Countdown to Rahmageddon: Shakedown

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 17, 2010 3:00PM

Day 3 of the residency challenge hearing into Rahm Emanuel's mayoral campaign was, for the most part, lacking for drama or crazy. But, if a friend of Emanuel's is being on the level, renter of the Emanuel home and self-styled "Catholic boy from the North side" Rob Halpin has some classic Chicago cojones.

Paul Levy, a friend of Emanuel who advises him on real estate matters, reached out to Halpin and his family about breaking the lease on Emanuel's home and fair compensation for the remaining balance on the lease when he left the White House in October. When Halpin didn't respond, Levy reached out again, but was 99-44/100 certain the Halpins weren't leaving.

That's when Levy received a response from the Halpin's lawyer. We'll let Levy take it from here.

"He suggested to me that Mr. Halpin was looking for $100,000 to leave the house early," Levy said.

That's a far cry from the $5,000 per month Emanuel was ready to offer for the remainder of the lease. All we can say is that must be one beautiful house.

In other Emanuel residency challenge news, the Rahmformer's wife, Amy Rule, will not be subpoenaed to testify. Hearing officer Joseph Morris also denied a request to see the family heirlooms in the crawlspace the Emanuel's contend they deadbolted before heading to the Beltway.