KRUPA’s other challenge — TRUMP tweets about BLAGO — Next gigs for ROSKAM, LISA MADIGAN Presented by Facebook

Good Monday morning, Illinois. No Wisconsin rule-changing in this game. Bears head to playoffs after beating Packers.

THE BUZZ

Ald. Marty Quinn has withdrawn his petition challenge against David Krupa, the 19-year-old hoping to unseat him for the 13th Ward aldermanic seat.

This race has made headlines for the power play orchestrated by Quinn and his supporters—they knocked on doors to get residents to revoke their signatures for Krupa. The Tribune’s John Kass first wrote about the race, calling it machine politics to the highest degree because House Speaker Mike Madigan runs the 13th Ward Dems. Quinn is a Madigan ally and the brother of Kevin Quinn, the Madigan aide fired earlier this year over allegations of sexual harassment.

Now there’s a new chapter in the race as Krupa is having to answer for abusive behavior spelled out in a court filing. In 2017, he was accused of abuse by his former high school girlfriend. An emergency order of protection was granted in June 2017 and extended for nine months after Juliet Schmidt filed her complaint, according to court documents sent to POLITICO. The filing in the Circuit Court of Cook County Domestic Violence division describes Krupa as a “controlling” boyfriend who “isolated” Schmidt from her friends, whom he referred to as “liberal faggots.” The document details incessant text messages and an incident in which he chased Schmidt in his car while she was walking.

“It was emotionally abusive,” Schmidt told POLITICO in an interview Sunday. “It wasn’t healthy for me to continue the relationship. He had a lot of issues of control. I could see him taking advantage of that in political office.”

In seeking the order of protection, Schmidt wrote, “I am afraid that David Krupa will continue to physically abuse me, harass me, interfere with my personal liberty and stalk me. Therefore, I fear for the safety of myself.” The order of protection ran nine months and ended when neither Schmidt nor Krupa could agree on a hearing date, Schmidt said. The judge didn’t rule on the case and Schmidt left Chicago to attend college out of state.

Krupa has denied the allegations. In a TV interview and with POLITICO, he accused Schmidt of being manipulated by Madigan because she had interned for the Madigan-Quinn service offices in 2016. Schmidt says the summer office internship isn’t connected to her court filing.

In an interesting twist, POLITICO has learned Krupa also worked for Madigan-Quinn at one point. “I picked up garbage at a public park” in the summer of 2015, he said. “It was for a month. It was a minimum wage job and I don’t care about it.” But he did try to get rehired in 2016. He didn't get the job, he says, because Madigan took retribution for Krupa’s father saying he wouldn’t vote for the House speaker. Krupa sees it as another effort by Madigan to “strong-arm” voters.

MORE BUZZ

President Donald Trump hinted Sunday that disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s conviction is an example of federal prosecutors overreaching their authority.

Trump tweeted: “Required television watching is last weeks (sic) @marthamaccallum interview with the wonderful wife of Rod Blagojevich and the @trish_regan interview with a Jerome Corsi. If that doesn’t tell you something about what has been going on in our Country, nothing will. Very sad!”

The tweet was referring to an interview in which Patti Blagojevich drew parallels to an investigation into Trump’s inauguration spending and the probe that resulted in her husband being imprisoned for corruption, bribery and campaign-finance violations.

“It’s a dirty business when these prosecutors with their unchecked power and no oversight can go after any politician they want,” Blagojevich said in the Fox interview. “They can look at what they did to my husband 10 years ago. The same political assassins are taking legal fundraising contributions and legal requests for fundraising and turning them into something they say is a crime—and they’re nonexistent crimes.” The interview followed conservative author Jerome Corsi telling Fox’s Trish Regan, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators work like “vicious dogs” waiting to pounce. (Corsi also is under investigation)

Patti Blagojevich’s talk about campaign finance rules comes as Trump’s inaugural draws scrutiny for possible misuse of funds. The Wall Street Journal reported federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Trump's inaugural committee misspent some of the $107 million it raised in for the 2017 inauguration. Prosecutors are also reportedly looking into whether the inauguration committee sought bigger donations in exchange for access to the president.

The former Illinois first lady said, “The same group” targeting Trump also investigated Blagojevich. “Because no one stopped them from going after my husband (now) they’re going after a bigger target. They feel emboldened.” Fox interview is here

Rod Blogojevich has served six-and-a-half years of a 14-year federal prison sentence for corruption. His wife has been crusading for Trump to pardon him. In May, the president raised the possibility of commutation during a discussion about pardoning conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza for a 2014 campaign finance conviction.

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TAKING NAMES

Attorney Gen. Lisa Madigan, who didn’t seek re-election, and U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, who lost his race, have been named fellows for the University of Chicago Institute of Politics for the upcoming winter quarter. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, accused that chamber of being dysfunctional in her final Senate speech last week, also is part of the fellows group. Institute of Politics founder and director David Axelrod said fellows will interact with students looking to gain insight and experiences “at every level of government.” Two party leaders from other states as well as Chicago journalist Laura Washington also are among the group.

