Are the Feds Behind a Civil RICO Case Against Chicago Democrats?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Mayor Daley on Tuesday dismissed as election-year politics a racketeering lawsuit that accuses political operatives of shaking down a developer -- and shutting down the Bridgeport Village project when their demands were refused.

"That's been floating around for a year. . . . He was trying to sell that a year ago to everyone," Daley said of the project's ousted developer, Thomas Snitzer.

The mayor was asked whether he believes Snitzer concocted the allegations against Tim Degnan, the mayor's former political enforcer, and Thomas DiPiazza, a real estate developer and consultant described in the lawsuit as Degnan's "top lieutenant."

Best of luck to Mayor Daley and gang.