1950: Sparing voters from Tubbo's sticky fingers
Tubbo was a cop.
Cops almost never get rich. When they do, you should wonder.
In 1950, Tubbo reported an income of $45,000 for the previous year, though his cop's salary was only $9,000.
In a secret session, a Senate committee investigating the mob asked Tubbo how this could be.
"Good investments," he said.
As we say, this was a closed-door proceeding, but an enterprising Chicago Sun-Times reporter, Ray Brennan, got hold of a transcript of Tubbo's testimony, and on Nov. 2, 1950 he broke the story: "Exclusive! What Gilbert told Kefauver."
Normally, this might make for nothing more than amusing reading: Cop on the take or genius stock analyst?
But Capt. Daniel "Tubbo" Gilbert was running for Cook County sheriff, and the election was in five days.
Thanks to Brennan's scoop, Tubbo lost big -- sparing the people of Cook County yet another sticky-fingered pol -- and brought down almost the entire state Democratic ticket with him.
Most significantly, Tubbo's "investments" ended the career of Democratic U.S. Sen. Scott Lucas and launched the career of Republican U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen.
Sun-Times staff