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Report: Source wired up on Solis before Solis wired up on Burke

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* Diane Pathieu, Craig Wall and Sarah Schulte at ABC7…

Alderman Danny Solis (Ward 25) agreed to secretly record conversations with Alderman Ed Burke (Ward 14) following a federal investigation into his own campaign finances, a source told ABC7 Wednesday.

A source familiar with the investigation said the FBI began investigating Solis in 2014 and 2015 for allegations he was misusing campaign funds for personal use.

The source told ABC7 that a search warrant was served on Solis’ home and another location where the campaign money was spent. The feds then leveraged Solis and convinced him to wear a wire when speaking with Burke.

* Carol Marin and Don Moseley at NBC5…

In 2014, Chicago alderman Danny Solis became the subject of a federal criminal investigation, according to a source familiar with the investigation. That would be a year before 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke also became a target of federal authorities, according to the timeline in a federal criminal complaint.

On Wednesday the Chicago Sun-Times reported Solis secretly recorded conversations with Burke as part of a federal investigation. NBC5 News has not been able to independently confirm the Sun-Times report.

NBC 5 has learned that Solis’ cooperation with the feds was brought about by the fact that Solis himself was the subject of a criminal investigation dating back to 2014. To date no charges have been brought against the retiring 25th Ward alderman.

According to a source familiar with the investigation, a confidential informant wired up on Solis at least a year before Solis is reported to have wired up on Burke.

* Meanwhile, news outlets were able to pry loose what the feds were searching for in Ed Burke’s offices…

[Documents regarding] “Private gain for himself (Burke) and others including Klafter and Burke”—his law firm—“in exchange for taking or refraining…from official action.”

Six individuals are listed in the search warrants—but only by letters, as are 14 other entities.

The Feds were in search of all documents concerning “Burke’s efforts to obtain employment, patronage jobs or other benefits for his personal associates.” And any evidence of using city personnel used to “conduct or advance his law firm.” […]

Two weeks the original raid, federal agents were back once more at the Finance Committee office and a second search warrant explains why.

They removed six Dell servers, two HP servers and one IBM server.

* More…

Agents were looking for any evidence of “referral fees, fee-splitting, fee-sharing, and consulting agreements” involving Burke’s law firm, Klafter & Burke, the records show. They also demanded contact information and the work locations of all of Burke’s employees.

The haul removed by agents that day included a Rolodex, a personal phone book and numerous computer towers, hard drives and thumb drives, the records show. Other items taken were labeled by the FBI as checks to or from Burke’s law firm; TIF files from Burke’s 14th Ward; an unidentified resume; “Water Commissioner documents” and something labeled “Old Main Post Office file.” Agents also seized a file related to Perry Mandera, a strip club owner and trucking executive who recently opened a medical marijuana dispensary, the records show. […]

Two folders taken by agents concerned Brian Hynes — an apparent reference to the longtime lobbyist and lawyer with deep connections to House Speaker Michael Madigan. Hynes grew up near Madigan on the Southwest Side, and later worked on Madigan’s staff, according to a profile of him in Crain’s 40 Under 40 list.

* More…

The attachment also asked for any documents showing the “use of property and personnel of the city of Chicago to conduct or advance the business of his law firm.”

The Sun-Times has previously reported that one Finance Committee employee, Meaghan Cleary Synowiecki, a great-niece of Burke’s wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, was ordered by the alderman to find out the name of the law firm the Burger King owners used to appeal their property taxes, records show. Her husband, Michael Synowiecki, is a lobbyist who represents several City Hall contractors who have used Burke’s law firm to appeal their taxes.

Whew.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:31 pm

Comments

This is going to be huge- bigger then operation Board Games

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:36 pm
Is this the same Brian Hynes associated with the Vendor Assistance Program?

Comment by City Zen Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:43 pm
=Is this the same Brian Hynes associated with the Vendor Assistance Program?=

Yes.

Comment by WSJ Paywall Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:44 pm
2014. The Obama DOJ

Four years in making.

Lot of resignations in this period

Comment by Cannon649 Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:44 pm
Come on
Oh baby dont you wanna go
Come on
Oh baby dont you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago…

Comment by B-B Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:46 pm
A Rolodex? Lol.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:48 pm
There we go. Nice.

