Credit because of this
II) Al Chaib plead guilty based on this evidence, until then Chaib had been non-co-operative and was changing defense lawyers regularly.
III) Jack Lavin (Now Pat Quinn’s Chief of Staff) moved a line item of $3 million dollars from Panda into Papa John’s Pizza in order for Tony to get the GE loan
III) Buddy Wilkins was being bribed by Joe Duffy to withhold information from Carolyn and the grand jury! Duffy bribing Wilkins is no exaggeration. Wilkins was offered immunity to testify and Murphy advised Wilkins to turn the immunity down I was living at Maureen’s house and Maureen heard the recorded conversations with Wilkins regarding the withholding information from the grand Jury. Jay Hagstrom was aghast and knew a former USAO was bribing a grand jury witness.
Gene Murphy was Buddy’s attorney, Rezko was paying Murphy. Murphy would brief Duffy and his partners about Wilkins meetings with the FMI and USAO. Murphy would give Rezko’s attorney’s information before it Murphy gave it to his client Wilkins; this was confirmed to Wilkins by Murphy’s legal secretary Diane.
V) USUA Carolyn McNiven used my information to have Murphy removed as Buddy’s attorney as a conflict of interest.
VI) Richard Friedman the bribery and co-operation replaced Murphy with Tony’s attorney’s continued until I got the information on tape that Carolyn wanted. !) The FBI arrested buddy in North Carolina. 2) Buddy was taken back into custody and returned to Chicago. 3) Buddy testified truthfully in front of a grand jury. 4) Buddy was not prosecuted.
1) Tony and his wife both left the USA. Tony’s wife left without the FBI knowing and they were very embarrassed about this. I knew because I had a contact at O’Hare who informed me. I am the one who let the USAU know Mrs. Rezko left the USAO to meet Tony.
2) I tracked Tony all over the world for the FBI for 4 months when they did not know where he was. I got info form my contact at Jordanian Airways and I knew the hotels where he stayed and I got to know the hotel staff that gave me all of Tony’s travel plans. I think I also played a role in talking tony into returning to the US.
3) Weaver asked Steve Blanc to handle negotiations of my repayment from Rezko with Rezko’s attorney, Steve thought this was Weaver’s role and not his, but Steve agreed to do so. We now know why Weaver asked Steve.
4) Steve and I were able to get from Tony’s attorney, Howard Adelman the routing of $3,500,000 in funds from a Syrian Bank to a Beruit Bank to a Belgium bank to a Toronto bank to Joe Duffy’s US Client account) (Rezko) bank. Jay Hagstrom told me it was almost impossible for the FBI to get this info in real time and if the USAU had not received the information before the money hit the client account there is nothing the government could do. The USAU used this info to revoke Rezko’s bail
5) I reached an agreement with Adelman for repayment of my loan from Tony Rezko. The USAO approved and Agent Hagstrom told me to go ahead and collect. I was on my way to pick-up 2 certified checks for $375,000 waiting for me at HOWARD ADELMAN’S LAW OFFICE, when I noticed a clause in the contract I thought would put me into a position of working with Tony’s attorney’s. I called my attorney’s and could not reach any of them. I called Jay who said I could collect my money. I called Carolyn. Carolyn was livid and accused me of working both sides of the deal, which was ridiculous. I had the OK, I caught the USAO and FBI error and brought it to their attention, so their case would not be compromised. I was broke the $375,000 would have made a huge difference in my life. As it turns out I should have just taken the money because now they indicted me over another one of their mistakes. THE ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS PEOPLE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY NEVER ACCEPTS ANY OF IT’S OWN
6) THE FIRST SEARS TOWER INCIDENT. I HAD A RECORDING DEVICE ON ME WHEN I MET TONY REZKO AND MIKE RUMAN AT THE REZMAR OFFICES ON ELSTON AVE. UNEXPECTEDLY, TONY AND MIKE AND I GOT IN MIKE’S CAR AND DROVE TO THE SEARS TOWER. I WAS WEARING A WIRE AND HAD TO WALK THROUGH A METAL DETECTOR! I EXCUSED MYSELF WENT TO THE MEN’S ROOM AND DUPMED THE WIRE. I WAS ABLE TO TALK TONY INTO NOT GOING THROUGH THE DETECTOR AND TO HAVE A CONVERSATION IN THE CORNER BAKERY RESTAURANT BECAUSE I WAS NOT FEELING WELL. WHILE TONY WAITED IN LINE TO GET US COFFE I WENT BACK TO THE JOHN, RETRIEVED THE WIRE FROM THE GARBAGE AND RECORDED US.
