Here’s some friendly advice to President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Remember that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is – well, let’s just say it – a liar. A calculating Chicago politician. He’s well-schooled in the sordid mores of “the Chicago Way.”

So don’t be fooled by Rahm’s fake lawsuit against the Department of Justice. Emanuel’s token lawsuit against the DOJ’s sanctuary city funding threat is a just convenient diversion from a $55 million scandal in Chicago that broke last week.

Chicago aldermen and city watchdogs have accused Emanuel of secretly redirecting $55 million in TIF funds earmarked to help a poor, predominantly black ward on Chicago’s South Side. Instead, the diverted property tax funds were poured into a popular tourist attraction in a wealthy area – another vanity project for the Mayor. Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for these funds too – but they’d never know it because it’s not disclosed on their tax bills.

What happens in Chicago – stays in Chicago.

You can understand why Emanuel would be so desperate to divert attention from this scandal and, so far, it’s worked. By Sunday, Emanuel had announced his $3 million federal lawsuit, claiming the Trump Administration was blackmailing the City of Chicago and the national news outlets ate it up: Rahm versus Trump.

But, of course, the mainstream media is not covering the ‘Dead Fish’ ruse. Emanuel says he’s worried about the loss of $3 million if Chicago doesn’t comply with federal immigration law? He says he wants to use the $3.2million in federal funds to purchase police vehicles? How about the $55 million he diverted? Some city aldermen are calling this slush fund scheme “money laundering.”

Is it really different than criminal money laundering? Yes, because, in Chicago, a mayor can launder money and it’s legal.

That $55 million could have helped Chicago’s struggling public schools. It could have purchased those police vehicles Rahm says he’s so concerned about or put more cops on the street. Chicago ended July with more than 400 murders, putting the city on pace to exceed the number of killings in 2016 with 781 homicides.  Lord knows, Chicago could use more cops.

But this bloody mounting body count on Chicago’s South Side means nothing to Rahm. After the Laquan McDonald scandal, he knows he isn’t going to get any votes from the black community in the next election so he’s written them off.  His only hope for re-election is the Hispanic community and that’s why – voila – all of a sudden Rahm is “Mr. Sanctuary City.”

This isn’t the first time Rahm has diverted taxpayer funds to win re-election. In December 2016, Rahm diverted $1 million in funds earmarked for taxpayer relief and created a legal defense fund for illegal immigrants. A $20 million rebate fund was created to give Emanuel cover for a massive $588 property tax increase but the Chicago City Council rigged the process for residents wanting the refund. They made it so difficult that Chicagoans didn’t apply for the rebates – giving Rahm another $20 million in slush funds. Funds that, again, were never used to help school kids or to stop the bloodshed in poor areas throughout the city.

But the worst is yet to come. A secret bill, SB 31, known as “The Trust Act,” has quietly passed the Illinois legislature. It’s currently on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk, waiting for his signature. Immigrant and refugee coalitions admit they deliberately requested the words, “sanctuary state,” be kept out of the bill. That ruse worked too – there’s been a complete news blackout on the bill – no one in Illinois even knows about. The “Trust Act” becomes law in less than 30 days if Rauner, a close business ally of Rahm’s, takes no action.

Let’s put a spotlight on Rahm’s fake federal lawsuit on sanctuary cities and ask him about that $55 million scandal now.

What happens in Chicago doesn’t have to stay in Chicago.

William J. Kelly is the host of “The Citizen Kelly Show” on AM 1590 WCGO. In 2015, he busted the caps in the Chicago mayoral race, forcing Rahm Emanuel into a historic run-off election.  Kelly is also an Emmy award-winning TV producer and frequent contributor to American Spectator, The Washington Times, Breitbart.com, and writes “The Chicago Rules,” a monthly column for Newsmax.