Chicago mayor accused of making obscene remarks, berating lawyers: lawsuit

A lawsuit filed Tuesday claims Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) prevented a deal between the Chicago Park District and an Italian American group over a Christopher Columbus statue while making obscene comments to government attorneys.

Former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis filed the suit against the city and Lightfoot on Tuesday. 

Smyrniotis claims he worked alongside lawyers for the Italian Americans in October to negotiate the group’s desire to display the statue, which Lightfoot had ordered to be temporarily removed, in its annual Columbus Day parade. The group planned to put it last in the lineup and leave it covered until the end, when it would be uncovered for 20 minutes.

The request was approved while groups worked toward removing the statue permanently, according to The Chicago Tribune.

But when Lightfoot learned of the plan, the complaint alleged that she “proceeded to berate and defame” the lawyers on a Zoom call and said, “Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?”

“You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians. … You are out there stroking your d—- over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot,” she added, according to the complaint.

Lightfoot said, “not to do a f—— thing with that statue without my approval,” according to the complaint.

“Get that f—— statue back before noon tomorrow or I am going to have you fired,” the mayor allegedly added. “My d— is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest d— in Chicago.”

The city’s legal department told The Tribune that “the city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.”

The Hill has reached out to the city of Chicago for comment.