Chicago Sun-Times: All posts by Mariah Woelfel

Prosecutors ‘didn’t have the decency’ to call their key witness in Ed Burke’s corruption trial, defense says in closing arguments

2023-12-14T19:29:09.811-06:00

Former Ald. Ed Burke outside the Dirksen Federal Building Tuesday.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The jury that will soon consider the historic corruption case against longtime Ald. Edward M. Burke heard from three dozen witnesses, listened to roughly 100 recordings and saw piles of documents the feds have used to try to convict him of racketeering and other crimes.

But in a loud, indignant and animated closing argument Thursday, Burke lawyer Joseph Duffy did his best to make prosecutors pay for their decision not to call one crucial player to the witness stand: Danny Solis.

“Why did we have to bring Danny Solis in here?” Duffy demanded as he addressed the jury in a courtroom full of Burke’s supporters. “That should give you pause: The fact that 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.”

Solis secretly recorded fellow Ald. Burke to help feds in criminal investigation

It’s a decision that should create a fog of reasonable doubt over every allegation involving Burke and Solis, Duffy insisted. He told jurors they need “all the evidence” for the crucial decision they are about to make — not just some of it.

“That gentleman over there, and his family, the rest of their life is going to be affected by your decision,” Duffy said, pointing across the room to Burke and others in the gallery behind him.

Duffy’s comment drew an objection from a prosecutor — who was then heckled with groans from the crowd as she asked for a sidebar with U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall. The judge had called Duffy’s remark “accurate.”

“No comments — we have work to do,” Kendall told the crowd as a court security officer admonished them.

Duffy’s argument was a clear contrast to the calm, methodical closing argument by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur, who spoke to the jury for roughly six hours over two days. And it comes as deliberations in Burke’s trial grow nearer.

Burke, who left office in May, is charged with racketeering, bribery and extortion for allegedly using his 14th Ward City Council seat to steer business to his private law firm, Klafter & Burke. Among those he allegedly shook down were the developers of Chicago’s massive Old Post Office in Solis’ 25th Ward.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations early next week.

During his argument Thursday, Duffy waved his hands, stabbed his finger into the air and he complained about “a lot of noise and confusion” from prosecutors.

“They’ve introduced so many recordings in this case,” Duffy said, “and we spent the last six hours on a litany of charges against Mr. Burke. The tapes — lots of noise — shoved into evidence without a witness.”

100 secret recordings, 36 witnesses later, feds winding up case against Burke — but will defense call Solis as ‘hostile’ witness?

Burke seemed pleased as he watched his defense attorney make his final pitch to the jury. At times he sat back in his chair with his arms crossed. At another point, he could be seen running his finger over his bottom lip.

Burke’s attorneys began pressing in July for prosecutors to disclose whether they would call Solis as a witness. After they learned prosecutors wouldn’t call him, Burke’s team made the promise that they would. And they made good on that promise Tuesday.

Solis agreed to wear an FBI wire against Burke and other powerful politicians after agents confronted him with evidence of his own alleged wrongdoing in June 2016. He left the City Council in 2019.

A bombshell FBI affidavit first obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times alleged that Solis received Viagra, prostitution and other benefits from people for whom he had taken or offered official action.

But Burke’s attorneys were apparently not allowed to ask him Tuesday about such conduct. Instead, they asked about recordings he’d made of Burke and confirmed he cut a deal that could save him from prison.

So long, Solis? Defense rests in Burke trial after briefly questioning ‘hostile’ witness and FBI mole Danny Solis

Solis also recorded then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who faces trial in April. That means the feds’ strategic decision not to call Solis in Burke’s trial could have implications in Madigan’s case — no matter how Burke’s trial turns out.

Duffy argued that Burke’s alleged shakedown victims are tied together by “one common thread” — “not one of them” went to law enforcement “to complain about Ald. Ed Burke.”

“What does that tell you about their belief that they were victims of Ed Burke’s criminality?” Duffy asked the jury. “These were not small mom and pops.”

Rather, they included the Field Museum, a New York City development firm and a Texas businessman who owned more than 100 Burger Kings around Chicago.

The FBI had to “convince them they were victims,” Duffy told the jury. He noted that four FBI agents showed up in 2018 at the home of Shoukat Dhanani, whose many Burger Kings included one in Burke’s ward.

While the presence of one FBI agent would “raise your blood pressure,” Duffy said, three means “they’ve gotta revive you” and by four, “I don’t even know what to do.”

“Aye yi yi!” Duffy exclaimed, prompting a chuckle from the audience seated behind Burke.

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

Duffy focused on the allegation that Burke forced the developers of the Old Post Office into hiring his law firm as they sought tax incentives slated to go through Burke’s Finance Committee. Duffy returned to a familiar argument: That it was then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel who called the shots, not Burke.

The development of the Old Post Office, which had become a dilapidated eyesore for the city after years of neglect, was a key priority for Emanuel, Duffy noted — so much so that he worked out nearly $120 million in savings for the developers through two different public incentives, including what’s known as tax increment financing.

“And the only reason the TIF got passed … is because the boss wanted it,” Duffy said. “Rahm Emanuel was so smart, and so determined for this building to succeed.”

Emanuel was so committed to the project that its developer, Harry Skydell, was convinced he didn’t need Burke at all, Duffy said, nor did he want to hire his law firm.

“Danny Solis would harass Harry Skydell for two years trying to get him to hire Ed Burke,” Duffy insisted.

“It’s a two-year odyssey — you followed it, you saw it, it’s in the tapes!”

Former Ald. Ed Burke wielded power to ‘satisfy his own greed,’ prosecutor says in closing arguments

2023-12-13T20:03:08.735-06:00

Former Ald. Ed Burke walks out of the Dirksen Federal Building during a lunch break Monday.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Federal prosecutors accused Chicago’s longest-serving City Council member of wielding his power to “satisfy his own greed,” to “line his own pockets,” and to “punish and to extort,” as closing arguments got underway Wednesday in his historic corruption trial.

For a moment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur even began to compare former Ald. Edward M. Burke to Danny Solis, the infamous FBI mole whom Burke’s attorneys have labeled “Exhibit A” for corruption.