7) SAM DOERGER COMPLIMENTED ME ON MY FAST THINKING AND TOLD ME NOT TO SHORT SELL MY OWN IDEA’S AND USE MY HEAD.
8) AFTER THE 2ND SEARS TOWER INCIDENT SAM TOLD ME FROM THEN ON IF THERE WAS SOMETHING I DID NOT WANT TO DO, TO TELL HIM AND HE WOULD GO ALONG WITH IT.
9) I gave this accounting to Tom and Tom said it sounded like too much CLOAK AND DAGGER; well it is Cloak and Dagger
10) For this the USAU indicted me upon Tony’s word and co-oberating evidence, probable that lying bribing cocksucker Joe Duffy former USAO. The USAU indicts me on the word of a man who bribed one of their most important witnesses and they let Joe Duffy walk.
--
Please send all emails to this Gmail address.
The Chicago Gulag discredits “CI2”
Introducing Nimat Tovakaz, Illinois PayToPlay’s Foreign Correspondent, The Istanbulum Gazetesi
Regarding the federal sentencing of Daniel T. Frawley, former business partner of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, the Sun Times reports that,
“[Judge Ronald] Guzman ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation and to serve time in a facility that has mental health services.”
This statement came in the context of Guzman’s noting that it’s been six years since Frawley was arrested for the crime for which he now faces jail time.
Also, it came in the context of the Times’ statement that,
“Over three years, Daniel T. Frawley would meet with government agents in an ‘off-campus,’ secret location. There, he divulged details used in at least a half-dozen different investigations, including the federal government’s case against Tony Rezko, a onetime fundraiser for ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama before he became president.”
According to his attorney, being “wired up” was a “risky endeavor” for Frawley.
Thomas M. Durkin, one of Frawley’s attorneys, is quoted saying that Frawley was involved in investigation of “several significant public corruption cases”.
What cases were those? Are they still pending? If they are, what did the feds just say about the mental stability of their potential confidential informant?
Plus, what impact does the judge’s words have on the alleged “Whistleblower” law suit that the Times contends Frawley filed against his relatives, the McMahon’s, that is allegedly under seal?
If the “significant public corruption cases” Frawley was involved with are buried today, why is that?
No one in the old Chicago media is asking these questions today. Perhaps they’re not authorized to ask.
Frawley is referred to in the government’s motion to arrest Tony Rezko as “CI2,” for confidential informant #2. His stability was good enough back then to take Tony off the streets while Tony awaited trial, and subsequent conviction.
But at Frawley’s sentencing, the judge tainted Frawley’s character with an implied judgment that Frawley needs medical mental treatment.
Well, perhaps he does. But not that long ago, Frawley was mentally stable enough to wear a federal wire in dangerous situations. So now he’s a head case?
Looking at this episode from a foreign perspective, is this what’s going on here in the Gulag that’s Chicago justice?
“Forensic psychiatry in Eastern Europe, and in particular in the former Soviet Union, was closely and directly involved in the systematic use of psychiatry for political purposes by declaring political and religious dissidents mentally ill.” (Block, S., & Reddaway, P., 1997, Russia’s Political Hospital, London: Gollancz.)
Leningrad Special Psychiatric Hospital
USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
Pat Quinn, destined to be third in the trifecta of jailed IL governors?
Martin Rivers, Introducing Illinois PayToPlay’s Springfield Correspondent
Is a third Illinois governor in- a-row destined for a trip up-the-river to the Big House? That’s Blago on the left, on a bad hair day. Ryan is on the right. Is Pat Quinn, in the middle, the next Illinois governor to do the federal perp walk?