Waterfall .. Avalanche .. Tsunami .. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot ..

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:50 pm
This could be as big as Greylord or Gambat. But, one thing is certain: ethics laws probably will be changed in the near future. I assume what the Progressive Caucus is proposing could be law.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:58 pm
Madigan has not had anything to do with Hynes for many, many years.

Comment by MOON Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:59 pm
This has nothing to do with ethics laws. What do you propose- banning is extortion

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:00 pm
===a confidential informant wired up on Solis at least a year before Solis is reported to have wired up on Burke.===

An occupational hazard.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:02 pm
As a downstater with very little knowledge on Chicago politics, is this as bad as it looks? Because this looks like Blago level of bad.

Comment by Fixer Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:03 pm
–This is going to be huge- bigger then operation Board Games –

Which isn’t saying much; Board Games had, what, a dozen defendants? 20, tops?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:07 pm
- Sue -

If you banned outside employment, or restricted it, or limited Rule 14, or have term limits, or have term limits on committee chairmen : it would make certain things for difficult for extortionists. Now, you are right even these reforms might not stop certain people from operating but at least it makes things more challenging.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:07 pm
And, speaking of Greylord, don’t forget Ed Burke was chair of the Cook County Dem. Party judicial slating committee.

This is looking like some very good work by the G over a long period of time. I hope the DOJ and FBI personnel getting phone calls and texts from criminal lawyers who might want to bring in a client for a chat are “essential employees.”

Comment by Keyrock Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:14 pm
Always so desperate to get in the Madigan angle, as MOON noted, and if the Trib and Sun-Times were actually interested in doing the diligence to ascertain such info instead of just pushing the same old narrative, Hynes has been persona non grata for quite a while.

It’s a good thing Madigan’s finally decided to get engaged on the PR front, as his detractors have been allowed to fill the vacuum for years.

Comment by Moe Berg Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:23 pm
What will be interesting is if this investigation expands beyond Chicago’s City Hall.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:24 pm
I’m not saying this couldn’t lead to some giant perp walk- but remind me of Dorothy Brown’s arraignment date?

Comment by West Sider Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:33 pm
I guess Solis didn’t didn’t do this out of the goodness of his heart…

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:36 pm
so the 6 individuals and 14 entities are simply identified by letters like individual A and business entity Z?

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:36 pm
Up the ladder we go.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:37 pm
I’m listening to the radio as I read this and the song that is on with the lyrics “I’m only human, after all….don’t put the blame on me”.
I’m guessing a lot of officials singing this lately.

Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:42 pm
- Anonymous -

What’s odd we are at the assumed beginning of finding out who the targets of this investigation are and we are already at the top of the food chain. Two chairmen.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:44 pm
Can you say RICO Predicate

Comment by Altgelds Ghost Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:46 pm
Honestly, and I know Rich will object to this, but the alleged behavior here is far worse than Blagojevich. Granted, its highly offensive to delay a rate increase to pediatric docs at a children’s hospital, but the behavior that I expect will come out in this investigation will be far more egregious than anything that Blagojevich did. The fact that he is in jail for 14 years is obscene, but I’m hoping that those ensnared in this misconduct will spend significant time behind bars. Also, we found that many who were close to Blago were actually involved in his misconduct –Rezko, Kelly, and Monk. My guess is that if you look at those closest to Burke and Solis, you will find similar misconduct. I wouldnt want to be one of those people today. Finally, it will be very interesting to see the effect this has on the mayor’s race.

Comment by anon Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:05 pm
It would be kind of surprising if somebody in this investigation didn’t get charged with RICO if they don’t cooperate. But, it’s just a guess.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:05 pm
From the Wire…

Sneed hears the former powerful finance committee chairman Alderman Ed Burke was caught on a wire worn by a city council colleague

To wit;

Alderman Danny Solis wore his wire to trap Alderman Burke as Alderman Solis was also a victim of someone wired for sound.

Got all that?

The ageless and priceless Justice Anne Burke isn’t over the moon about this to say the least, and was using a quiet dinner with her husband, Jay Doherty, and a few other close confidantes to discuss what’s next.