But attorneys objected. So MacArthur simply told the jury that a secretly recorded comment by Burke, in which he allegedly linked his private property tax appeal firm to permits for a Burger King, qualified him “for inclusion in any sort of corrupt circle.”

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

“You have heard about a pattern of unlawful activity,” MacArthur told the jury as her argument began. “Standing at the center of that steady drumbeat of unlawful activity is this man, Edward Burke.”

Burke listened from his seat at a defense table as the veteran federal prosecutor spoke for just shy of three hours Wednesday. At one point he could be seen rubbing his left arm with his right hand. At others, he sat back with his arms crossed, listening to the presentation.

MacArthur also gave the government’s initial closing argument last April in the trial of four people who were convicted of conspiring to bribe then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for ComEd.

Now MacArthur has the grueling task of explaining to a jury of nine women and three men how the evidence they’ve heard from 36 government witnesses over 16 days fits together and supports the sweeping indictment leveled in 2019 against Burke, his political aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui.

Burke is accused of using his seat on the City Council to strongarm business for his private law firm, Klafter & Burke, from developers involved with Chicago’s massive Old Post Office, a Burger King near 41st and Pulaski, and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

He is also accused of threatening to block an admission fee increase at the Field Museum because it didn’t respond when he recommended the daughter of former Ald. Terry Gabinski (32nd) for an internship.

How the near-absolute power Edward Burke wielded absolutely paved the way for his alleged corruption

MacArthur is expected to argue for roughly two more hours Thursday before defense attorneys get their chance to make their final case to the jury.

The prosecutor began Wednesday by walking jurors through Burke’s alleged threat to the Field Museum.

MacArthur played a 2017 phone call between Burke and Deborah Bekken, the director of government affairs for the Field Museum at the time who was trying to garner support for a fee increase. Weeks ago, Bekken told the jury she perceived Burke’s comments on the call as a threat.

But MacArthur wanted to hammer the point home.

The prosecutor told the jury to notice how Burke directly linked “his ability to use his official positions” to stop the increase to his displeasure about the internship snub.

In the call, Burke told Bekken, “If the Chairman of the Committee on Finance calls the President of the Park Board, your proposal is going to go nowhere.”

MacArthur on Wednesday called it a “true, take-your-breath-away moment.”

Then she turned to allegations that Burke shook down the owner of the Burger King located in his 14th Ward. In doing so, she responded to the intense cross-examination last week of a man once employed by the restaurant’s owner.

That man, Jeffrey MacDonald, told the jury that Burke asked him in March 2017 who handled property tax appeals for the owner, who had more than 100 Burger Kings around Chicago. However, MacDonald only shared that tidbit with the FBI two weeks before Burke’s trial.

MacArthur insisted Wednesday there is evidence to suggest that MacDonald was telling the truth. She said records found by the FBI in Burke’s ward office support the notion that Burke was curious about the topic. So did a June 2017 conversation Burke had with a public official in Texas, days before meeting the Burger King owner, when Burke said, “I’d also like to get some of his law business.”

“There was interest in finding out about that company,” MacArthur said.

Feds play recording of Burke seeming to link Burger King permit approval with business for his law firm

But the evidence that qualified Burke for corrupt circles came in a call later that month with the owner’s son, Zohaib Dhanani, MacArthur alleged.

After Dhanani finished discussing issues at the Burger King, Burke abruptly told him, “And, um, we were gonna talk about the real estate tax, ah, representation and, ah, you’re gonna have somebody get in touch with me so we can expedite your permits.

“This was a direct, in-your-face, I-want-your-business move by Mr. Burke,” she said.

Defense rests in Burke trial after ‘hostile’ witness, FBI mole Danny Solis

2023-12-12T21:32:00.8-06:00

Attorney Lisa Noller and former Ald. Danny Solis enter a cab outside the Dirksen Federal Building Tuesday.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Danny Solis’ legacy has been set in stone ever since Chicago learned five years ago that the veteran City Council member had wired up for the FBI to avoid prison and secretly recorded the most powerful among his colleagues, Edward M. Burke.

But it wasn’t until Tuesday, on the 25th floor of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, that Solis publicly answered for his role in the downfall of Burke and others — and his motive for agreeing to help the feds when they knocked on his door in June 2016.

Solis admitted he’d been scared. He agreed he wanted to “save” himself.

And at one point he conceded, “I was trying to help myself by recording Ed Burke.”

Solis secretly recorded fellow Ald. Burke to help feds in criminal investigation

But Solis also managed to slip off the witness stand without answering for the tawdry allegations the FBI made against him in a bombshell affidavit first obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, including the exchange of official acts for Viagra, prostitution and other benefits.

Burke is the one on trial for racketeering, bribery and extortion, largely because of the evidence Solis gathered against him. Burke’s defense attorneys have promised for months to summon Solis to the stand. And Tuesday, they kept their word.

Suddenly, the man whose voice jurors have been listening to for weeks sat before them.

“My full name is Daniel Solis,” he said as his testimony began.

For the next three hours, Solis answered questions from Burke attorney Chris Gair about the recordings Solis made of Burke and the deal Solis struck with prosecutors. The defense attorney sparred with the witness. He insisted that Solis answer his specific questions. And he even drew a successful objection from a prosecutor who complained of Gair’s mocking tone of voice.

But Solis did not grow flustered at Gair’s questions. He answered in the same manner jurors are likely accustomed to through his recordings. And soon after his testimony ended, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall sent the jury home for the day.

She promised they’d hear closing arguments in the trial starting Wednesday afternoon.

Former Ald. Ed Burke and his wife, Anne Burke, are pictured Tuesday outside the Dirksen Federal Building.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Burke is accused of trying to strongarm business for his private law firm out of developers involved in Chicago’s massive Old Post Office in Solis’ 25th Ward, a Burger King in Burke’s 14th Ward, and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

Prosecutors rested their case after calling 36 witnesses over 16 days. Burke’s lawyers rested theirs some three hours later, having called just two witnesses — one earlier in the trial and Solis on Tuesday.

Danny Solis’ rise and fall, from promising activist to disgraced Chicago politician to FBI mole

The feds have described Solis as one of Chicago’s “most significant cooperators in the last several decades.” They’ve said his work for the FBI was “extraordinary” and “singular.” But Solis went underground after the Sun-Times revealed his cooperation in January 2019. That meant his testimony gave the public a rare opportunity to glimpse the famous FBI mole.

