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Mell spills his guts

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Illinois

I got a call from one of the boys last night and I’m told there’s more coming on this not-so-little spat. Mell is telling friends he wants to hold a press conference on Monday. Check Monday’s Capitol Fax for more.

Publicly humiliated by Gov. Blagojevich’s administration in a Will County landfill dispute, Ald. Richard Mell came out swinging Friday. He angrily accused his son-in-law, the governor, of ripping apart their family, being so politically manipulative that he would “throw anyone under the bus,” and granting plum appointments in exchange for $50,000 campaign contributions. […]

“He uses people, and he used me. He uses everybody, and when there’s no more use, he discards them,” Mell said. “When he was running, we talked five or six times a day. After he became governor, we never talked. He wanted everyone to believe he got there on his own.” […]

“My wife begged me not to support him for governor. She said you know how he is, and I did it anyway. I remember when there was a problem in his congressional campaign. I told Patti maybe we should just shut this campaign down now. But she said, ‘Oh no, dad, we’ve come so far. No dad, we can’t do that.’ Her mother said shut it down, and I told her my daughter will hate me. Do you think he’d ever have had a chance without me?” Mell said.

Man, that’s harsh. Read the whole story, it’s definitely worth a couple of minutes. Chris Kelly essentially threatens to sue Mell for claiming he’s selling appointments. Mell compares himself to “the old wife” who has been spurned for a fancy, young, new wife (Chris Kelly).

ABC-7 found Mell in Florida yesterday. He was in fine form.

“This governor is trying to put on this mantled cloak of what a great white knight he is when he’s not,” said Alderman Dick Mell […]

“What he is doing borders on being criminal. Using the state’s power to shut down and have a vendetta against me borders on being criminal. What he is doing to the family is beyond approach,” said Gov. (sic) Mell.

The governor’s office denies a vendetta and so does the Illinois EPA, which shut down the landfill owned by a nephew of Alderman Mell.

posted by Rich Miller
Saturday, Jan 8, 05 @ 9:29 am

Comments

Is this for real?

Mell’s diatribe gives us nothing substantive or new. This “spat” seems only to help G-Rod.

Then again, Mell may go completely nuclear on Monday.

Comment by Phocion Saturday, Jan 8, 05 @ 11:25 am
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Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Jan 8, 05 @ 11:32 am
you better believe its real. Mell is hot. Do you think if this was fabricated, Mell would have made the statement about Kelly and the $50K. Not in our lifetime. Trust me….this is so real…I suspect the republicans will be calling on the feds to investigate Blago and Kelly by Monday….this is so explosive. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Jan 8, 05 @ 1:21 pm
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Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Jan 8, 05 @ 2:12 pm