| | | | |  | | By Shia Kapos | Happy Tuesday, Illinois. Get out the popcorn. Senate confirmation hearings start today. �� BREAKING OVERNIGHT: Trump has not been exonerated, special counsel Jack Smith declares in final report, via POLITICO
|  | TOP TALKER | | | | 
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, left, has been sued by Tom DeVore over social media access. | Political and business web sites | SOCIAL MEDIA SALVO: House Republican Leader Tony McCombie has been sued in federal court by Tom DeVore, a former Republican attorney general candidate who says McCombie blocked him on Facebook. “I’ve criticized her decisions as an elected official: Things that she’s doing, things that she’s voting on, people she takes money from. They’re perfectly politically appropriate issues to be debating, and she doesn’t want people to see, so she blocks me from being able to access her platform,” DeVore told Playbook after filing his lawsuit in federal court. The lawsuit is here. The conservative Illinois Review first reported the lawsuit. McCombie’s team dismissed the claim. “This is a politically motivated legal filing, and we look forward to vigorously defending the complaint in court,” said Colleen King, a spokeswoman for McCombie. Sounds familiar: The GOP leader is just the latest elected official to be sued for allegedly blocking opinions posted on social media. President-elect Donald Trump was sued in 2017 for blocking critics on what was then Twitter. The case ultimately went to the Supreme Court and was dismissed. In another case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on when public officials’ social media posts are official, via POLITICO. Closer to home: Chicago Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) recently agreed to pay $157,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by critics blocked from his Facebook page. And a case is pending against state Rep. Charlie Meier, a Republican from Okawville, for hiding “critical” comments on his Facebook page. The case was filed by four people who claimed their First Amendment rights were violated. Their attorney: DeVore. “Now we have the House Minority Leader doing the same thing,” DeVore said. “I can't sit back and let this happen.”
| | | THE BUZZ | | | PALACE INTRIGUE: The Chicago School Board will take its first vote Wednesday after newly elected members are sworn in. They’ll decide on their vice president. The action is already creating tension because Mayor Brandon Johnson is supporting Olga Bautista for the post.. The problem for some folks: Bautista wasn’t elected. She's among the 11 school board members appointed to the board by Johnson. (The board won’t be fully elected until 2026.) Bautista told Playbook she has “not talked to the mayor” about the vote, though she is a known mayoral ally. She did tell newly elected Sean Harden that she’d want to be his VP. Also angling for VP is Jessica Biggs, who was elected in November. Biggs was not backed by the Chicago Teachers Union in her run for school board, though she had the support of key Democrats, including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Watch for Yesenia Lopez, who works in the Secretary of State’s Office and was backed by the CTU, to get support for the VP job, too. The irony of it all: The legislature approved an elected school board system so that the mayor of Chicago didn’t have so much control over the board — which Johnson supported. RELATED CTU, CPS views on large fund balance key in contract talks: “The $1.1 billion fund balance is a massive improvement from negative balances almost a decade ago. But although CTU believes, ‘They have a sufficient amount of reserves,’ officials at CPS say, ‘There is no mythical pot of gold,’” by the Sun-Times’ Nader Issa and WBEZ’s Sarah Karp. CPS on the ‘financial brink’ and state takeover shouldn’t be out of the question, Civic Federation report says, by the Tribune’s A.D. Quig and Nell Salzman If you are Tony McCombie, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@politico.com
| | WHERE'S JB | | No official public events
| | WHERE's BRANDON | | In Humboldt Park at noon for a wellness center ribbon-cutting
| | Where's Toni | | At the Cook County Building to preside over the Forest Preserves meeting Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a complaint? Email skapos@politico.com
| | THE STATEWIDES | | — MADIGAN TRIAL | Prosecutor launches into Madigan as cross-examination begins: “The former House speaker is heard on tape chuckling as he told his old friend Michael McClain that some of Madigan’s political hires ‘have made out like bandits,’” by the Tribune’s Jason Meisner, Megan Crepeau and Ray Long. Meet Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, who’s grilling Madigan on the witness stand, by the Sun-Times’ Jon Seidel and Tina Sfondeles — AG Kwame Raoul: Assaults on DEI must be met with reaffirming commitments to equity in the workplace: “As we review and adjust programs where necessary, it is critical to acknowledge that the impetus for such efforts has not disappeared: The effects of centuries of discrimination, disparate conditions and inequitable levels of opportunity, both previous and current, are undeniable,” the Illinois attorney general writes in a commentary in Crain’s. — HOLY MOLY: House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch announced a bipartisan slate of new leaders to chair House committees in the new legislative session — including the first Republican to chair a committee in more than a decade. Welch tapped Republican and 27-year Army veteran Dan Swanson to lead the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “The chairs I have selected bring invaluable legislative knowledge, firsthand experience,” Welch said in his announcement. The full list is here. — House Republican leaders named. List here — Illinois could become first state to decriminalize sex work under proposed law, by the Sun-Times’ Sophie Sherry — Lawmakers ease requirements for those seeking to change their name, by Capitol News’ Andrew Adams — State colors: Public voting begins for possible new Illinois flag, by the State Journal Register’s Tom Ackerman — Jeannette Slover, convicted of 1996 murder of former daughter-in-law, dies at 77, by the State Journal Register’s Steven Spearie