Gair previously described him as “Exhibit A in the world of people who are corrupt and who are untruthful.” The defense team also labeled him a potentially “hostile” witness.

Solis spent 23 years on the City Council before leaving office in 2019. Burke left in May after serving 54 years.

Former City Council members Proco Joe Moreno and Tom Tunney, who served with Solis and Burke, were spotted in the courtroom Tuesday. Both said they were there to show moral support for Burke.

Also seen were attorneys for the other powerful politician Solis helped ensnare — former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan faces trial on his own racketeering indictment in April, but it’s unclear if Solis will be called to testify in his case.

Meanwhile, Solis has been charged with bribery. But he struck a deal with prosecutors that means he could avoid a criminal conviction altogether if he holds up his end of the bargain. Gair wrapped his questioning of Solis by making that point to the jury.

He asked Solis, “You’re not going to serve any years in prison right?”

“Not according to my agreement,” Solis said.

Gair then confirmed that Solis did not expect to serve any “days” or “hours” in prison, either.

Prosecutors did not cross-examine Solis when Gair concluded.

Solis wore a dark suit and green tie on Tuesday. His hair has mostly gone gray. When his testimony began, Gair had to ask him repeatedly to keep a microphone close to his face. He fidgeted at times, and he often glanced toward the front row of the courtroom, where his defense attorney was seated beside three FBI agents.

Burke watched from the defense table, but he did not appear to make eye contact with Solis. When Solis stepped off the witness stand during two breaks in his testimony, the pair seemed to avoid crossing paths.

When Solis stepped off the witness stand the final time, Burke looked forward and tapped his right hand on a table while holding a pen as Solis left the courtroom.

Landing a ‘tuna,’ lobbing an F-bomb — Burke’s famous quotes played for jurors after defense mistrial denial

Part of Burke’s defense has revolved around the extent of his power at City Hall. So early in his questioning of Solis, Gair posed questions about former mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel.

Asked about Daley’s power while in office, Solis initially said, “I thought he was a very powerful man.” But eventually he conceded that Daley was the most powerful politician in Chicago at the time.

“When you had discussions with Mayor Daley about something Ed Burke was for, Mayor Daley did exactly the opposite?” Gair asked.

“I would say sometimes,” Solis said.

Burke smirked at that.

Later, when asked whether Emanuel got his way with the City Council “99% of the time,” Solis said, “Let’s go 90%.”

Burke smirked again.

Gair asked whether Solis secretly recorded more than 100 people, including Emanuel and Solis’ sister, Patti Solis Doyle. She is a former adviser to the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Solis disputed that and insisted the number was “somewhere between five and 10.”

But Solis later told Gair he’d been confused: “I thought you were talking about when I was wearing a wire.” Solis also agreed to let the feds record his cell phone calls.

100 secret recordings, 36 witnesses later, feds winding up case against Burke

Gair went on to tick through a series of questions about recorded conversations Solis had with Burke at the direction of the feds, starting with the first recorded phone call between the two in the summer of 2016. Solis called to follow up about a demolition firm Burke had recommended for the Old Post Office.

“Did you do it so you could try and get Mr. Burke to say something that you could help yourself with?” Gair asked, noting that the recommendation was not unusual.

“I was trying to help myself by recording Ed Burke, but I wasn’t trying to get him to say a particular thing,” Solis said.

From there, Gair pursued a line of questioning that seemed designed to paint Solis as “chasing” an uninterested Burke from around 2016 to 2018, when the alleged Old Post Office scheme took place.

“It was almost always you reaching out to Mr. Burke, correct?” Gair asked at one point. “And that was because you were trying to help yourself with your own criminal problems.”

Solis agreed that was true.

Gair asked Solis to confirm that he hadn’t heard anything in the weeks after the initial call about that demolition firm, so he spoke to Burke again on Aug. 26, 2016. That phone call led to one of the most well-known recordings of Burke, where he tells Solis to “recommend the good firm of Klafter and Burke” to the developers of the Old Post Office.

“He didn’t say one word about doing anything in return for you recommending the good firm of Klafter and Burke,” Gair asked Tuesday, and Solis confirmed.

Burke actually told Solis in that call, “and then we can certainly talk about a marketing arrangement for you,” which investigators took as a promise to pay Solis, but that was not mentioned in Tuesday’s testimony.

“I mean this isn’t that hard — you were trying to make a case on Mr. Burke, right?” Gair asked Solis, prompting an objection from prosecutors.

At another point, Gair asked Solis about a meeting he was trying to set up between Burke and the city’s water commissioner at the time. The Old Post Office was having water connection issues and needed help.

Solis testified that he wanted Burke to be there because Burke had a “wealth of knowledge” after “being in the city for 50 years.”

“He’s a very smart man,” Solis said.

Burke did not react to the compliment.

Gair also tried to highlight parts of conversations for the jury that Solis and the government made up as part of the investigation. He said at one point, Solis told Burke that if Burke can help the Old Post Office with its water connection issue, the developer would give him tax business.

“You were talking about what’s known as quid pro quo … and that was made up on your part?” Gair asked.

Solis responded he knew at the time it wasn’t true, but that it wasn’t made up “on my part.” It was made up on “the government’s part,” he said.

Contributing: Dan Mihalopoulos, who covers government and politics for WBEZ

Chicago City Council drops restrictive new rules to public seating at meetings

2023-12-12T15:31:28.315-06:00

The City Council’s sergeant-at-arms is walking back unpopular seating restrictions for the public at Council meetings announced two weeks ago.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The Chicago City Council’s sergeant-at-arms has “postponed until further notice” a controversial change to seating protocols for public meetings that sparked swift and significant backlash when made public just two weeks ago, according to a notice on the city clerk’s website.

The proposed change, developed by the sergeant-at-arms and the rules committee, which appoints that position, would have required members of the public to reserve a seat and show a state, federal, city or school ID to sit in the open, second-floor gallery of the Council chambers.

The rest of the general public would have been relegated to the third-floor balcony, behind a glass partition.