Pat sure looks like “Larry” of “Three Stooges” fame, if he’d let his hair grow out some.
Why could he be next in the conga line of incarcerated Land of Lincoln chief executives?
Well, first of all, here’s what Pat once had to say about “Moe,” AKA Blago:
"He's always been a person who's honest and one of integrity...I have confidence the governor does the right thing all the time."
That’s evidence of complicity, or stupidity. And Pat’s not stupid.
Then there’s Quinn’s continuing attachment to Antoin Rezko through his current Chief-of-Staff, Jack Lavin. Quoting the Chicago Tribune, here’s what that extreme-conservative, Republican web site, the Huffington Post, wrote about Lavin:
“Lavin served as Blagojevich's director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity after [convicted fundraiser Tony] Rezko recommended him for the post. Lavin once worked as the chief financial officer for Rezko's food-related business, and took more than $12,000 in donations from Rezko's firm while considering a run for elected office in 2001.”
Back on October 11, 2011, Illinois PayToPlay suggested that the professional journalists in the Chicago media pose these questions to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald:
“Is there any evidence to suggest that, while he was Rezko’s chief bean counter, Jack Lavin moved a $3,000,000 line item from the Panda Restaurant operated by Tony over into his Papa John’s Pizza books in order to help get a loan from GE Capital?
And then, as a follow-up:
Well, if you can’t answer that question, or won’t, then who kept Rezko’s second set of books for his Papa John’s Pizza store? And why have we never heard about that?”
Well, of course, that didn’t happen.
Illinois PayToPlay will soon be releasing information from a confidential informant, identified only as “CI2” (confidential informant #2) in the “Motion For Issuance Of An Arrest Warrant” for Rezko, filed on January 28, 2008 by Patrick Fitzgerald, that contains CI2’s allegation that Rezko’s CFO helped Tony R. cook the Papa John’s books in order to get that loan from G.E. Capital.
As the late Paul Harvey used to say – “Stand by…for more.”
Oh, and by the way, Fitz’s office has known of Lavin’s alleged involvement in the miracle bookkeeping incident for, at least, four years. And what have the feds done with that information?
Blago’s gone, but has anything really changed in the way the governor’s office down here in Springfield operates?
No evidence a Frawley-McMahon Lawsuit was ever filed
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
Illinois PayToPlay (IP2P) has evidence challenging the Sun Times’ claim that Daniel T. Frawley filed a “Whistleblower” lawsuit in July 2011 accusing several McMahon companies of fraudulent business practices over years of contracts with the City of Chicago and other local entities.
On March 25, the day after the Sun Times made the accusation against the McMahon’s, IP2P posted a copy of an alleged Frawley lawsuit received from a confidential source.
On March 26 and again on March 28, IP2P updated the Times’ unfolding story of the Frawley-McMahon lawsuit that, apparently, caused Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to ban the McMahon electric company from engaging in future city contracts.
Then, on March 30, in an article entitled “Does the Sun Times have a lawsuit accusing the McMahon's of fraudulent practices?,” IP2P posted a January 17, 2012 email in which the confidential source, referred to in our March 25 article, sent an alleged “Whistleblower” lawsuit to the Times. In that email, the source expressed reservations concerning the veracity of the document, leaving it up to the Times to confirm its authenticity.
Today we believe the answer to our question on March 30 is this – No.
Here’s why:
On April 3, nearly nine months after the Times claimed the lawsuit was filed, we contacted attorneys representing the McMahon businesses and were told that the Times’ March 24 article was the first time they heard of a Frawley lawsuit against their clients. And, that they have no proof that a lawsuit exist.
Over several days, IP2P searched for any reference to the lawsuit in court records, and found none.
We considered the unlikely possibility that a judge sealed the suit when it was filed back in July 2010, and that it remains closed today. But, when the spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office was, on April 2, queried via email as to whether or not such a lawsuit existed, the spokesperson responded, “I can’t confirm or deny the existence of any such lawsuit, and have already explained that no such suit is publicly available to the best of my knowledge.”
So, if the lawsuit is sealed, the Times would have no legitimate access to it.
The credibility of the Times’ reporting on the Frawley-McMahon story now stands in question.
