As Rahm Emanuel awaits a final confirmation vote on his nomination as ambassador to Japan, Chicago’s former inspector general has written a letter to U.S. senators emphasizing there is no evidence the former mayor or his administration covered up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

       Emanuel’s handling of McDonald’s death has come under renewed scrutiny as his nomination has made its way through the Senate and faced opposition from a handful of fellow progressive Democrats in Congress.

       The day after Emanuel faced pointed questions about McDonald’s death in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Ferguson wrote a letter to the committee saying “the facts simply do not exist” to support the notion the former mayor engaged in a cover-up.

       Mayor Rahm Emanuel arrives at the south air traffic control tower at O’Hare International Airport Monday, April 22, 2019, in Chicago. The south control tower has been awarded gold status. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)

       As inspector general, Ferguson was charged with investigating the death of McDonald at the hands of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was later convicted of second degree murder. Ferguson also was appointed by Emanuel to serve on a Police Accountability Task Force in the wake of the shooting, along with current Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who chaired the city’s Police Board at the time.

       “My office’s comprehensive investigation did not reveal any evidence that would support the lingering surmises and accusations of a ‘cover-up’ orchestrated out of City Hall. None,” Ferguson wrote in a letter to the Foreign Relations Committee obtained by the Tribune Thursday.

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       Ferguson declined to comment, and so did Emanuel.

       The former mayor’s confirmation is expected to pass the full Senate with strong bipartisan support. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination earlier this month, with two progressive Democrats voting no.

       Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Edward Markey of Massachusetts opposed Emanuel’s nomination, with Merkley citing Emanuel’s handling of the McDonald shooting. Markey did not offer a reason for his vote.

       In his confirmation hearing last month, Emanuel both defended and expressed regret over his handling of the police shooting of McDonald. Emanuel said he should have better recognized the lack of trust citizens held for the Chicago Police Department and pushed for stronger reforms more quickly.

       The former mayor, however, also did not specify what he would have done differently in his response to the shooting and sidestepped questions about when he learned specifics about the incident.

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       Those questions came from Merkley, who pressed Emanuel for details on when he was briefed about the shooting, but ultimately was cut off by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez after going over his allotted time.

       Though he has been out of office for more than two years, Emanuel has faced sustained criticism for his administration’s resistance to releasing police dashcam video of the shooting and its decision to approve a prompt $5 million settlement for McDonald’s family. Emanuel repeatedly has denied that he or his administration engaged in a cover-up, and he reiterated that stance during his confirmation hearing.

       In his letter, Ferguson backs Emanuel’s assertion that he followed the policy in place at the time that prevented video of a shooting from being released if the matter was under investigation.

       “Decisions made about the non or delayed-disclosure of the body-worn camera videos at that time were in fact the long-standing policy and practice of the city of Chicago and its Law Department,” Ferguson wrote. “There is a complete absence of factual basis to support the claim that Mayor Emanuel was involved directly or indirectly in a ‘cover-up’ of the McDonald shooting videos.”

       This is a developing story. Check back for updates

       gpratt@chicagotribune.com

       bruthhart@chicagotribune.com

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