In a statement, mayor’s office spokesperson Ronnie Reese said the city will continue having “conversations on best practices,” but for now the Council will revert to its previous seating policies. The second floor has traditionally been home to public comment, and filled on a first-come-first-served basis.

“We appreciate the feedback provided by various stakeholders, and we will work with them, the Rules Committee and the City Council Sergeant-at-Arms to address concerns around decorum and safety that allow the Council to best conduct the business of the people,” Reese said in a statement.

When the new policy came out, the mayor’s office credited the Council’s rules committee with the policy’s development.

The statement did not elaborate on what prompted the about-face.

A spokesperson for the rules committee said Tuesday that the Rules Chair, Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), “supports the mayor’s decision.”

The protocols were in response to a series of chaotic Council meetings that have been disrupted by regular agitators who’ve shouted down each other and Council members about the city’s influx of migrants and other topics.

The initial policy change garnered significant criticism from the Better Government Association, which said the rules were likely illegal and violated the spirit of Illinois’ Open Meetings Act.

“Requiring registration for the meeting of a public body is a highly unusual step,” a Friday statement from the BGA read.

The ACLU of Illinois also denounced the policy, stating the city should not have a “VIP section” for public meetings.

The rules committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mariah Woelfel covers Chicago politics for WBEZ.

Shouts, tears, boos from crowd force recess of City Council committee meeting during heated migrant debate

Prosecutors winding up case against Ed Burke as defense eyes Solis as ‘hostile’ witness

2023-12-11T18:45:50.956-06:00

Former Ald. Danny Solis walks towards a waiting vehicle outside the Dirksen Federal Building Monday.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Five years after the raid that revealed the blockbuster investigation into one of Chicago’s most powerful politicians, federal prosecutors have all but finished making their case that longtime Ald. Edward M. Burke was “a bribe taker” and “an extortionist.”

The feds have called 36 witnesses over 15 days, and they’ve played roughly 100 recordings. Many of those recordings were made by former Ald. Danny Solis, the colleague who turned on Burke after being confronted by the FBI with evidence of his own alleged wrongdoing.

After testimony in the trial wrapped for the day Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Chapman told the judge he had another 10 minutes of questions for FBI Special Agent Jennifer Avila, who will likely be the last witness called by prosecutors.

Jurors will return to hear her remaining testimony Tuesday afternoon. At that point, prosecutors are expected to formally rest their case.

How the near-absolute power Edward Burke wielded absolutely paved the way for his alleged corruption

Then, as the trial shifts into a new phase, Burke’s defense team has promised to summon Solis to the witness stand — finally giving Burke the chance to confront the former 25th Ward ally who famously turned on him while wearing an FBI wire.

They’ve predicted they will spend hours questioning Solis about the recordings he made, labeling the famous government mole a potentially “hostile” witness. Solis could take the stand as soon as Tuesday afternoon.

Solis, who went underground after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed his cooperation with the FBI in January 2019, appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse Monday in anticipation of that testimony.

He left around 5:30 p.m., stonefaced, without taking the stand.

Solis also helped the FBI build its massive case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who faces trial on a separate indictment next year.

Judge, prosecutors keep trial on track

It’s been a bumpy road in Burke’s trial ever since jury selection began Nov. 6. The trial was put on hold for a week after an attorney in the case tested positive for COVID-19. A second attorney tested positive more than two weeks later, on Nov. 27. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall managed to keep the trial on track that time, but prosecutors were forced to pivot and present their evidence in a different order than they’d planned.

Two days later, Burke’s attorneys moved for a mistrial over a witness’ comment. The judge seemed to take their request seriously but ultimately denied it. In doing so, she cited the diligence of the jurors, the integrity of one of the prosecutors — and the COVID-19-prompted pivot.

Mistrial in Burke case? Judge to rule on defense objection to ‘very corrupt’ remark during corruption trial

Now, a jury of nine women and three men have heard the evidence of four schemes alleged in Burke’s indictment on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges. Prosecutors say Burke used his City Council seat to strong-arm private business out of developers working on Chicago’s massive Old Post Office, a Burger King in Burke’s 14th Ward and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

The feds also say Burke threatened to block an admission fee increase at the Field Museum because it failed to respond when he recommended the daughter of former Ald. Terry Gabinski for an internship. Gabinski’s daughter has also been described in court as Burke’s goddaughter.

Burke left office in May. On trial with him are political aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui.

To secure a racketeering conviction, the feds will likely need to convince the jury that Burke committed two “acts” as part of a larger pattern. There are five umbrella “acts” listed in Burke’s indictment, but each one contains multiple allegations that jurors will likely be allowed to choose from.

Feds allege a ‘threat’ and a shakedown

Prosecutors began presenting their evidence by launching first into the alleged Field Museum episode. They called former museum employee Deborah Bekken and former President Richard Lariviere to the witness stand.

Bekken, who served as a government liaison, explained how she reached out to Burke in September 2017. The museum planned to soon seek a fee increase from the Chicago Park Board, and it wanted to get ahead of any opposition from Burke, the City Council’s longtime finance chair.

Burke’s lawyers say Bekken caught him at a bad time. And Burke quickly explained to Bekken how he’d never heard back about the internship for Gabinski’s daughter.

“So now, you’re going to make a request of me?” Burke asked on Sept. 8, 2017.

“I’m sure I know what you want to do,” Burke continued. “Because if the chairman of the Committee on Finance calls the president of the park board, your proposal is going to go nowhere.”

From the witness stand last month, Bekken said, “I perceived it as a threat.”

Lariviere spoke to Burke minutes later. Regarding Gabinski’s daughter, he asked, “Can I get in touch with her and see what we can do?”

Burke told him, “No. That, that ship has already left the dock.”

While being cross-examined by one of Burke’s defense attorneys, Lariviere testified that Burke did not threaten him or the Field Museum, and he said he did not believe the fee increase was in any danger.

But he eventually pushed back when the attorney tried to insist Burke never demanded a job for Gabinski’s daughter. Lariviere said that Burke “kept sending us information about her application.”

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

Prosecutors moved next to allegations that Burke shook down the owners of a Burger King near 41st and Pulaski, though they had to divide that presentation because of the COVID-19 pivot. Initially, they called its owner, Shoukat Dhanani of Texas, to the stand. Later, they summoned his son, Zohaib Dhanani.

