Schakowsky son-in-law dies snorkeling

BREAKING: Lawmaker linked to Sibel Edmonds’ testimony about Turkey’s blackmailing efforts loses son-in-law in suspicious drowning.

WASHINGTON — The son-in-law of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Michael McLaughlin, died Sunday while snorkeling near Tulum, Mexico.

Schakowsky and her husband, Robert Creamer, had gathered their nine children and grandchildren for what was to have been a weeklong vacation to mark Schakowsky turning 65 last May.

McLaughlin, 38, a New York filmmaker and editor, was married to Lauren, 35. She is the daughter of Creamer and his former wife, Day Piercy, a former Chicagoan now living near New York who was well-known in Chicago for her work on women’s rights.

On Sunday afternoon, McLaughlin was snorkeling by himself when a bystander on a beach saw that something looked wrong. Creamer, Schakowsky and Lauren McLaughlin sped out to the scene in kayaks while a neighbor called an ambulance. Michael McLaughlin was taken ashore, but it was too late.

Read Lynn Sweet’s full story at the Chicago Sun Times.

For more details on Sibel Edmonds’ testimony, see Volaar’s Edmonds Testimony Under Oath: Progressives Take Hit for FBI.

Subheader has been corrected: Sibel Edmonds did not directly name Schakowsky in her testimony on Saturday, as Richard Volaar first reported. Instead, DC insiders speculate this is one Member of Congress stung by Turkey, according to Volaar.