ON TRUMP’S TEAM
Getting Trumped . . .
Sneed hears a top Chicago fiscal whiz has been chosen to occupy a senior position in the Trump administration.
In an internal office memo obtained by Sneed, GCM Grosvenor CEO Michael Sacks, a top personal adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, informed his firm that Grosvenor managing director Jeremy Katz is leaving to serve as deputy director of the National Economic Council — as well as a deputy assistant to the president.
Katz, 39, a Chicago native, will report to NEC Director Gary Cohn, formerly the president of Goldman Sachs. He also worked for eight years in the George W. Bush administration, where he served as senior policy adviser to U. S. Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans.
In the letter obtained by Sneed, Sacks said:
“Jeremy is exactly the type of high- energy, high- integrity, high- IQ and EQ person that we should all want serving our government. The portfolio Jeremy is responsible for is vast and the country and the administration are lucky to have him. The contribution Jeremy will make as a public servant far outweighs any loss we experience at Grosvenor.”
Sacks, an active Democrat who works closely with Emanuel, is a member of the board of the Obama Foundation. He is a also a board member of Wrapports LLC, the company that owns the Sun- Times. This is the second senior executive to leave Grosvenor for public service. City Treasurer Kurt Summers was a partner at Grosvenor before being tapped for his job.
My, my Melania . . .
Hmmm. Word wafting through Trump Tower that fashion icon Ralph Lauren is working on an inaugural festivity gown for first lady- to- be Melania Trump is a hoot. Lauren was a huge Hillary Clinton booster.
The Jackson divorce . . .
Former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who has been subpoenaed by lawyers in the contentious Jesse Jackson Jr. divorce case, is not only publicly disgusted with what he considers outrageous legal tactics — he has been struggling mightily for months with a bad back.
Gulp!
Ald. Brendan Reilly ( 42nd), who is frequently spotted doing a little downtime schmoozing at the Boss pub near City Hall, ran into a rough customer there late Tuesday night with a guy who allegedly threatened to shoot him.
◆ Translation: “It was about 11: 30 p. m. when a group of individuals came into the bar who looked pretty loaded — and started acting very aggressive to people at the table where my wife was sitting. They had been trying to provoke fights with other patrons,” Reilly told Sneed.
“I took what was happening very seriously because it involved my wife,” he told Sneed. “So I went over to the table and encountered him — and he shoved me and threatened to shoot me. He said he was going to go home and get a gun and shoot me,” Reilly said.
“Imagine. Out of nowhere this kind of thing can happen,” he added. “But the police were very responsive. They arrived immediately.”
◆ Buckshot: Sneed is told the alleged assailant was charged with simple battery.
The candy man . . .
Hey! Hey! Mayor Rahm Emanuel snatched all the candy in the White House on Monday!
◆ Translation: While the Chicago Cubs waited in the Red Room to be feted, the former White House chief of staff asked a senior White House staff member to collect a giant bag of candy — M& Ms and Hershey’s Kisses — stamped with the White House seal.
“So we collected 20- 25 boxes of candy which were encased with the White House seal on each box and I asked “Riz” [ Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo] to give the candy — memorable candy — to all the kids of the Cubs families,” said Emanuel, who bumped into and became chummy with Rizzo on a recent family vacation in the British Virgin Islands.
“It was like ‘ trick or treat’ at the White House.”
The snack man . . .
The chuckle at the White House: Will President- elect Donald Trump, who is more of a salt than a candy man, fill White House snack bowls with his favorite: Jay’s Potato Chips?
Sneedlings . . .
I spy: Cubs defensive star Javy Baez spotted with friends at RPM Steak on Friday night. . . . World Series champs Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber with a group of 20 at RPM Steak last Wednesday night. . . . Today’s birthdays: Dolly Parton, 71; Shawn Johnson, 25, and Shawn Wayans, 46.