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There he goes again. Red-faced County blog editor Matt “Jubal” Cunningham has written a truly disgusting post entitled “Justice will be served by exonerating Rackauckas.” Cunningham has always been a shill for the OC GOP machine, but this post really goes too far.
Ever since T-Rack hired Mrs. Mike Schroeder I knew the guy had to be dirty. We have seen just how dirty he is during his trial. The jury is now in deliberations. I am crossing my fingers and hoping T-Rack will be found guilty.
Don’t forget that Jubal also had a man-crush on dirty disgraced ex-Sheriff Mike Carona. And T-Rack, like Carona, resorted to selling badges to supporters in return for cash for his campaign account.
in fact the claimant’s attorney “suggested parallels between Rackauckas and ex-sheriff Mike Carona, who was recently convicted of felony witness tampering. Both men initiated programs to give badges to volunteers in programs that were run by the same businessman, Gabriel Nassar,” according to the O.C. Register.
And now T-Rack is having to answer for his friendship with alleged mob figure Patrick Di Carlo. Who is Di Carlo? The L.A. Times published an article that took a comprehensive look at Di Carlo a few years ago. Here are a few excerpts:
Di Carlo has made false statements on a concealed-weapons permit application and in bank and SEC reports.
He’s been sued at least 25 times since 1976 and was ordered to pay damages totaling nearly $3 million in 13 of those cases. He has said that he attended USC, played on the school’s football team and worked as an assistant football coach, but later admitted those claims were untrue.
Rackauckas has steadfastly defended Di Carlo, even though the friendship baffles some of the district attorney’s supporters.
“I enjoy the guy’s company,” Rackauckas said in a 2001 interview. “In my view, he’s an honest businessman.”
By the mid-1980s, federal and state authorities were investigating Di Carlo and a business associate, W. Patrick Moriarty, in a probe into bank fraud. Moriarty admitted bribing a bank official who approved $1.7 million in loans to a firm owned by Di Carlo. Moriarty was convicted of bank fraud and bribing council members of the city of Commerce. He served 27 months in federal prison.
Di Carlo has been accused in numerous civil lawsuits of dishonesty. For example, in a 1982 civil case, one bank accused him of pledging in loan documents that he had no lawsuits or judgments against him when in fact he did.
Testifying in the bank’s lawsuit, Di Carlo acknowledged that he had falsely portrayed himself for many years as a USC graduate, a fabrication he said helped him get a job in Hawaii, according to a transcript of a 1985 deposition. Di Carlo testified that he also falsely reported in SEC filings that he graduated from USC .
In 1997, Di Carlo learned that Rackauckas was running for Orange County district attorney.
He helped organize a fund-raiser for Rackauckas at South Coast Plaza’s Ristorante Antonello, a favorite restaurant for Orange County’s politicians and deal brokers. He then tapped friends and business associates at places such as the Balboa Bay Club to support the cause.
“Di Carlo said he thought the prior [district attorney’s] administration was harassing him and he wanted a new D.A. He asked me to arrange a fund-raiser for Tony, and I did,” said Jack Kayajanian, a Costa Mesa attorney.
That event was held at an ocean-view Newport Beach home and it generated more than $10,000 for Rackauckas, Kayajanian said.
During Rackauckas’ first year in office, his friendship with Di Carlo continued to blossom, according to interviews and grand jury documents. They took fishing trips on Di Carlo’s boat, MJ’s Spartan, named after Di Carlo’s wife, Mary Jane, an active Republican party supporter. The two men also frequently met for lunch and watched football games at Di Carlo’s home.
About six months after taking office, in the summer of 1999, Rackauckas and his wife, Kay, went to his house to warn him that somebody might be tapping his phone, Di Carlo said. A few days later, FBI agents went to his house to assure him that no one was monitoring his telephone calls, he said.
Rackauckas and his wife moved into the Di Carlo home for several days in 2000 after authorities told them they had uncovered a plot by a prison gang to have Kay Rackauckas kidnapped and held for ransom.
