DEFAM, Welch moves to dismiss, but it's not over

On Monday, December 5, 2005, Emanuel Christopher Welch will appear in court to ask the court to dismiss the lawsuits he and his brother brought against me.

Welch's decision to drop the lawsuits was reported in Capitol Fax (the version that costs $350 per year) on Wednesday. I first learned about it when Tim Thomas of SEIU Local 4 sent me a congratulatory text message.

I then called my attorney to ask what he had heard. Apparently they didn't receive the motion today until 1:45 PM when they requested Welch's law firm to send a fax copy.

It was strange to have so many people congratulate me at the Yarbrough fundraiser and Drinking Liberally. I'm glad they knew, but it seemed unfair that they had seen it in writing before me and my lawyers.

But there are other issues that need to be addressed. The premise of the Billy Welch suit is simply false. He was indicted and since James J. Roche represented Billy Welch there's no plausible claim of ignorance. This is also the third time Welch has filed a lawsuit during a campaign season and then dropped it when it suited him. I don't know how it will play out, but I hope Welch is forced to answer some hard questions.

Yeah, I'm going to the Daley Center on Monday. It's not quite a ticket to see the White Sox in the World Series, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.