That is all this rehab stint is for. To whitewash Ford's behavior. Literally anything bad he's ever done will be blamed on his addiction and is therefore no longer relevant.
That's why the Globe's influence peddling story is so important. I hope they uncover more.
You JUST beat me to it. Two thoughts:
1) It's pretty clear Smith's death was a gang beef. Nothing to indicate anything to the contrary.
2) This is an alarming story on the kind of people the mayor associated with via Lisi. He paid for drugs from dangerous gang members capable of murder...