Ed Burke
News on former 14th ward alderman Ed Burke.
“What’s the best evidence of defendant Burke’s intent?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker. “The words that came out of his mouth.”
“They ran an undercover investigation on Mr. Burke for 30 months — with the star witness being Danny Solis — and they didn’t have the decency to bring him to you,” said attorney Joseph Duffy.
An appeals court ruled that Trump International Hotel & Tower was overvalued by Cook County officials a dozen years ago. The Chicago Public Schools stands to lose the most money — about $540,000.
Burke faces charges of using his seat on the City Council to steer business to his law firm in schemes that involved the Old Post Office, a Burger King and a Northwest Side redevelopment project.
New duties at high court for U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. could further delay racketeering case of Ald. Edward M. Burke, which Dow has presided over since 2019.
Judge sets Ald. Ed Burke’s racketeering trial for November 2023 — giving Burke a chance to run again
The feds’ case against Burke has lingered for more than three years at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and a mountain of pretrial motions filed in August 2020 that were only ruled upon last month.
The judge’s consideration of the motions, first filed in August 2020, is in part why the three-year-old racketeering case has yet to go to trial. The COVID-19 pandemic also played a key role.
A judge agreed Thursday to delay Solis’ prosecution on a bribery charge until April 2025. If he keeps up his end of the bargain, the feds are expected to seek dismissal of that charge.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she told lawyers to file a victim-impact statement in Solis’ case. She added, “no one is above the law and Chicago residents expect that their elected officials will be held accountable.”
It’s the formal understanding between U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office and a man who could be remembered as one of Chicago’s most significant government moles. Solis’ cooperation was first exposed by the Chicago Sun-Times four weeks after he signed the deal.
The bribery count leveled against Solis in a one-page, lightly detailed document at least confirms that Solis will face public charges. A lengthy investigation into his own alleged misdeeds prompted him to turn on some of the state’s most powerful politicians.
Prosecutors said the indicted politicians pressured the developer now confirmed to be 601W Companies to hire their law firms, It redeveloped what’s now called the Old Post Office.
The hearing was a year-and-a-half in the making, dealing with pretrial motions first filed in August 2020. Burke’s lawyers alleged then that prosecutors withheld crucial information from Chicago’s chief federal judge as they sought to eavesdrop on City Hall phone lines, as well as Burke’s cellphone.
New details of the investigation emerged Friday from an unsealed 160-page affidavit that had been filed to seek permission to raid Burke’s City Hall and ward offices.
They also told a judge that comments Burke allegedly made about Jewish people are too prejudicial, and any relevance is outweighed by “the risk that the jury will infer from the statement that Ald. Burke is anti-Semitic.”
A new lawsuit accuses attorney Charles Cui of failing to make mortgage payments since shortly after he was indicted. The building is now in foreclosure.
The comment appears in a 227-page brief filed as part of Burke’s criminal case in federal court. Heavily redacted in key parts, it alleges the investigation of Burke revealed him “to be thoroughly corrupt and worthy of prosecution.”
Prosecutors are expected to file a massive brief by April 19. Though it could shed new light on the case that shook up Chicago politics in early 2019, it will also give the judge more paper to sort through.
It wasn’t clear following a hearing Wednesday when the 14th Ward alderman and his co-defendants could go to trial in the blockbuster racketeering case.
Lawyers representing Ald. Burke in his high-profile corruption case also are alleging prosecutors withheld crucial information from Chicago’s chief federal judge as they sought to eavesdrop on City Hall phone lines, as well as Burke’s own cellphone.
Illinois politicians paid $5.3 million in legal fees out of their political funds in 2019 for reasons including criminal investigations and litigation, records show.
Prosecutors say Burke’s trial could last a month, but defense attorneys say it’s not clear yet.
The feds have turned over more than 100 discs, more than 44,000 pages and “several boxes of hard copy material” to defense attorneys.
The judge told attorneys to return to court Jan. 23, at which point it may be revealed whether the high-profile case is likely to go to trial.
It’s another eye-opening instance of the indicted Chicago alderman mixing his law firm’s business with city business. And it resulted from big errors by former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios.
The next status hearing is Oct. 8, and the judge says Ald. Edward Burke doesn’t have to be there.
Burke and his top political aide, Peter J. Andrews, as well as a developer, made a brief court appearance Tuesday.
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