Sneedless to say, hugs were given to everyone before they sat to eat.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:19 pm
- anon -

We don’t know all the facts yet but, logic would suggest you are right. Burke at a certain level had more power than Blago. He could get things done with fewer people involved while legally having outside employment. Plus, Burke has been in a leadership role for decades.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:19 pm
Forgive my cynical outlook but new ethics rules won’t matter. Blago signed the State ethics legislation and immediately commenced his unlawful conduct along with his cohorts. Banning outside employment is a non-starter as the salaries are too low. The single best thing the City can do is remove the zoning authority for alderman and at the state level enact much tougher punishment for public misconduct. The reality is neither the State nor City does much to roof out corruption which is why it falls on the FBI and U S Attorney. All of this corruption occurred under the nose of both Lisa ( I see nothing) Madigan and the Cook County State’s attorney. Where were those officials when the likes of Blago, Vrdolyak , Rezko and Kelly were abusing their positions and relationships. Ethics rules are meaningless what we need is more prosecutions

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:44 pm
So likely what will happen is more ethics task forces like Rahm had, which now basically forbids gifts to coworkers and other silly nonsense. Not to mention the annual computer ethics training which is targeted at lower level bureaucrats just so it looks like the administration is “doing something” when in reality its a waste of time.

As someone said above, none of the various reform proposals can stop extortion. Another administration will come in and “get tough on ethics- and increase the mandatory training and whatever and it wont deter unethical behavior among elected officials.

Comment by low level Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:51 pm
“Sneedless to say, hugs were given to everyone before they sat to eat.”

I expect to hear about more meetings in the steam room.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:29 pm
Sue, Aldermen make around $100k, that is much more than Chicago’s median household income. They should absolutely not be allowed to have outside jobs. Or pay them nothing.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:33 pm
Agree about zoning though. Aldermen should not be involved.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:35 pm
Anonymous- not to sound lame me an AH but we pay our first year lawyers 180 plus. 100 is no longer a meaningful amount of money for someone not recently out of college. Sorry but that’s the rwality

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:45 pm
At the very least, elected officials should not be allowed to represent entities in a legal dispute with a government entity.

Comment by CookR Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:53 pm
Sue, the median household income is about $60k. $100k is a lot to most people. Again , either make the job full time or don’t pay them at all.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:02 pm
Let me just say that I’m shocked (SNARK) that Bryan Hynes has appeared in the news regarding the investigation. It will be fascinating to see how this angle plays out in the investigation. This man has made a point of being close to those in power, even when those powerful people were of highly questionable moral character.

Comment by anon Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:11 pm
Is this Hynes related to Deputy governor Hynes??

Comment by anon Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:21 pm
===Is this Hynes related to Deputy governor Hynes??===

No. Also, MOON and Moe Berg were absolutely correct.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:24 pm
===What’s odd we are at the assumed beginning of finding out who the targets of this investigation are and we are already at the top of the food chain. Two chairmen.===

As Rich has said, they move up the food chain, and left unsaid, you don’t announce everyone you scoop up along the way. Burke was likely the endgame. The interesting part will be how many people they rolled up to get him. We already know that someone was wired for Solis before Solis got wired up himself.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:25 pm
Don’t assume Burke is the most significant target in this investigation. Just think about the number of people who he interacted with. Any individual and or company who obtained favorable treatment in exchange of retaining Burke or otherwise paying for deferential treatment is likely a subject. The interest in the post office development might mean there are developers under investigation. The tentacles on this seem endless

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:39 pm
Hmm. Lots of people will be saying they’re cooperating.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1649121

Comment by Keyrock Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:53 pm
“So what I cheated…. but hey wait I know someone else who is cheating even more” How many copped a plea to get Ryan or Rod nuber had to be in the dozens. Here we go again, where does the stink stop ? Ugggh

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:38 pm
== Is this Hynes related to Deputy governor Hynes?? ==

No relation.

And maybe my memory is failing me, but I thought I heard several years ago that Brian Hynes and Mike Madigan had become a “no invite ‘em item,” as Mike Sneed (or Oswego Willy pretending to be Sneed) might say.

Comment by Roman Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:05 pm
–As a downstater with very little knowledge on Chicago politics, is this as bad as it looks?–

Yeah, because Downstaters don’t know nothin’ but no corruption, Miss Scarlett.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 9:31 pm