Free Republic

(CNN)Lori Lightfoot has been elected the next mayor of Chicago, according to the Associated Press, becoming the first African-American woman picked to lead the country's third-most populous city. Lightfoot faced a historic runoff Tuesday against Toni Preckwinkle, who is also an African-American woman. "This may not be the outcome we wanted but while I may be disappointed, I'm not disheartened," Preckwinkle told supporters after she called Lightfoot to congratulate her. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not in the race, as he was not seeking a third term. Lightfoot, 56, a former assistant US attorney, describes herself as "an out and proud...

Edward Burke Jr. was arrested at his home in Winnetka after a family member told police he pushed her and authorities reported finding him “highly intoxicated” and “belligerent.” But by the end of the next business day, the domestic battery charge had been dropped. The swift reversal occurred after the accused man — the son of Edward Burke, Chicago’s longest-serving alderman who is now charged with attempted extortion — managed to get his case before a Cook County judge, apparently without the assistance of an attorney and despite the fact he wasn’t due in court for another week. The arrest...

Still Winning This week the President signed a new trade deal with Mexico, Canada, and Argentina, a deal far more favorable to our interests than the now discarded NAFTA deal. In the same time frame, our master negotiator hosted the first trilateral meeting with Japan and India, which should also boost the economy and which includes defense and military purchases. Merry Christmas, Xi. Comey: Still a Loser On the home front, Mueller and Comey keep looking worse and worse. Previously, former FBI Director James Comey refused to answer 100 questions when he testified before Congress because the hearings were public....

Brown paper covered the windows of Ed Burke's office at Chicago City Hall on Thursday after federal agents showed up there. Burke, who is the City Council Finance Committee chairman in Chicago, once served as President Donald Trump's property tax attorney, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Klafter & Burke, his firm, has often sought to reduce the property taxes Trump Tower and other commercial properties have to pay. The visit from federal agents was unannounced, and it has not been said why they might be there. Upon their arrival, everyone in the office was asked to leave, witnesses told WLS television...

EXCERPT That feeling is heightened by speculation that Fitzgerald, the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history, may have stayed in his post largely to shepherd the Blagojevich case. And no matter what the jury decides, the trial's end is almost certain to rekindle interest in the top prosecutor's possible next move, a popular parlor game in local legal and political circles. Many have wondered in recent years whether Fitzgerald's Chicago tenure was winding down and if he would seek a higher post within the Justice Department or forge a career in private practice. Shortly after President Obama took office, there...