Why won’t the paper reveal what it claims to be the Frawley “Whistleblower” lawsuit?
We believe it’s because it doesn’t exist – and would welcome being proved wrong.
Further Update: Details of Frawley v. McMahon “Whistleblower” Lawsuit Just Exposed By Sun Times
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
Further Update:
Apparently, in response to articles recently run by the Chicago Sun Times that state, as fact, that a “Whistleblower” lawsuit was filed by Daniel T. Frawley in July 11, 2011, “Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing to permanently ban an electrical contracting company with ties to Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) from getting city work because its owners and their husbands allegedly operated phony women- and minority-owned companies that have gotten millions of dollars in city contracts.”
This proposed ban was announced today, March 28, 2012, in the Sun Times.
His Honor and the paper must have access to a fully-authenticated, signed copy of a date-stamped lawsuit that we, at Illinois PayToPlay cannot locate. If they don’t, their claims of its existence are specious. But let’s reserve judgment.
We need your help.
If you have proof that such a lawsuit was filed, post here on comment board.
If it was filed and sealed in July 2011, it should be available to the public by now. And, if it was filed and remains sealed, how did the Sun Times get a copy? Are there not illegalities involved in leaking a sealed court document? Lastly, if it was never filed, what’s this assault on the McMahon’s all about anyway?
Developing…
Update:
The Chicago Sun Times has now run the second of what it promises is a three part series concerning a whistleblower lawsuit filed by attorneys representing Daniel T. Frawley. The Sun Times has yet to provide its readers a copy of that lawsuit. Is it the same one Illinois Pay-To-Play posted below? If it is not, it is time for the Sun Times to show its readers the lawsuit on which it’s series is based.
(Originally posted on Illinois Pay-to-Play 3-25-2012)
In an article dated March 24, 2012, the Chicago Sun Times broke the explosive story of a lawsuit filed July 2011 by Daniel T. Frawley, cooperating federal government mole-informant in Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation of Tony Rezko, and former Rezko business partner.
According to the Sun Times, the lawsuit charges various members of the McMahon family, associated with McMahon-owned businesses, of fraudulent contracting practices. The reporters wrote that,
“Frank McMahon’s first cousin, Daniel T. Frawley, filed a “whistleblower” lawsuit in federal court last July accusing McMahon Food, C & C and Krystal of actually being run by men, even though the companies are certified as being women-owned and -operated. As a result, Frawley says McMahon Food was able to obtain multimillion-dollar deals with Cook County government, including supplying dairy goods to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.”
Illinois PayToPlay recently received a copy of a “whistleblower” lawsuit attributed to Frawley, by a confidential source, that fits the description of the document exposed by the Sun Times. Uncertain of its authenticity at the time, we chose not to make it public, but do so now.
Here is a pdf. link to the lawsuit we received. Daniel Frawley Whistleblower Lawsuit (PDF) - We have not yet been able to contact the firm named as representing Frawley for comment.
Update: Details of Frawley v. McMahon “Whistleblower” Lawsuit Just Exposed By Sun Times
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
Update:
The Chicago Sun Times has now run the second of what it promises is a three part series concerning a whistleblower lawsuit filed by attorneys representing Daniel T. Frawley. The Sun Times has yet to provide its readers a copy of that lawsuit. Is it the same one Illinois Pay-To-Play posted below? If it is not, it is time for the Sun Times to show its readers the lawsuit on which it’s series is based.
(Originally posted on Illinois Pay-to-Play 3-25-2012)
In an article dated March 24, 2012, the Chicago Sun Times broke the explosive story of a lawsuit filed July 2011 by Daniel T. Frawley, cooperating federal government mole-informant in Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation of Tony Rezko, and former Rezko business partner.
According to the Sun Times, the lawsuit charges various members of the McMahon family, associated with McMahon-owned businesses, of fraudulent contracting practices. The reporters wrote that,
“Frank McMahon’s first cousin, Daniel T. Frawley, filed a “whistleblower” lawsuit in federal court last July accusing McMahon Food, C & C and Krystal of actually being run by men, even though the companies are certified as being women-owned and -operated. As a result, Frawley says McMahon Food was able to obtain multimillion-dollar deals with Cook County government, including supplying dairy goods to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.”
