Mike Tristano Fingers Old Boss Lee Daniels

It had to happen.

Mike Tristano, a former Jim Thompson Director of the Department of Central Management Services, is used to being in the driver’s seat.

When he agreed to cut a deal with the government after someone who worked for him rolled over on him, you just knew that he was going to point the finger at his former boss House Republican Leader and once-Speaker Lee Daniels.

Now Natasha Korecki and Chris Fusco of the Sun-Times have written the article Friday. (Of course, it got buried by Mayor Richard Daley’s patronage chief’s conviction.) And, although the Associated Press picked up the story for today's papers, the Chicago Tribune has yet to run anything. Tristano always was close to the Tribune, at least its editorial board.

Tristano is seeking a year and day in return for apparently revealing how he, at Daniel’s instruction, he says, used state payrollers and pork to help elect Republican House members.

Even, non-incumbents, I might add.

Even in McHenry County.

In order to reduce campaign costs.

For more about where Tristano might lead the Feds, click here.

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Personal disclosure:

After being given a job (Manager of the Bureau of Benefits) at CMS by the Thompson administration following my 1982 loss to Roland Burris in the State Comptroller’s race, Tristano eventually became the department’s director. The line item for my job disappeared after I helped State Rep. Bernie Pedersen fight Governor Thompson’s 40% income tax hike. (I couldn’t take the attempt to merchandise the tax hike as a 1% increase.) Tristanto could be sweet as saccharin, but he liked to prove he was head of the pack by shouting at employees. I was amused when he did it to me. Such insecurity.

When Tristano was Daniels’ top aide, he asked me to set up a phony taxpayers’ group to counter Jim Tobin’s National Taxpayers United of Illinois. I refused. It was later used to counter NTU's endorsement of Steve Verr. For many more details, go to McHenry County Blog on Monday. Find out which future felon told the State Board of Elections:

“Big Brother Is Watching.”

Here's more about how a Lee Daniels' staffer admitted working on a McHenry County GOP legislative campaign while being paid by the state.