With his federal corruption trial slated to begin in just over three weeks, former Ald. Ed Burke’s defense attorneys gave a glimpse into their legal strategy…
With his federal corruption trial slated to begin in just over three weeks, former Ald. Ed Burke’s defense attorneys gave a glimpse into their legal strategy on Friday as they argued over what portions of the government’s secret recordings should be played in court.
Burke was the longest-serving alderman in Chicago City Council history, who represented the 14th Ward for 54 years before he chose not to run for reelection earlier this year. He also served as the longtime chair of the powerful Finance Committee. In 2019, Burke was indicted on 14 charges including bribery, attempted extortion and racketeering, with prosecutors alleging he used his official position to steer business to his law firm specializing in property tax reductions.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weeklyInstrumental to the government’s case against Burke was former 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis, who was himself the center of a federal investigation when he struck a deal in 2018 known as a deferred prosecution agreement, in which prosecutors agreed to dismiss a bribery charge against him in exchange for his cooperation in their wide-ranging corruption probe.
When questioned about the relevance of that portion of the recording, one of Burke’s attorneys noted that the alderman had two assistants in two different offices who read all his emails and listened to his voicemails, adding that when he called into his office, it was “like rapid-fire” with his agenda items for the day.Burke’s attorneys said they wanted to give jurors the context that he was jumping from call to call in order to show “the volume of calls and subject matters he deals with.
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