| | CHICAGO | | — After a long, often rocky ride, CTA President Dorval Carter to retire: “Carter’s departure, effective Jan. 31, will end his 40-year career in public transportation, including nearly 10 years as CTA president,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman — Mayor Brandon Johnson testing ShotSpotter replacements as Ald. Raymond Lopez tries for his own pilot, by the Tribune’s Jake Sheridan — McDonald's ends NASCAR's Chicago street race founding sponsorship, by Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern — Where’s the beef?! A coyote is captured in an Aldi, by the Block Club’s Quinn Myers
| | COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS | | — Cook County judge who shared racist meme faces state probe, reassignment and bias training: “Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman is in trouble for allegedly circulating a meme of a Black boy with an electronic ankle monitor,” by WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos. — Fermilab director resigns following announcement of new management contractor, by WTTW’s Jared Rutecki
| | TAKING NAMES | | — Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump, talks to Jesse Jackson Jr. about wanting a presidential pardon — just like Jackson wants. The interview is Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT on KBLA 1580. — Curtis Szajkovics, a Gurnee native, will serve as a flight controller helping guide spacecraft to a moon landing, by the Daily Herald’s Marni Pyke — Buyer of Michael Jordan’s $9.5M estate set to sell off pieces of the property, by Realtor.com’s Claudine Zap
| | Reader Digest | | We asked about taking a big fall. Mike Gascoigne: “While I was working at a warehouse in Springfield, I overextended myself on a ladder and the ladder tipped over and threw me into sheet metal. Required stitches on my arm and everything.” Daniel Goldwin: “As part of a photography class, I jumped off a wall near the Sidney R. Marovitz golf course and broke my left heel. Five screws later, I still play tennis.” Kay Hatcher: “Shattered my ankle and both leg bones slipping on ice, taking a moose to the taxidermist.” Charles Keller: “When I was 10 on the bike path by the inner lagoon north of Fullerton, I hit a rock and went head over handlebars and slid on the asphalt grating the skin on my face, arms and legs, stopping inches from the lagoon water.” Michael Lieber: “In July 2019 near Wrigley, I went over my handlebars (wearing a helmet fortunately). To test for a concussion, my wife asked me our three kids' names. I could only name two. We went to nearby Illinois Masonic, my concussion was confirmed.” Marilynn Miller: “On Labor Day in Merrillan, Wis., I fell down a hill and landed on my left hip. The bruise was about 15 inches long and 12 inches wide. And the pain was excruciating.” Kathy Posner: “In 2016 at the Cook County building, I was exiting through the door on Clark Street when a man on the sidewalk forcefully pushed the revolving door. The sudden momentum caused a woman to be propelled out of the door, and she collided with me, knocking me to the ground. The impact injured my back, and I had to undergo physical therapy for an entire year.” Raymond Sendejas: “On Jan. 5, 2021, I was walking to my office in D.C. when the streets were closed due to the expected protests. I guess I was distracted because I tripped over a curb and hit the ground so hard that the people around me wanted to call an ambulance (I refused). My glasses broke, and I was pretty bruised up but otherwise OK. You could say the Jan. 6 rioters caused my worst fall.” Brent Zhorne: "Christmas 2022, I fell down the basement stairs and broke my right ankle, requiring surgery, screws, plates, horrible pain, and lots of bourbon. Then on Christmas 2023, I broke the left ankle only requiring a boot and more bourbon." Next question: What’s one question all Cabinet members should be asked during confirmation hearings? Email skapos@politico.com
| | DELEGATION | | — In blue state Illinois, demand outstrips supply for Trump inauguration tickets, by the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet — Nikki Budzinski renews call to compensate Metro East residents affected by radioactive waste, by St. Louis Public Radio’s Will Bauer
| | THE NATIONAL TAKE | | — Trump made the GOP a big-tent party. Now, he’s stuck with the infighting, by POLITICO’s Megen Messerly and Adam Wren — Democrats look to sink Pete Hegseth’s nomination in first day of confirmation hearings, by POLITICO’s Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould — Puzzling over Jan. 6 pardons: 6 areas of uncertainty in Trump’s clemency plans, by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney
| | TRANSITIONS | | — Eli Cousin is now senior comms adviser to Sen. Tammy Duckworth, helping with national press for the next three months. He had worked for then-Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). — Janet Weiss is now senior VP of marketing, communications and business Development at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. She was head of marketing for the Academy of Motion Pictures .
| | | EVENTS | | | — Today: A discussion on “Reimagining Downtown Chicago” features Civic Federation’s Joe Ferguson, Broadway in Chicago’s Lou Raizin, Poetry Foundation’s Michelle Boone, Joffrey Ballet’s Greg Cameron, JGMA Architects’ Juan Gabriel Moreno and the Tribune’s Chris Jones. Details here — Monday: Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White, the first Black woman to serve on the state’s high court, will keynote the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast in Springfield. Details here
| | TRIVIA | | MONDAY’s ANSWER: The Daily Chicago American was the first daily in Illinois started on April 9, 1839. TODAY’s QUESTION: What incident led to the Chicago and Illinois fire codes being strengthened to include fire doors, sprinklers and fireproof building materials? Email skapos@politico.com
| | HAPPY BIRTHDAY | | Former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, United Airlines State Government Affairs Director Kristopher Anderson and singer and nonprofit leader Maria Kotsinis. -30- | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