Illinois PayToPlay recently received a copy of a “whistleblower” lawsuit attributed to Frawley, by a confidential source, that fits the description of the document exposed by the Sun Times. Uncertain of its authenticity at the time, we chose not to make it public, but do so now.
Here is a pdf. link to the lawsuit we received. Daniel Frawley Whistleblower Lawsuit (PDF) - We have not yet been able to contact the firm named as representing Frawley for comment.
The Fitz Solution to Corruption: The Citizens Report It
Jontel Kassidy, Senior Capital Correspondent
While commenting on Blago’s prison sentence, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald repeated what has become for him a common theme: Illinois citizens are responsible for stopping corruption by reporting it to the authorities.
In the longer video of his comments aired by NBC News Chicago, in response to a reporter’s question (1:16 into the clip), Fitz says (beginning at 1:34) that there needs to “…be a change in the public’s attitude. People seem resigned to corruption at times and…they’re afraid to say ‘no’ when someone in power asks them for something they shouldn’t. The people in power should be afraid to ask.”
So, Fitz’s solution is for citizens who are approached to give cash, benefits and favors in exchange for some consideration by corrupt officials, should run and tell the authorities – the federal, state, county and local police, and the various prosecutorial agencies.
That’s The Fitz’s Solution. It has several weaknesses.
1. To whom do citizens report corruption when their trust in the authorities is – to be kind – less than complete?
It’s an exaggerated comparison, but what were the consequences to citizens who reported corruption in East Germany to the Stasi? Only if the corruption wasn’t, in some way, sanctioned by the state, were the consequences anything but negative to the citizen.
2. Much of the corruption in Illinois pay-to-play shakedowns happens at a small business level. A three-trucks plumbing contractor submits a bid on a public housing project. The sub-contractor is told that a modest political donation to a particular politician would considerably enhance his chances of being awarded the contract. Suppose it’s a federally funded project.
Is the States’ Attorney’s office going to launch an investigation after the Plumbing contractor reports the shakedown? When billions are involved, what resources will be used to address, say, an alleged $3,000 bribe? Garden variety graft, events that don’t reach the level of the $14 billion that Blago cost the taxpayers of Illinois, is so widespread that there just aren’t enough policing and prosecutorial resources to stem a crime wave like that underway in Illinois.
3. In a culture steeped in corruption like Crook County, kickbacks and greased palms have been going on for so long, so successfully, and with such impunity that Fitz’s suggestion that the authorizes are ready to aggressively prosecute the crooks that citizens report is flat goofy.
The “change of attitude” Fitz’s preaches has to start with the agencies tasked to enforce laws.
To blame the people is to blame the victims.
The Fitz Solution is like saying that the people of Russia are responsible for the corruption of the Putin regime. They voted him in, after all.
That the Jews in 1933 Germany were responsible for the horror the Nazis delivered on them. They should have reported the injustices to the German Courts.
That innocent Mexican civilians are responsible for the violence of the drug traffickers along the border. After all, the violence couldn’t happen without the victims’ complicity (and, in some cases, that of the U.S. Department of Justice for selling guns to the cartels!).
It’s patently absurd when a high profile “crime fighter” – or the “Exterminator,” as John Kass calls him – blames the victims.
More Interesting Articles
- To Trib Editor Gerould Kern: Tear down this wall…
- Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky says Blago free to talk
- Chicago Tribune reporters work for Federal Government
- BREAKING NEWS: Blagojevich Attorney calls out Chicago Tribune reporters
- Why no Grand Jury? Chicago Tribune reporter John Chase involved in a crime. AGAIN!
- Stunning development in Chicagogate: Publisher of Blagojevich book “Golden” confesses
- Now that Jesse Jackson, Jr. is a convicted liar and thief
- Did Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s bipolar condition cause him to commit perjury?
Links
- American Thinker
- Big Government
- Bill Baar's West Side
- Chicago Daily Observer
- Citizen WElls
- Illinois Review
- Newsalert
- RBO2.com
- The Blaze
- The Ulsterman Report
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