He's the cheapskate of staff. Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's right-hand man, lives in a basement apartment on Capitol Hill rented to him by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Just one problem: He's not allowed to live there.

That's what private investigator Joseph Culligan discovered after asking questions of D.C. officials. A zoning administrator responded to Culligan's inquiry and told him that DeLauro's house at 816 E. Capitol St. NE was listed as a single-family dwelling, and as such, could not be rented out.

Emanuel, who splits his time between Chicago and D.C., will not have this low-rent problem for very long. He's looking for a new home in Washington. Still, he should consider himself lucky if his firetrap of a residence is the worst dirt one can dig on him. Compared to Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle's unpaid tax bills, it's a lower-middle-class problem.

(Photo via Google Street View)

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