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Ed Burke trial coverage roundup

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Whether [former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis] takes the witness stand himself still remains up in the air. The prosecution has said they will not call him as a witness, but Burke’s defense team says they could.

Instead, the prosecution relied on the testimony of FBI agent Ryan McDonald to walk the jury through how Solis became a government witness and provide context for the series of recordings they watched.

Solis’ path from chair of the Zoning Committee to government informant began at 7:55 a.m. on June 1, 2016, when McDonald and another agent knocked on the door of his Southwest Side home and told him the feds had been listening to his phone for years, provided evidence of his crimes and let him know he “was in trouble,” according to testimony on Tuesday.

The next day, Solis decided to cooperate, including wearing the wiretaps against his colleagues, and set in motion the sprawling government corruption investigations that have thus far snared Burke and former House Speaker Michael Madigan, whom Solis also secretly recorded.

* Tribune…

Prosecutors on Tuesday displayed some of the centerpiece evidence against Burke: wiretapped conversations and secretly recorded video from ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, who cooperated extensively with the government against Burke and others after authorities presented him with evidence of his own misdeeds.

In a shaky video apparently captured from somewhere on Solis’s chest, Burke and Solis talked about the Post Office’s New York-based developers — then Burke made an unsolicited comment that surely perked up the ears of the FBI agents listening in the wire room.

“Well, while you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke to do the tax work,” Burke told Solis said on the Aug. 26, 2016, recording.

Solis laughed on the recording and agreed to mention Burke’s law firm, which did property tax appeals for a roster of wealthy clients, to the Old Post Office developers at their next meeting.

“And then we can certainly talk about a marketing arrangement for you,” Burke said, which prosecutors allege was an illegal offer by Burke to pay Solis an under-the-table referral fee for any law business he brought in.

Click here to listen to the recorded conversation between Ed Burke and Daniel Solis.

From Rich Miller: This looks like Burke was trying to put the chair of the city council’s Zoning Committee on the payroll, which would’ve been mighty sweet for a property tax appeals lawyer.

* WTTW…

In one phone call, recorded on Aug. 26, 2016, Solis and Burke were discussing the redevelopment plans when Burke told his colleague: “While you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke to do the tax work,” adding that “we can certainly talk about a marketing arraignment” for Solis as a part of that deal.

“Alright I certainly will,” Solis replied.

A month later, Solis made a video recording of a face-to-face meetup with Burke inside his office. In clips played in court Tuesday, Burke — who can be seen wearing glasses, a pinstripe suit and an American flag pin — asked for Solis to set up a meeting between Burke and the developers.

Solis then brought up the marketing arrangement Burke previously mentioned.

Burke can be heard replying: “I’m of the belief that if you get help from somebody to get some work, that they’re entitled to share in it, and it’s just up to us to figure out a way that it can be done so that there’s no pitfalls, legally.

“Listen,” he added, “it wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last time. I’m a believer in sharing the wealth.”

* WGN…

Prosecutors alleged that was a promise for kickbacks to be made to Solis. But on tape, Burke said that agreement would have to be above board.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Duffy hammered [F.B.I. special agent Ryan McDonald] on the FBI’s tactic of using ruses to try to determine Burke’s motivations, telling the jury that what Solis said on tape wasn’t true.

“Is it fair to describe that as an act of deception designed to mislead someone?” Duffy asked McDonald on the stand.

“It can be,” McDonald replied.

* More…

* ABC Chicago | Ed Burke trial testimony turns to FBI’s flipping of Ald. Danny Solis into informant: The FBI approached Solis in his own home about their ongoing investigation into the personal benefits Solis himself gained as an elected official, including alleged prostitution services and campaign contributions. They asked if he would cooperate in their investigation into Burke and wear a wire, and Solis agreed.

* CBS Chicago | Jurors hear wiretapped conversations between former Ald. Ed Burke, government mole Danny Solis: The 2016 video is shaky and does not catch Burke’s every move. But his words were clear. “I’m sitting here with Danny Solis,” Burke says. “Are you hearing anything from the GC on the Post Office deal?” On multiple occasions in person and on the phone, the two discussed money that could be made on from developers working on the Old Post Office — the building that straddles over the Eisenhower Expressway — which was located in Solis’ 25th Ward.

* Sun-Times | Five years ago today: Butcher paper signals FBI raid on offices of ‘untouchable’ Ed Burke — and changes Chicago history: It arguably changed the course of Chicago history in another way, too: Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently acknowledged that the raid, and the prosecution of Burke that followed, helped her win the mayor’s office in 2019. “I rode that wave ‘til it crashed on the beach,” Lightfoot said in an interview. “And I have no doubt that that made a difference in the public’s perception of me as a fresh face, a new alternative, who was willing to do something very differently, because I wasn’t somebody that somebody sent.”

posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Nov 29, 23 @ 11:54 am

Comments

I’m not sure this evidence will be compelling for the prosecution.

Comment by AlfondoGonz Wednesday, Nov 29, 23 @ 3:13 pm