Evanston, IL  -  Journalist Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The PBS NewsHour,” will discuss her career covering Washington politics Thursday, Oct. 7, when she delivers the 2010 Minow Lecture in Communications.

The free and public event will take place at 4 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus. A reception and refreshments will follow.

During her distinguished journalism career, Ifill has reported on Washington politics for NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post as well as the Public Broadcasting Service. The best-selling author of “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” she has covered six presidential campaigns. In 2008, she moderated the debate between vice presidential candidates U.S. Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Established in 1981, the Minow Visiting Professorship in Communications at Northwestern University allow a distinguished member of the communications field to visit Northwestern and exchange ideas with students and faculty.

“Gwen Ifill brings a wise perspective from years of witnessing our government, our politicians and our media in action in the nation’s capital,” said Newton N. Minow, who established the lecture with his wife, Josephine Baskin Minow. “Ifill knows the difference between noise and news, and we are lucky to have her teach our students the highest standards of journalism.”

For more information on the lecture sponsored by the Medill School of Journalism, call (847) 491-5401, e-mail jpgilbert@northwestern.edu or visit http://www.medill.northwestern.edu.

Chicago, IL – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady today called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to launch an investigation into Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ claim of a $2.7 million tax write-off, citing Giannoulias’ inability to prove he worked 500 hours in 2006 and the discovery of another inconsistency in Giannoulias’ previous statements.

After telling the Chicago Sun-Times he left Broadway Bank in September 2005, Giannoulias told the Chicago Tribune yesterday that he actually kept working at the bank through May of 2006, thereby qualifying him for a $2.7 million tax write-off for 2009.  However, Giannoulias could not provide details or documentation to prove his 2006 work schedule telling the Tribune, “I don’t know how the hours worked out, but it wasn’t a full-time job.”

Giannoulias’ most recent statement is further contradicted by Giannoulias’ appearance before the Sun-Times editorial board in December 2009 when he claimed he “left the bank” by the time news broke about Broadway Bank loans to mobsters in March 2006.

“Alexi Giannoulias’ story has changed so many times that unless he can provide documentation showing that he worked at Broadway Bank for 500 hours in 2006, the Internal Revenue Service should launch an immediate investigation,” Chairman Brady said.  “We are talking about a huge sum of money and the IRS should not accept ‘just trust me’ as a legitimate explanation.  With 34 days left before we elect a United States Senator, it is time for Alexi to start explaining.  Either he lied to the voters or he lied to the IRS.”

A PDF copy of Chairman Brady’s information referral to the IRS can be found here.

U.S. Senate Nominee Alexi Giannoulias‘ campaign today dismissed the latest Republican smear attacks designed to distract voters from Mark Kirk’s aversion to telling the truth, the campaign stated.              

“Congressman Kirk is bringing in the Republican brass to do his dirty work because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to telling the truth,” said Alexi for Illinois campaign spokesman Scott Burnham. “Mark Kirk can’t get his facts straight when it comes to his own record so it’s no surprise that he and his buddies are spewing outright lies about Alexi’s past in the final weeks of the campaign.”

It has been well documented that Giannoulias left the day-to-day operations at Broadway Bank in September 2005 as he prepared to run for Illinois State Treasurer. During that time, he did not bring in any new business or take on new clients while he was finishing up his work. He left the bank entirely in May 2006 to campaign full time.

Furthermore, Giannoulias released his tax returns for the past five years nearly a year ago, which show that he worked in 2006.

Giannoulias has made it clear that he was not part of the day-to-day operations at the bank after late 2005 and left the bank entirely in 2006 as several media outlets have reported:

“To be fair, it is no secret that Giannoulias’ tenure at the bank extended through 2006. He reported income from the bank in his 2006 income taxes, which he released last November. That income and the fact that he left in May 2006 also have been reported by news outlets before last summer.” [Chicago Sun-Times editorial 9/30/10]

“….we did check the Fox Chicago archives, among the reference we found his work at the bank, including statements he made, all of them indicate he left the bank in 2006.” [Fox News Chicago 9/29/10

"He left his job at Broadway in May to focus on his campaign."  [American Banker, 9/18/06] 

“The loan documents don’t list Rezko as an owner, and the transaction took place five months after Mr. Giannoulias says he left the bank’s day-to-day affairs so he could run for Illinois treasurer.”  [Washington Times, 8/20/10]

 ” Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made,” says Kathleen Strand of his campaign staff. “He had no knowledge of it, and his name is not on any documents related to the loan.’”  [Chicago Sun-Times, 8/2/10]

“And he claimed although he had been a senior loan officer at the bank, when he left four years ago, the bank “was one of the best-performing in Illinois.”  [Chicago Sun-Times, 4/24/10]

“Giannoulias notes that 90 percent of the underperforming loans that have helped sink the bank were made after he left four years ago.”  [Sun-Times, 4/23/10; UPI, 4/23/10]

“Giannoulias, the first-term state treasurer, left the bank in 2006. He said less than 9 percent of bank’s nonperforming loans originated during his time at Broadway.”  [Clout Street, Chicago Tribune, 1/31/10]

“Giannoulias was chief loan officer at Broadway from 2002 through 2006, when he left to run for treasurer.”  [Chicago Tribune, 1/29/10]

“Giannoulias’ bank salary was $112,000 in 2005 but dropped to $41,000 in 2006 when he left the bank to campaign. He made about $101,570 from his treasurer’s salary in 2007 and about $116,590 in 2008.”  [Chicago Tribune, 11/26/09]

Chicago, IL - A coalition of African-American ministers from throughout Cook County voted on Thursday to endorse Democratic candidate for Assessor, Joseph Berrios.

“Joe Berrios represents everything we need in our next Assessor,” said Bishop Claude Porter. “He will correctly assess properties, and work with the minority communities to make sure we are treated fairly, and more importantly, equally.”

Porter, chairman of the Proviso Ministers Alliance Network, led Thursday’s vote among the ministers during a meeting at Roditys restaurant in Greektown.

Berrios, who won the Democratic primary in February, said he was proud and honored to be endorsed by the group.

“This is a key endorsement for me because it represents a large community in Cook County,” Berrios said. “They’re showing the faith that I won’t forget their communities. Throughout this campaign I have met with their constituents to hear their concerns about property taxes, and that’s something I will continue to do once I’m elected.”

Robert Shaw, who ran against Berrios in the February primary, also attended. He encouraged the ministers to talk to their constituents and urge them to vote on November 2nd.

“I went up against Joe Berrios in the primary, but that was an in-house Democratic fight. Now, we’ve come together and I’m with him, and I plan to work day in, day out to get him elected. He’s going to win.”

If elected, Berrios, currently a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, would be the first minority Assessor. He was the first Hispanic state legislator when he became a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1982, where he served three terms. He is also the first Hispanic to serve as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

Berrios noted that he has been campaigning throughout Cook County – not just on the north side.

“This race isn’t all about the north side,” Berrios said. “This is about Cook County as a whole.”

Among the ministers attending Thursday’s event: Bishop Claude Porter; Pastor Leonard Deville; Leonard McCoy, Andrew Tucker; Kublai Toure; Craig McLendon; Rev. T. Jackson; Rev. David Colewax; Rev. Ronald Mitchell; Rev. John Harrell; Samuel L. Evans; Mario Miller; Don Patterson; William McCoy; Willie Lowe; James Sims; and David Woods..

For more information about the Berrios campaign, visit www.electjoeberrios.com.