Well, if Anita Alvarez hasn’t started updating her resume, this might be a good opportunity:
Embattled State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez chose to not attend a marathon City Council committee hearing Tuesday on police misconduct in the wake of the ongoing scandal at the Chicago Police Department.
The Public Safety Committee’s vice chairman, Ald. Joe Moreno (1st Ward), said Alvarez was invited to face questions from aldermen but did not give a reason for declining.
“It’s a shame she wasn’t here to answer to the public on why it took 400 days to bring charges against Van Dyke,” Moreno said. “We arranged a meeting on this date to accommodate her schedule and her office didn’t inform us that she wasn’t coming until late last evening.”
Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Alvarez, responded with the following statement:
“The State’s Attorney has been accountable in discussing her decision to bring the charge of first degree murder against Officer Van Dyke for the murder of Laquan McDonald. Alderman Moreno should be made accountable to explain why he and other City Council members sat on their hands and approved a $5 million settlement without viewing the video or demanding its release. Shame on them for virtually ignoring this case when they were in a position to do something about it and then trying to politicize it after they were caught napping.”
I can understand why she might not want to submit to the ordeal but in Chicago City Council members are powerful politicians. Just the sort of people whose support you’ll need for what will undoubtedly be a grueling re-election campaign. You don’t stonewall and/or insult them. At least not if you want to keep your job. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Attorney General have already thrown her under the bus. Doesn’t she think she needs friends?
Given who has already thrown her under the bus, perhaps she has determined that she doesn’t have any friends.
I’m not sure what a state’s attorney can or should say about a case she is prosecuting. Questions about “why it took 400 days to bring charges against Van Dyke,” either have legitimate or illegitimate answers. Its unlikely she will give the latter, and the former will likely be concerns about evidence.
I would presume that she knew that States Attorney was a political job when she took it.