Feedback on the Gorman Case
With the rebuke of Ridge Chrysler Jeep and Dodge by the 7th U.S. District Court of Appeals judge the other day, there are calls for Cook County GOP chairwoman Liz Gorman to step down from her position.
Chris Robling wrote here on IR:
[IllinoisReview.com has posted the ruling here: Download united_states_court_of_appeals.pdf]
time for a bath
if anyone would like a copy of the u.s. circuit court of appeals for the seventh circuit chief judge frank easterbrook’s extraordinary holding for the unanimous three judge panel, please email me.
he recites the key points of the case with great clarity, and in so doing makes the following point:
"Now consider the question whether Gorman lied to Judge Andersen about his efforts to obtain floor-plan financing. Gorman conceded during his deposition that he did not try to obtain such credit until after Judge Andersen entered his interlocutory order. When the consequences of that statement–it confesses to perjury in the affidavit filed with Judge Andersen–became clear, Gorman filed another affidavit tacking another tack.
… even by Gorman’s latest version his affidavit at the outset of this suit was misleading."this case, when read in connection with liz gorman’s official campaign finance filings, shows as conclusively as any fair-minded person would ever require that liz and gerry gorman are owned and operated by ed vrdolyak.
ed "runs them," in the wonderfully concise chicago phrase.
i was involved professionally — on behalf of the defendant — with this matter several years ago, but have not been since judge kendall dismissed the gorman’s suit with prejudice. the new decision affirms judge kendall. . .
(a parallel suit that falsely alleged personal harm was settled for a pittance. the two suits relied on essentially the same evidence. and, as judge easterbrook points out, plaintiffs’ evidence for this suit never materialized, the same evidence was also missing from the other suit.
the gormans have consistently attempted to divert attention from reversals in one matter to claim their case in the other matter would survive, flourish and enrich them with compensation. that shuffle is now officially over.)
because of my concern about our republican party, and the depravity i saw in the court record of the gormans’ actions, i have kept up with the story.
as people who continuously lie to achieve aims frequently do, the gormans, et al, have obfuscated since the moment judge kendall called them on their abuse of the legal process. some of that — by attorneys on their side of the case — led to a stinging rebuke by judge kendall from the bench at a hearing some thirty days after her decision to dismiss.
the rest has continued even up to yesterday, as word of this opinion spread and some reporters caught up with team gorman.
so — be prepared to hear outright lies that seek to minimize and confuse.
why does any of this matter?
liz gorman is on the county board today because gerry gorman withdrew $1 million from the dealerships and used some $400,000 of it to fund her campaign for county commissioner. that success led to her chairmanship of the cook county republican party.
one might say, and i have heard it many times, that with the $400,000, gerry bought liz her seat on the county board.
this unanimous decision nails down that to get the million dollars, gerry gorman had:
– lied to judge wayne andersen about the circumstances of these financial maneuvers (that’s the lie that results in the "confesses to perjury" comment quoted above),
– received a $750,000 loan from ed vrdolyak,
– lied to chrysler about the $750,000 loan from ed vrdolyak,
– lied to judge andersen and chrysler about his own efforts to seek alternative sources of credit,
– ignored an agreement that placed his claim to the $1 million well behind chrysler’s claim to its repayment for funding the dealerships, and
– failed to tell chrysler that he was taking the $1 million.
i do not know what the legal conclusion of all that will be. i do know that when chief judges use terms like "confess to perjury’, it is not good.
but in the event, as a lay person, i see the public figure liz gorman as basing her political activity on a $400,000 share of one million ill-gotten dollars.
and she has the gall to say she is not close to ed vrdolyak.
this is not gerry gorman’s first brush with inappropriate behavior. he was in the securities business — and he lost his license for improprieties.
that’s when he went into the car business.
and there are considerably more repugnancies in the record of these cases. none of these are opinions, they are facts. they were not found by rivals of liz, or disgruntled former supporters of liz — there is a set of judgments by four federal judges and a magistrate in these cases that describe in minute detail business practices that can only be termed despicable.
long ago i graduated from the cook county chairman business. today i have friends who support and friends who oppose liz gorman. and, i still care deeply for a strong party — here, statewide and nationally.
i know building a republican party here is no easy task.
but our first step must be to shun and indeed expell individuals of such low moral character that we would not want their records — as portrayed by federal judges, not political rivals — associated with the stautory party founded here by abraham lincoln. we owe abe that and considerably more, given what he did for us, and we owe ourselves at least that if we are to be seriously considered for leadership now, or ever again.
liz gorman should be expelled from our party. if she had the slightest shred of decency she would resign her public office.
best,
chris robling