The Taxman cometh for Mokwa and towing cronies

It would seem the source who told me the IRS is leading the investigation into the relationship between the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and Metropolitan/S&H Towing was on the money.

Today Joe Mahr of the Post-Dispatch is reporting that agents from the IRS and FBI raided the offices of Metropolitan Towing this morning.

It's worth noting that last night The St. Louis American received an important news update about a major story in St. Louis politics. Without doubt, attorneys for Mayor Francis G. Slay would have told the mayor and his staff yesterday as well. Given the source of the news, the mayor likely would have known in advance that it was coming.

But the Post-Dispatch did not have the story this morning.

I've seen enough media plays in this town to develop a hunch. The hunch would be that the mayor's friends who have friends in the federal government learned that the raid on Metropolitan Towing was imminent. Therefore, the mayor's media handlers kept in their pocket this other piece of news, which could be played as favorable to the mayor and the City.

If my hunch is correct, the mayor's media handlers are feeding the Post this other story today, so there will be a more "positive" City story on the front page of the Post tomorrow to compete with the story about the federal raid. I'm putting "positive" in scare quotes, because I think it's a possible spin, rather than the heart of the matter.

The American will report this other piece of news on its website today or tomorrow.