Shoukat Dhanani visited Chicago in 2017. He and his son met with Burke in June 2017 at the Burger King to discuss a planned remodel. They also had a follow-up lunch with Burke at the Beverly Country Club. That’s where Burke told them all about his law firm.

Zohaib Dhanani testified about a call he had with Burke two weeks later in which Burke said, “We were going to talk about the real estate tax representation, and you were going to have somebody get in touch with me so we can expedite your permits.”

Zohaib Dhanani told jurors “it seems like the two were being linked together … the property taxes and the permits.”

The remodeling work at Dhanani’s Burger King was allegedly shut down by Andrews, on behalf of Burke’s office, in October 2017. Shoukat Dhanani testified that he had a “gut feeling” why Burke intervened.

“Maybe since I had not responded about the property tax business, maybe that’s why it would have been shut down,” Shoukat Dhanani testified. “I didn’t see any other reason why it would be shut down.”

The pole sign and the Post Office

Meanwhile in 2017, City Hall refused to allow Binny’s to use a pole sign at a property in the 4900 block of West Irving Park Road. Cui thought he stood to lose as much as $750,000 on his development there. Prosecutors say he stood to lose millions. Jurors heard that Cui reached out to Burke for help — but also hired Burke’s law firm.

Explaining his decision to hire Burke’s firm, Cui allegedly told an attorney in an email that Burke “is a powerful broker in City Hall, and I need him now.”

Burke had his assistant reach out to then-Buildings Commissioner Judy Frydland to ask her to look into Cui’s pole-sign issue the same day Burke’s firm began signing Cui up as a client.

Meanwhile, the heart of the feds’ case against Burke is really the alleged scheme involving the Old Post Office, which straddles the Eisenhower Expressway. Two of the five “racketeering acts” alleged in Burke’s indictment relate to that development.

Developer of Old Main Post Office cooperating in federal investigation of Burke

The group that agreed to take on the complicated renovation of the Depression-era building, 601W Companies LLC of New York, quickly became frustrated with Amtrak as it embarked on its work. Amtrak owned the railroad tracks that run underneath the building, but jurors heard that it dragged its feet and charged the Post Office developers exorbitant fees.

Burke allegedly took advantage of their troubles. He was repeatedly recorded telling people he helped make an Amtrak board member’s daughter a judge.

He mentioned that bit of leverage in one key meeting that Solis secretly recorded. During that meeting, Burke explained 601W’s troubles with Amtrak and told his colleague, “Jews are Jews, and they’ll deal with Jews to the exclusion of everybody else … unless there’s a reason for them to use a Christian.”

The lead developer of the Old Post Office was Jewish. Burke is Roman Catholic.

Later, the developers discovered that City Hall planned to tear down the building’s broken-down western plaza, leaving a gaping hole in its place. So 601W sought to tap into $20 million in tax increment financing in 2017. However, the developers had not yet hired Burke’s law firm.

In a private meeting with Solis, Burke told his colleague the Post Office developers could “go f— themselves.”

However, nearly a year later, 601W hired Burke’s firm to perform property tax appeals work at the Sullivan Center Offices at State and Madison. The deal was dated Aug. 24, 2018.

On Sept. 20, 2018, Burke moved for the City Council to pass the developers’ TIF proposal. And then he voted in favor of it.

Feds play recording of call with Gery Chico in Ed Burke corruption trial

2023-12-08T17:35:57.016-06:00

Ald. Edward M. Burke at a Chicago City Council meeting in September.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

Gery Chico, a longtime player in Chicago politics, had powerful Ald. Edward M. Burke on the phone back in June 2017, hours before Chico planned to host a fundraiser for Burke at a friend’s new office.

Chico told Burke he expected “a nice turnout.” But he warned that Bulley & Andrews Construction, which had been involved in the building of Mansueto High School in Burke’s 14th Ward, was “pretty naive.”

“They’re ok, ok?”Chico said.“They’re not perfect. They’re just pretty naive on this stuff, so we’ve had to drag their asses along the way, but we’ll have a nice event.”

Burke replied, “Well, maybe if they don’t have any access to the property because the driveway isn’t legal, they might get the message.”

Jurors in Burke’s corruption trial heard that call Friday as prosecutors neared the end of their case against Chicago’s longest-serving City Council member. They’ve previously told the judge that Burke’s call with Chico demonstrates Burke’s “modus operandi” — using the pretext of challenging a business’ driveway permits “as a means to extort benefits.”

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

The feds say Burke did the same to the owners of a Burger King in his ward. Prosecutors allege “Burke’s explanation of this technique is powerful evidence of his intent to extract business” from the Burger King owner “by throwing up obstacles to the continued operation of its restaurant on account of a purported driveway permit issue.”

Chico ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019, around the time Burke was first charged with the scheme. He could not immediately be reached Friday. His attorney declined to comment.

Burke, who left office in May, is charged with racketeering, bribery and extortion. On trial with him are political aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case against all three Monday. Defense attorneys would then begin calling their own witnesses.

Burke’s defense team has signaled that they could call former Ald. Danny Solis, who wore a wire against Burke for the FBI, as soon as Monday.

Earlier Friday, jurors heard from former FBI Special Agent Edward McNamara, who helped interview Andrews on Nov. 29, 2018.

Andrews is accused of lying to McNamara and then-FBI Special Agent Andrew Hickey that day about his dealings with the owner of the Burger King, Shoukat Dhanani, and Dhanani’s son, Zohaib Dhanani. Andrews met both men on June 14, 2017, the jury has heard.

McNamara testified that Andrews stuttered during the FBI interview at his home in November 2018, and he shook his head “no” when agents asked if he recognized photos of the Dhananis. Andrews asked, “How am I involved with them?” And he kept insisting, “I don’t, I don’t know.”

Hickey told him, “Take a good look, sir.”

“What you don’t want to do is, is say ‘no’ and you do actually know them,” Hickey said. The agent told Andrews they “just want you to tell the truth.”

The interview ended at Andrews’ request.

Andrews’ attorney Patrick Blegen ripped into McNamara on cross-examination. He forced McNamara to admit that he’d mispronounced the Dhananis’ last name while interviewing Andrews — though a prosecutor later pointed out that the agents also used the Dhananis’ first names.

