Friday, May 13, 2005

Judge dismisses some charges against Schakowsky's husband

From CBS2 Chicago and the AP wire:

"A federal judge has dismissed some tax fraud charges against political consultant Robert Creamer, the husband of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky.

Judge James B. Moran also said prosecutors should try separately the two alleged schemes for which Creamer is charged: one for three alleged check-kiting schemes and the other for the tax fraud counts the judge did not dismiss.

``Neither allegations nor evidence binds the two alleged schemes together, and the two groups of charges are not logically related to each other,'' Moran wrote in an April opinion. Moran wrote that to keep the two cases together could prejudice the jury."

It goes on...

"Creamer, a prominent Chicago political consultant, was accused last year of bank fraud for allegedly swindling nine financial institutions while he ran a public interest group in the 1990s. He was also charged with several counts of bank fraud.

The indictment alleges Creamer caused a series of insufficiently funded checks and wire transfers to be drawn on accounts he controlled as executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund. According to the indictment, he allegedly used the inflated balances to pay the group's expenses and own salary and discretionary expenses.

Schakowsky has not been accused of any wrongdoing."

True on the last one, but Jan Schakowsky was on the Illinois Public Action Fund's board of directors while hubby was its executive director, a detail the mainstream media usually fails to mention when reporting on the Roger Creamer case.

Personal note: Schakowsky, easily one of the most liberal members of the House of Representatives, represents Illinois' ninth district. I'm one of her unfortunate constituents.

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