Pay-To-Play: Chicago Tribune Blasts Rahm As Data Reveals 70%

What do you get when you combine the most corrupt city in the United States with a mayor that got his political debut serving in the Clinton White House? Well, according to data presented by the Chicago Tribune today, it may just all add up to the second most sophisticated 'pay-to-play' operation in history...you know, because no one will ever come close to beating the Clintons at their own game.



After reviewing more than 500 contributions made to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel of at least $5,000 since July 2015, the Tribune reports today that nearly 70% of them came from people who have received, or are seeking, lucrative contracts with City Hall. Frankly, we are 'shocked.'



As Mayor Rahm Emanuel ramps up his campaign fundraising toward a possible third term, he continues to rely on donors who have received City Hall benefits, ranging from contracts and zoning approvals to appointments and personal endorsements from the mayor, the Chicago Tribune has found.



With the February 2019 mayoral election still a year and a half away, Emanuel has collected $3.1 million in high-dollar contributions. And more than $2.1 million of it — nearly 70 percent — has come from 83 donors who have benefited from actions at City Hall.



Among the contributors: law firms seeking approval for their clients' projects or lucrative bond business for themselves, developers needing City Hall permission to build here, an events promoter negotiating the financial details of a major music festival and restaurateurs wanting coveted space at Chicago's airports.

So how does he do it?



Turns out there are plenty of examples which include the following 'doozy' in which Rahm raked in nearly $40,000 at a law firm fundraiser and then approved their zoning plans for a new McDonald's facility the very next day.



For example, Emanuel has received blocks of campaign contributions from DLA Piper, one of the go-to firms for real estate developers to get zoning approval at City Hall. The firm's zoning law practice was built up by David Reifman, a onetime zoning attorney who now holds substantial approval power over all new projects as the city's commissioner of planning and development.



During Emanuel's first run for mayor, DLA Piper lawyers and relatives gave him $54,000 in political contributions. In his bid for a second term, it was more than $75,000. This time around, 15 of the firm's lawyers gave $35,700 after Emanuel stopped by DLA Piper's downtown office for a Sept. 13 breakfast his official calendar listed as "non-city," the label often given to campaign events or fundraisers.



Emanuel's fundraiser took place as DLA Piper zoning attorneys were lobbying City Hall to sign off on the new West Loop headquarters of McDonald's Corp. The Emanuel administration approved the plans the day after the fundraiser.
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