Most significantly, though, Blegen pointed to potential confusion over which ward was at issue. Andrews lived in Chicago’s 19th Ward. And during the interview, the agents mentioned that the Dhananis had been doing business “in the ward here.”

Andrews asked, “This ward?” And McNamara, in the interview, said, “Yeah.”

“So what you’re saying is, you said something but you meant something else, right?” Blegen asked. “Right?”

McNamara initially disagreed but ultimately conceded Blegen’s point.

“You know you messed this up here, didn’t you, agent?” Blegen insisted.

McNamara denied it.

Defense: ‘Computer mistake,’ not pressure from Ed Burke, caused delays in Burger King work

2023-12-07T20:15:43.698-06:00

Ald. Ed Burke attends a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall in 2022.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times (file)

When then-Ald. Edward M. Burke saw remodeling work was underway at a 14th Ward Burger King without his approval, he called a longtime aide to ask, “What did they need from me?”

“They needed driveway permits and everything signed off on,” Peter Andrews told him Oct. 24, 2017.

Federal prosecutors have accused Burke and Andrews of extortion in that moment, alleging that the men then agreed to shut down the Burger King project for Burke’s benefit “on the ground that the restaurant did not have a driveway permit.”

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

But Thursday, attorneys for Burke and Andrews grilled the Palatine architect who handled the project — and who apparently benefitted from a City Hall computer glitch that helped him land a building permit without the necessary driveway permit.

“If you would have addressed the driveway permit, then none of this would have happened, correct?” Joseph Duffy, one of Burke’s defense attorneys, asked architect Warren Johnson.

“Incorrect,” Johnson insisted. “I had the building permit.”

City Hall bureaucracy took center stage in Burke’s trial Thursday as one of the finer disputed points in the case came to a head. Prosecutors have long alleged that Burke used the driveway permit issue to shut down remodeling of a Burger King owned by a company he hoped to land as a client for his property tax appeals firm at the time, Klafter & Burke.

The project was shut down at Andrews’ request on Oct. 24, 2017. A City Hall inspector cited the Burger King over the issue on Oct. 27, 2017. Andrews told Johnson the remodeling work could continue on Dec. 13, 2017. That was one day after Burger King owner Shoukat Dhanani told Burke he would talk to an employee about steering legal work to Burke’s firm.

The remodeling work did not resume until February 2018. Net sales at the restaurant dropped by more than half between October 2017 and April 2018, when the work was finally finished, jurors have heard.

Defense attorneys sought Thursday to hang that all on Johnson. The architect acknowledged that “a computer mistake” helped him land a building permit for the project in June 2017. He admitted that, even though questions about the driveway permit were first raised that same month, he took no “affirmative steps” on the matter until November.

“Can we get some agreement that you never went to the ninth floor at City Hall — you did not — between those dates?” Todd Pugh, a defense attorney for Andrews, asked Johnson.

Johnson repeatedly stated he thought that, because he received a building permit for the remodeling work in June, the property was good to go. He testified he was also confused about what type of permit Burke’s office was looking for — a driveway permit or a so-called special use permit for a drive-thru.

“There was confusion on what was needed and what was being questioned by the alderman’s office,” Johnson told the jury. “That made no sense to me.”

Pugh fired back that Johnson had Andrews’ direct phone number, and he could have called for clarification. He noted that Johnson even received an email from the Burger King owners in July “telling you please contact Pete [Andrews], and the alderman keeps asking us for the permits.”

“What did you do to solve that problem?” Pugh pressed. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just take the survey [of the property] and your files, go to City Hall, go to the driveway desk and ask one of your friends, ‘Do I need a permit?’”

Johnson said he was “probably doing other things to prepare” a permit application. That, he said, included figuring out who was responsible for paying the permit fees — Burger King or the shopping center it was a part of.

“Even if you did that document a thousand times you could finish it” in four months, Pugh contended, noting that Johnson’s eventual permit application was two pages long.

Burke and Andrews are each charged with extortion. Burke, who left office in May, is also charged with racketeering and bribery. On trial along with them is developer Charles Cui.

How the near-absolute power Edward Burke wielded absolutely paved the way for his alleged corruption

Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall they will likely rest their case Monday. Defense attorneys are set to then begin calling witnesses. Burke’s team has promised they will call former Ald. Danny Solis, who wore a wire on Burke, to the stand.

But there are also concerns about whether the trial will end before Christmas. Kendall said Thursday that “we’re looking at a solid two days of arguments” when it comes time for the lawyers to make their final pitches to the jury.

Burke attorney Chris Gair asked the judge Thursday to instruct the jury “that they can take as long as they need for deliberations, and that you don’t need to be finished by Christmas.”

Kendall told him they’re not there yet.

Defense hammers at credibility of witness at Ed Burke corruption trial

2023-12-06T19:13:31.313-06:00

Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke (14th) attends a City Council meeting in November 2022.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

Ald. Edward M. Burke didn’t have much to say about remodeling plans for a Burger King in his 14th Ward back in March 2017, jurors heard Wednesday.

He had a couple of issues with its owners, though. Not only had he heard about overnight parking by truck drivers and prostitution there, but he wanted the owners to be more charitable. Burke told one of their employees two or three times that he wanted to meet them.

And he allegedly asked who handled their property tax appeals.

Burger Sting: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

However, jurors also heard during Burke’s trial Wednesday that the employee, Jeffrey MacDonald, didn’t mention that last part to the FBI until late October — two weeks before Burke’s trial got underway. So the jury watched Wednesday as defense attorneys hammered away at MacDonald’s credibility.

“Do you have memory issues?” Burke attorney Chris Gair eventually asked MacDonald.

Prosecutors successfully objected to that question. But defense attorneys made their point in another day of testimony about Burke’s alleged efforts to strong-arm business for his private property tax law firm out of Shoukat Dhanani — whose company owned more than 100 Burger Kings in Illinois — and his son, Zohaib Dhanani.

Burke, who left office in May, faces racketeering, bribery and extortion charges. He is also accused of similar schemes involving Chicago’s massive Old Post Office and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

Also on trial are Burke political aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui.

