Ald. Moore To Rahm: 'Good News' That San Bernardino Massacre Distracted From Laquan McDonald
By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 22, 2016 10:41PM
In an email last year to Mayor Emanuel pledging a level of support bordering on supplication, Ald. Joe Moore (49th) characterized coverage of then-newly released Laquan McDonald footage as an “untrue” “cover-up narrative.” Moore then went on to describe his preemption from an MSNBC segment about the case by news of the San Bernardino massacre as “good news for you.”
The correspondence was released as part of a massive email dump from Emanuel's private account on Wednesday evening, which was the result of a settlement between the city and the Better Government Association.
“It's been a rough few days watching the media kick the shit out of you, especially when I know the cover-up narrative is completely untrue and your administration has made meaningful progress against police misconduct since you've been in office,” Moore wrote in the Dec. 4, 2015, email. “Before you let [former CPD Superintendent Garry] McCarthy go, it was just you and him out there by yourselves. Now it's just you. You desperately need third party validators-other voices to challenge the prevailing narrative in the local and national press that you were engaged in some sort of massive cover-up.”
Moore goes on to defend himself to Rahm for not being a more vocal proponent in the press. “In the day following the video's release the Washington Post called me,” Moore wrote. “I avoided returning the reporter's call not because I was unwilling to defend you, but because I didn't have enough information at my fingertips to be an effective defender.”
But aside from Moore’s disavowal of a cover-up and a generally groveling tone, the most eye-opening detail is the alderman’s characterization of being preempted by the San Bernardino shootings as a positive development.
He had agreed to discuss the McDonald case on MSNBC “in the midst of the cable news feeding frenzy that was taking place,” he wrote. “I accepted their invitation because I felt they needed at least one talking head that wasn't crapping all over you.”
But Moore never appeared on camera, he explains, because of news of the shooting in California. “The good news for you is the anti-Rahm feeding frenzy ended, and the cable news outlets moved on to their next obsession,” he wrote, before recommitting his loyalty.
Characteristic of his almost antagonistically terse replies throughout the email dump, Emanuel replied in full: "Ok thanks."
Moore told Chicagoist on Thursday that "the San Bernardino shootings... were obviously a horrific act and tragedy for the victims and families."
He said that his comments last year were "an illustration of the way the media covers news and politics these days: group think, pack journalism and having the attention span of a gnat. It was like, the new, shiny object entered the room. That's what I was observing."
He added that he still didn't think there was a coverup in the McDonald case.
"[Emanuel] and other folks were not responding to the narrative that almost immediately formed around the release of the video," Moore told Chicagoist. "I have a personal friendship with [Chicago Corporation Counsel] Steve Patton, who was at the center of this. He explained to me the circumstances around the settlement agreement as well as the reasons they didn’t release [the McDonald footage]."
"It was longstanding city policy," he added.
Moore said he has not spoken with the mayor since the email was made public.
Other notable #RahmDump revelations include the mayor bragging about eliminating health care for city workers, a consultant's request to privatize half of the city's public housing, the self-motivated genesis for a recent lakefront-trail donation, and the donor class lobbying against progressive taxes and the CTU.
This post has been updated.