Emails to Mayor Emanuel raise questions about dozens of possible lobbying violations

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's personal email accounts have served as a private avenue of influence where executives and investors sought favorable action from City Hall, raising questions about whether some of the messages crossed the line into lobbying and violated the city's ethics law, the Chicago Tribune has found.

Usually, such requests don't become public. But late last year, pressure from open records lawsuits resulted in Emanuel releasing a trove of emails in which he conducted public business on personal email. The messages offer a rare look at how the mayor operates out of the public spotlight and reveal who has his ear.


Now, a Chicago Board of Ethics that had long been viewed as toothless is reviewing details on potential lobbying activity it didn't have the wherewithal to uncover itself because it lacked investigative power. The Emanuel-appointed panel, which is evaluating the emails, enforces the city's broad lobbying law that covers many types of contact with government officials. The ethics board determines whether individuals have violated the rules, and it handed out a record $90,000 fine last month in the first case to emerge since the emails became public.

What's Rahm hiding?