McCarthy has ‘nothing to do’ with Jackson divorce: attorney

An attorney for former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Tuesday said a subpoena issued to him by Jesse Jackson Jr.’s attorney was “unwarranted” and argued that he has “absolutely nothing to do with” with the contentious divorce.

McCarthy’s attorney Morgan Stogsdill appeared for a status hearing for the divorce case at the Daley Center, in which an order was reached to delay depositions for three subpoenas until a Feb. 27 status hearing. The subpoenas were issued to McCarthy; Rick Simon, a former Chicago police sergeant who now runs a cleaning company with city contracts; and former Chicago Police Officer James Love.

Tuesday’s hearing was scheduled after Sandi Jackson’s attorney Jessica Bank Interlandi filed a motion last week asking the court to quash the subpoenas. The filing requested a hearing “to prevent any further discovery abuse by Jesse.”

Stogsdill on Tuesday reached an additional agreement with Jackson Jr.’s attorney, Brendan Hammer, that McCarthy would not be deposed before next month’s status hearing. But if a judge rules in Sandi Jackson’s favor over the motion, the former top cop may not ever be deposed in the Chicago case.

Hammer said he had a number of conversations with McCarthy’s attorney that were “cordial and constructive.”

“The subpoena to the former superintendent Garry McCarthy was surprising and unwarranted,” Stogsdill said outside the courtroom. “Mr. McCarthy has absolutely nothing to do with the Jackson divorce. I have had conversations at length with Mr. Jackson’s attorney while Mr. McCarthy will follow any directive of this court. At this juncture, it is unnecessary to do so.”

Bank Interlandi wrote in the filing last week that the subpoenas were improperly issued and part of an “unlawful and far-ranging expedition for information.” Bank Interlandi argues that the subpoenas were filed in the public court file and were posted in online news stories without Sandi Jackson or herself receiving a copy. Those subpoenas were filed just before 4 p.m. on Jan. 17, the court documents say.

A lawyer for Simon also attended the court hearing on Tuesday, although there was no agreement reached between Jackson Jr. and Simon’s attorney. She declined to comment on the case. No attorney was in court representing Love.

Meanwhile, Sandi Jackson is hoping the case is heard in Washington D.C., and not in Chicago. Their divorce case is proceeding in two jurisdictions; documents also have been filed in Washington D.C., where Sandi Jackson lives with the couple’s two children. The two have a status hearing in the D.C. case on Feb. 2.

It’s the latest in what has been a dramatic journey for the high-profile former political couple who married in 1991. Jesse Jackson Jr. is a former congressman; Sandi Jackson once served on the Chicago City Council.

Lawyers for Jesse Jackson Jr. earlier this month said they’ll fight to keep his divorce case in Illinois, arguing that Sandi Jackson committed “acts” in the state that gave rise to their divorce action while they were under investigation by the feds and he was in prison.

Sandi and Jesse Jackson Jr. both pleaded guilty in August 2013 to various schemes relating to the looting of his congressional campaign fund. The former South Side 7th Ward alderman and the former 2nd Congressional District lawmaker each went to prison for diverting $750,000 from campaign funds for their personal use between 2005 and 2012.

The former congressman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit false statements and mail and wire fraud; his wife to filing a false federal income tax return.