Ocasio-Cortez Says Potential Biden Admin Official ‘Helped Cover Up’ a Murder

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined other progressives in harshly denouncing the prospect of former Chicago Mayor and Barack Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel serving in Joe Biden’s administration and accused the former Chicago mayor of covering up the murder of a black teenager in 2014.

The statement: The New York Democrat reacted on Monday to reports Emanuel was being considered for Biden’s transportation secretary by tweeting, “Covering up a murder is disqualifying for public leadership.”

  • “This is not about the ‘visibility’ of a post. It is shameful and concerning that he is even being considered,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
  • Reps.-elect Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones, who like Ocasio-Cortez are New York Democrats, also went after Emanuel.
  • “That he’s being considered for a cabinet position is completely outrageous and, honestly, very hurtful,” Jones tweeted on Friday.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported on Monday that Biden’s team had responded to progressive backlash by floating Emanuel for the “somewhat less visible position” of U.S. trade representative.

Laquan McDonald: According to a Chicago inspector general’s report, which was released to the public last year but written in 2016, former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in Oct. 2014.

  • The inspector general determined McDonald was walking away from police when he was shot and that some of the shots occurred when he was on the ground.
  • In 2018, Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to seven years in prison.
  • Three officers criminally charged with covering up the shooting were acquitted at trial.

Emanuel, who was serving as Chicago’s mayor at the time, waged an unsuccessful legal battle to suppress dashcam footage of the shooting.

The bigger picture: Some political observers predict it’s only a matter of time before the tenuous Democratic coalition of mainstream Democrats and more radical progressives begins to fracture once the factions are no longer united against a common enemy – President Donald Trump.

By We'll Do It Live