MacDonald worked for Shoukat Dhanani’s Tri City Foods as an executive director of development. He said he went to meet with Burke on March 30, 2017, hoping to get Burke to sign off on a remodeling of the Burger King near 41st and Pulaski. MacDonald testified Wednesday that Andrews was also there but didn’t say much, if anything.

MacDonald said Burke “didn’t have much response” to the remodeling plans. But he brought up the truck parking and suggested the owners make donations to nearby charities like the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

In an email later that day, MacDonald called the request for donations “the shake down.”

Burke “said he would not be signing off on this until he was able to meet with the owner,” MacDonald testified Wednesday.

Burke asked who did property tax appeal work for Dhanani’s company as the meeting was wrapping up, according to MacDonald.

MacDonald’s account of the meeting was soon challenged by Andrews’ attorney Patrick Blegen, though. Blegen began his cross-examination of MacDonald on Wednesday by asking if MacDonald had “read newspaper articles” and “listened to news stories” about the case against Burke.

Then Blegen pointed out that MacDonald met with two FBI agents at an expressway oasis on April 19, 2019. However, it wasn’t until Oct. 24 — more than four years later — that MacDonald first told the FBI that Burke had asked about Dhanani’s property taxes.

When asked by agents in the October meeting why he hadn’t mentioned it earlier, MacDonald apparently told them that “nobody asked me that question” before.

Blegen suggested there was another reason. He said, “You knew what the case was about in October 2023.”

“Yes,” MacDonald said.

“You didn’t know what it was about in April 2019, right?” Blegen asked.

“No,” MacDonald replied.

Burke already faced criminal charges over the alleged Burger King scheme in April 2019. But MacDonald acknowledged Wednesday that he hadn’t remembered Andrews’ name when he met with the FBI in April 2019. Afterward, he said, “I Googled it.”

Later, when asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker, MacDonald denied that he’d been influenced by anything he’d read in the news. He said he’d tried to answer every question posed either by the feds or defense attorneys — including when a private investigator working for Burke showed up on his driveway.

After MacDonald left the witness stand, testimony turned Wednesday to questions about whether Dhanani’s Burger King needed a driveway permit. Burke and Andrews allegedly shut down remodeling work at the restaurant over the issue on Oct. 24, 2017, even though a separate building permit had been secured.

How the near-absolute power Edward Burke wielded absolutely paved the way for his alleged corruption

Hal Hutchinson, a former assistant and now deputy commissioner for the Department of Buildings, testified Wednesday that City Council members do not have the authority to stop construction work.

“Is the Department of Buildings the only city department with the authority to shut down construction?” Streicker asked.

Hutchinson said yes, and he testified further that he had never seen a building permit revoked because of a driveway permit. Nor would an out-of-date driveway permit invalidate an already issued building permit, he said.

Former Buildings Commissioner Judith Frydland also took the witness stand and corroborated Hutchinson’s testimony. She said authority to stop a construction job rests solely with the Department of Buildings.

Defense attorneys have previously noted that Andrews simply asked for work to be stopped.

Feds’ recording of Burke allegedly links Burger King permit, his law firm

2023-12-05T20:11:44.125-06:00

Former Ald. Edward Burke (14th) is pictured at a Chicago City Council meeting in September 2022.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Two weeks after Ald. Edward M. Burke took Zohaib Dhanani and his father out for a swanky lunch at the Beverly Country Club in 2017 — and told them all about his law firm’s work for a “high profile individual” — Dhanani wound up back on the phone with the powerful politician.

Dhanani was then the vice president of development and construction for Tri City Foods, and had been overseeing the remodeling of a Burger King in Burke’s 14th Ward. Burke had concerns about the property and followed up with Dhanani on June 27, 2017. Dhanani explained how his colleagues had been responding to Burke.

“Good,”Burke said.“And um, we were going to talk about the real estate tax representation and you were going to have somebody get in touch with me so we can expedite your permits.”

Dhanani paused. Eventually, he said, “I’m sorry Mr. Burke. What was that last part?”

And in a federal courtroom Tuesday, Dhanani explained that he had been “taken aback” by the abrupt comment from the longtime City Council member.

“It seems like the two were being linked together,” Dhanani testified. “The property taxes and the permits.”

Later, Dhanani acknowledged that he only realized Burke made that link “in retrospect” — while being interviewed by the FBI in November 2018.

BURGER STING: Ald. Ed Burke tried to shake down fast-food execs to get business for his law firm, feds say.

Burke left office in May and is now on trial for racketeering, bribery and extortion. Prosecutors say he used his City Council seat to steer business to his private property tax appeal firm amid schemes involving the Burger King in his ward, as well as Chicago’s massive Old Post Office and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

Burke is also accused of threatening to block an admission fee increase at the Field Museum because it didn’t respond when he recommended his goddaughter for an internship.

Dhanani’s father, Shoukat Dhanani, testified two weeks ago. He told jurors he had a “gut feeling” after the Burger King remodeling was shut down that he should have hired Burke’s law firm.

Burger King owner’s ‘gut feeling’ told him he should have hired Ed Burke’s law firm

Zohaib Dhanani spent much of his day Tuesday corroborating his father’s earlier testimony. He also told jurors that during the June 14, 2017, lunch at the Beverly Country Club, Burke gave him a newspaper article about his law firm’s work for a “high profile individual.”

Burke’s attorneys have acknowledged that Burke handed out copies of a Chicago Sun-Times article about Burke’s work for then-President Donald Trump to the Dhananis. Prosecutors agreed not to mention Trump’s name during the trial, though.

The phone call in which Zohaib Dhanani said Burke “linked” his firm to approvals for the Burger King remodeling came nearly two weeks later, on June 27, 2017. Burke had raised concerns about overnight truck parking and prostitution at the Burger King.

Zohaib Dhanani informed Burke that they had ordered enforcement signs and would monitor the lot overnight.

Burke responded positively but then made his comment about “real estate tax representation.” Zohaib Dhanani testified he felt “a little unusual, felt a little weird” after the phone call.

How the near-absolute power Edward Burke wielded absolutely paved the way for his alleged corruption

On cross-examination, defense attorney Chris Gair noted that the witness made that link only after being questioned by the FBI about it in his home in November 2018.

“You didn’t make the link at the time of the events?” Gair asked. “You didn’t believe that before the agents’ questions, correct?”

“Correct,” Dhanani responded.