Then Di Carlo asked Rackauckas to investigate an investor who made threats to him in a phone call.
Rackauckas called Barry Foye, the supervisor of his organized-crime unit, at home and told him to open an investigation into Di Carlo’s complaint, Foye said.
The interview did not go as Di Carlo expected. District attorney investigator Lyle Wilson questioned Di Carlo about his business, his license status with regulatory agencies, even his work experience and education. Di Carlo asked Rackauckas to dismiss Wilson. A few weeks after removing Wilson, Rackauckas gave Di Carlo a gift for his 63rd birthday: a Glock .40-caliber handgun.
Di Carlo then got a concealed-weapons permit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, stating in the application that he had not been a party to a lawsuit in the previous five years. Court records show he had been a defendant in two Orange County lawsuits during that time.
Di Carlo also indicated in the application that he never before had been the subject of a restraining order. But a judge in 1977 had issued a temporary restraining order against him in a case involving a business rival who said Di Carlo threatened to have Honolulu longshoremen assault him unless he stopped doing business with a man Di Carlo was suing.
Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer launched his own investigation of the office in 2001, gathering evidence from a district attorney employee who wore a hidden recording device.
Lockyer said he ended the investigation without filing any charges. But he publicly accused Rackauckas of being unethical. “I’ve never seen a district attorney get so close to the line repeatedly,” Lockyer said.
So there you go. Read those excerpts again and let me know if you think T-Rack’s pal, Di Carlos, is clean. Carona is done – let’s hope T-Rack joins him on the list of OC GOP politicians who have fallen from grace.
“Shill”?
Art, you are a textbook case of “projection.”
Matt/Jubal,
I looked up “projection” and found quite a few definitions, including: “Attributing one’s own undesirable traits to other people or agencies.”
So are you saying that I think I am a shill so I am accusing you of being one? That doesn’t make any sense Matt. Who am I shilling for? I challenge you to make a coherent case that I am shilling for anyone.
You, on the other hand, appear to be in denial. C’mon Matt. Be true to yourself. You’re a professional shill. That’s not so bad. At least you make nice coin in the process…
Art, leave Jubal alone. Everyone knows he supports whoever is in power or who he thinks is. That’s why he supports criminals, dirty politicians, and people who protect child molestors.
Until recently it was Janet. Now it’s Lou Correa, among others.
Obviously I hit a nerve, and expanded your vocabulary in the process. With that, I’ll say good night and not waste any more of my life tonight jousting with your fevered imagination.
Matt/Jubal,
LOL! Is that what this is about? Pretty funny. I learned a lesson with Janet. I will never give another Republican the benefit of the doubt again.
As for Correa, he does a great job, but you might recall that I was not happy when he took money from your Talibani pal Howard Ahmanson.
You are incapable of writing about GOP machine politicians without shilling. That is too bad – you are far too old to learn new tricks. But, as I stated previously, at least you are paid well to be a shill.
fifth floor,
And Jubal recently admitted to having worked on the ill-fated Michael Huffington campaign! So he worked for a gay Republican who was in denial, only to turn around and support Prop. 8 years later.
Poor Jubal is confused…perhaps he is a schizo?
Rack will be gone in a couple years so this ancient history seems a bit irrelevant.
OTOH I’m still pretty sore about the way the whole Chamberlain murder cover-up was let go by the DA. Several Sheriff’s Department employees admitted to or were implicated in obstruction of justice. I keep wondering if the conspiracy was whitewashed in order to protect Carona from time in a State prison.
Maybe I’m getting too cynical.
Thank God for Art. Somebody needs to put that two bit GOP hack in his place!
Al Capone did the same thing he bought the law, and contributed to the City. He bought the District Attorney. I wonder if T-Rack considers himself above the law. He should have known better, he knows who’s tainted or not! He should be prosecuted under the Rico Act. He is no different than any other gang member only a different category white collar crime is a big business, just have to have everyone on the same page. He should have looked before he leaped, he only seen an opportunity for money to get elected.