SNEED EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Bobby Rush will file for 14th term Monday

Ending weeks of speculation, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush tells Sneed exclusively he will file for his 14th term in office on Monday.

“The soul of America is at stake,” Rush tells Sneed.

“We must go back and protect the legacy of President Barack Obama, in the area of jobs, health care, education and environment,” he said.

Rush, who has been in office for 25 years, also told Sneed that his son Flynn will also file his nominating petition on Monday to run for the seat of retiring state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who is the majority whip of the Illinois Assembly representing the 25th District.

In response to the BGA investigation of a church owned by Rush, he told Sneed, “It’s all in the Lord’s hands, it’s always in God’s hands.”

Rush has been ordered to pay $1.1 million on a delinquent bank loan made to his now-shuttered church, the latest setback for the longtime congressman-turned-pastor who once promised his house of worship would help rebuild Englewood.

How much of that debt the South Side Democrat can pay to the creditors — which includes a company run by a billionaire with ties to President Donald Trump — is still being hashed out. Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to appear in court this week.

A Cook County judge in June ordered Rush to pay the loan made a dozen years ago to the church he founded. The loan was used to purchase the Gothic-style church building on the South Side for what is now known as Beloved Community Church of God in Christ.

Due to the terms of the loan and subsequent court actions, Rush is personally liable for the entire judgment. But whether he has the assets to pay the debt is highly doubtful.

“Obviously it’s not going to be an easy task,” Rush’s attorney, Berton N. Ring, told the Better Government Association, referring to attempts to collect the debt from Rush.