Defense attorneys also questioned Zohaib Dhanani about an apparent meeting he’d had with current Ald. David Moore (17th), who wanted Dhanani to hire local residents at a forthcoming Burger King in his ward, Dhanani testified.

The attorneys mentioned the meeting to undermine an earlier claim by Dhanani that dealing with a City Council member was “uncharted territory” for him.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker shot back with her own questions about Moore, who is a full-time City Council member with no other employment. She asked, “Did he ask you to hire him? … Did he talk to you about any private businesses that he had? … Have you ever had any alderman other than Ald. Burke ask you for business?”

Zohaib Dhanani answered “no” to each of those questions.

Finally, Streicker asked, “Did Ald. Moore take you out to lunch at his private country club after that meeting?”

“No,” Dhanani replied.

Judge denies Ed Burke’s mistrial motion, jurors hear ‘tuna’ and F-bomb recordings

2023-11-30T21:01:16.917-06:00

Ald. Edward Burke (14th) at a Chicago City Council meeting in November 2022.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

A year into the expensive, complicated renovation of Chicago’s massive Old Post Office, its developers realized they had a big problem on the horizon — a giant hole.

City Hall planned to tear down the building’s broken-down western plaza, leaving a gaping hole with train lines below, a jury heard Thursday. So the developers made a big ask: They sought to tap $20 million in tax-increment-financing dollars to rehab the plaza instead.

But an impatient Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) had also been trying for a year to persuade those developers to hire his private property tax law firm. And jurors heard Thursday what Burke, the longtime chairman of the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee, had to say after the developers made their $20 million pitch.

“As far as I’m concerned, they can go f--- themselves,” Burke, the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago’s history, told Ald. Danny Solis (25th).

Testimony resumed Thursday in Burke’s trial on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges after U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall denied a motion for a mistrial sought by Burke’s lawyers over a comment made by a witness. The judge cited the diligence of the jury and the integrity of a veteran prosecutor in making her decision.

Landing the ‘tuna’

With that controversy behind them, prosecutors went on to play more secret FBI recordings of Burke.

Among them was the most famous quote from Burke’s 2019 indictment —“did we land … the tuna?”Turns out, that wasn’t Burke’s only mention of “the tuna” to Solis.

“If we land the tuna, there certainly will be a day of accounting, you can count on that,” Burke told Solis a short time later.

Burke is accused of trying to strongarm business for his law firm at the time, Klafter & Burke, out of the Old Post Office developer and others. His attorneys told jurors in opening statements, “There is no doubt that Ed Burke was interested” in landing developer 601W Companies as a client, but they’ve said it wasn’t illegal, and there was no quid pro quo.

Ed Burke’s ‘tuna’: Indicted pol saved Old Post Office developer more than $12 million

However, prosecutors on Wednesday painted a picture of Burke trying to leverage his political clout in 2016 by helping 601W with problems it had been having with Amtrak. The feds followed up Thursday by showing jurors what happened when Burke’s alleged attempts to “land the tuna” stretched into 2017 and 2018.

The FBI built its case against Burke with the help of Solis, who agreed to wear a wire after agents confronted him with evidence of his own alleged wrongdoing. The Old Post Office was in Solis’ ward. Solis left office in 2019. Burke left four years later.

Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), who served on the Chicago City Council for more than five decades, walks out of the council chambers at City Hall on April 19 after his last meeting.

Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times

Burke’s “tuna” comment came after Solis spoke to Harry Skydell of 601W in May 2017 and told him that “Burke can help” with the developer’s Amtrak issues. Solis suggested Skydell hire Burke’s law firm, though, and Skydell agreed to give Burke a call.

Solis gave Burke the “good news” later that day, prompting Burke’s famous quip.

‘Tuna’ not day’s only four-letter word

Months later, in October 2017, 601W faced a new problem: The dilapidated West Plaza.

It turned out the plaza was owned by the city, which wanted to demolish it altogether. So 601W made its bid for TIF money, proposing improved public benefits such as a pedestrian overpass. Skydell, attorney Mariah DiGrino, Burke and others wound up in a seemingly cordial meeting to discuss the issue.

DiGrino took the witness stand in Burke’s trial Thursday while prosecutors played a recording of that meeting.

After the meeting, in a private debrief secretly recorded by Solis, Burke told him he’s not “very fond” of the Post Office owners, who still hadn’t hired his private law firm. That’s when he said that “As far as I’m concerned, they can go f--- themselves.”

That day, too, DiGrino received an email from a city official stating the Department of Transportation was “not supportive” of using tax financing for the project. DiGrino testified that she was “surprised” given the earlier meeting in which Solis expressed support for the project.

Days later, Solis called Skydell and said that, though Burke was “more restrained” in the meeting, Skydell should call Burke and remind him he’s “still thinking about him.” Solis added later that any TIF request will go through Burke’s committee.

Skydell responds, “I’m working on something.” Months later, he called Burke to tell him about a property, the Sullivan Center, he was about to close on. He indicated to Burke that the company would give tax work for their “maiden voyage” to Burke’s property tax appeals firm.

“Oh, good,” Burke responded. But days later, he was still skeptical about whether Skydell meant business.

“If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, then every day would be Christmas,” he told Solis.

‘Very corrupt’ crack not enough for mistrial

Jurors heard all that evidence Thursday after Kendall ruled on Wednesday’s mistrial bid from Burke’s lawyers. It had been prompted by the testimony of Amtrak executive Ray Lang, who described the “Chicago way of doing business” as “very corrupt.”

The testimony had been elicited by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur, a veteran federal prosecutor.

Mistrial in Burke case? Judge to rule on defense objection to ‘very corrupt’ remark during corruption trial

Though Burke’s lawyers argued that Lang’s comment went to the very heart of Burke’s trial — and the question jurors will have to decide — Kendall said she saw jurors write down her instruction to disregard it. And as for MacArthur, Kendall said “there is very little to suggest there was an intentional act.”

“As an officer of the court and someone who has been in this building for 30 years … her integrity is not something to be questioned,” Kendall said.

Read the full motions for and against the mistrial:

Defense Motion for Mistrial by tempuser59 on Scribd

U.S. Government Response to Mistrial Motion by tempuser59 on Scribd