Ex-Obama Campaign Manager Plouffe Fined $90K By Chicago Ethics Board For Illegal Lobbying

CHICAGO, IL – Former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe was fined $90,000 by the Chicago Board of Ethics for illegally lobbying Mayor Rahm Emanuel. His company at the time, Uber, was fined $2,000.

The board voted unanimously to fine Plouffe $1,000 for each of the 90 days after his initial 2015 email he failed to register as a lobbyist. Uber and Plouffe, who recently left his position with Uber to become head of policy and advocacy at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, argued he should only receive a $1,000 fine.

The documents that prove Plouffe contacted Emanuel were released as the result of a lawsuit by the Better Government Association over business-related messages from the mayor's personal email accounts.

They show Plouffe appearing to succeed in getting the mayor to weaken the city's regulations on airport pickups for the ride-hailing industry.

"Coming to you because of their severity that would prevent us from operating. We were all set to announce Monday we were beginning pickups," Plouffe wrote on Nov. 20, 2015.

"Please speak to [my chief of policy] and [senior advisor] on my staff. Impossible for me to address from China," the mayor quickly responded while travelling.

Emanuel's brother, co-CEO of talent agency William Morris Entertainment, is an investor in Uber.

» via the Chicago Tribune, Reuters, City of Chicago