CAMPAIGNS

— Bill Daley is pledging to freeze property taxes while failing to mention that it would only apply to about a quarter of a tax bill, according to the Better Government Association. It calls the claim “misleading.” Check out why in the latest BGA Fact-Check. Story here

— Paul Vallas has called on Bill Daley to drop out of the mayor’s race since he hasn’t released his tax returns. “With Donald Trump refusing to submit his tax returns as his opponents did, the national consensus is that you show your returns in their entirety or don’t run,” Vallas said in a statement. He was responding to a Tribune story last week that offered some insights about 10 candidates who did release their tax returns.

— Susana Mendoza has called on Toni Preckwinkle to drop her petition challenges against the four women of color running for mayor. In a statement issued this morning, Mendoza said: “I will be on the ballot for mayor as I have the resources to see this challenge through. I know it and Toni Preckwinkle knows it. But, this bully move by Toni Preckwinkle is about one thing: knocking women of color off the ballot who are standing in the way of her self-coronation in February. It’s shameful that the Chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, the highest ranking woman in county government, in the Year of the Woman and the age of Trump, would try to silence the voices of five women of color.”

— Toni Preckwinkle says she’d strip Ald. Ed Burke of his powers. She called the recent report about his alleged interference in the Department of Aviation "profoundly troubling." Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman reports. Story here

— Expect action in the municipal elections as challenges to petitions are adjudicated in the coming days. Today’s hearings address challenges to petitions filed by mayoral candidates Lori Lightfoot, Garry McCarthy, Catherine Brown D’Tycoon and Ja’Mal Green. We’re also watching the city clerk’s race. Incumbent Anna Valencia faces three candidates, including Patricia Horton, a former commissioner on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board who ran for city clerk in 2011 and lost and for alderman in 2015 and lost; small business owner Betty Arias-Ibarra; and Richard Mayers, who likely will be bumped as he also is listed as a candidate for mayor and alderman. They all face petition challenges which could alter the dynamics of the race since Valencia and Arias-Ibarra are both Latina, and Horton is African American. Stay tuned.

CHICAGO

— Chicago lifts the veil on its Amazon HQ2 bid. The city, state and county collectively offered $2.253 billion in tax breaks and other incentives, $1.32 billion in state Edge payroll credits (an amount equal to half of state withholding on Amazon wages over a 17-year period), $172.5 million in state sales tax exemptions on an estimated $2.35 billion in office construction costs, and $61 million in property tax relief under Cook County’s 7c incentive program. Also included: $450 million in project infrastructure costs and $250 million in expected workforce training. Amazon looked at five Chicago sites and preferred the property dubbed “the 78” along the river at Clark and Roosevelt. Crain’s Greg Hinz has details on why. Story here

— Austan Goolsbee, the University of Chicago economist, was named to the Chicago School Board by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday. Here are five things to know about him, according to Chalkbeat. Story here

— Aldermen Raymond Lopez (15th) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) share a great deal in common as members of the City Council’s LGBTQ and Latino caucuses. Yet they spend an inordinate amount of time attacking each other. Sun-Times’ Alexandra Arriaga tries to unravel the reasons why. Story here

— City Colleges of Chicago is offering a program to get more men involved in the education profession, by Sun-Times’ Maudlyne Ihejirika. Story here

DELEGATION

— Durbin to lawmakers: ‘Park yourselves on the sidelines’ until Mueller probe ends, by POLITICO’s Quint Forgey. Story here

STATE

— Medical community weighs in on pot use. Debate on whether recreational use of marijuana should become legal in Illinois is shifting from candidates’ opinions to evidence of benefit and harm. Several medical organizations and doctors are giving a thumbs down to a legislative push that would make Illinois the 11th state with expansive laws allowing legalized recreational use marijuana. State-Journal Register’s Dean Olsen has the story here

— Darin LaHood, a Republican congressman from Peoria, says bipartisanship keeps Springfield on track. The State-Journal Register published his opinion column here .

— Satanic Temple says its statehouse statue is 'not an attack,' by the Southern’s Alee Quick: Story here

DOWNSTATE

— In a year Republicans did well in Southern Illinois, why does the St. Clair County GOP struggle? by Belleville News-Democrat's Joe Bustos. Story here

NATION

— GOP feels heat in wake of Obamacare ruling: 'It's all the downsides', by POLITICO's Paul Demko and Adam Cancryn: Story here

— DNC Chair Tom Perez goes to war with state parties, by POLITICO's Alex Thompson: Story here

— Anti-abortion clinics tapping into federal funds under Trump, by POLITICO's Victoria Colliver: Story here

JOB CHANGES

Adam Collins has been named VP of comms and community affairs for MillerCoors. He previously worked as communications director for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and succeeds Julie Kubasa, who is retiring after 37 years with the company. Company blog post

Sound Bites

Michelle Obama gave a Twitter shoutout to Public Allies, a youth leadership nonprofit she helped co-found on the South Side years before she gained national attention. Her tweet: “Starting @PublicAllies Chicago was the best job I ever had--formative and fulfilling, it was a daily reminder of the power and opportunity I had to create real change.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

State Sen. Julie Morrison.

WHERE'S THE MAYOR

At the Chicago Police Department Training and Education Academy on Jackson Boulevard, where he’ll announce the city has added more than 1,000 new officers.

WHERE'S THE GOV

No public events.

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