Testimony in former Ald. Edward Burke’s corruption trial is expected to focus Friday on allegedly misleading statements Burke’s longtime ward aide gave to federal investigators when they confronted him at his South Side home five years ago.
Burke, the longtime head of the Finance Committee who left City Council in May, is charged with conspiring with his aide, Peter Andrews Jr., to shut down the renovation of a Burger King in the 14th Ward in order to pressure the owners into hiring Burke’s private law firm.
When agents knocked on Andrews’ door in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood on Nov. 29, 2018, they showed him photographs of the Burger King owners, Shoukat and Zohaib Dhanani, but he denied knowing who they were, according to the charges.
Andrews also denied knowing if Burke had met with the Dhananis. And when asked if he had met with them, he said, “They may have come in to our office or something, maybe. I don’t know.”
The interview, which was audio-recorded by the agents, was then cut short by Andrews who said he wanted to talk to a lawyer.
[ Ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
The Burger King scheme is one of four main episodes outlined in the indictment. Burke is also accused of trying to extort legal business from the developers of the Old Post Office, intervening in a permit dispute over a liquor store pole sign after the developer, Charles Cui, hired his law firm, and threatening to hold up a fee increase for the Field Museum because officials there had failed to consider an internship application by his friend’s daughter.
Burke, 79, who served 54 years as alderman before leaving the City Council in May, is charged with 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
Andrews, 73, is charged with one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
Cui, 52, is facing counts of federal program bribery, using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity, and making a false statements to the FBI.
After four weeks of testimony from some 31 prosecution witnesses, the high-profile trial, which has been delayed twice by COVID-19 issues since beginning on Nov. 6, seems on track to go right down to the wire of the Christmas holiday.
[ Ed Burke trial: What you need to know ]
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Prosecutors have said they plan to rest their case in chief on Monday. Burke’s attorneys say they plan to call former Ald. Daniel Solis, whose work as an FBI mole led to the dozens of secret recordings that form the backbone of the charges against Burke, as their own witness, one of the most highly anticipated moments in a Chicago public corruption trial in years.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall reminded Burke’s defense team that they’re not allowed under trial rules to call Solis simply to impeach his credibility. Burke attorney Chris Gair assured the judge the questioning will be broad.
He said he plans to question Solis “for hours” about the recordings alone, and will also delve into Solis’ deferred prosecution deal with the U.S. attorney’s office, which will leave Solis without a criminal conviction and still collecting his $100,000 annual pension even though he will admit to corruptly accepting campaign donations from developers.
“I can guarantee you, judge, anything about what deal he got and what crimes he committed, that is going to come at the end and you will be fully satisfied,” Gair said.
Kendall said she likely will let the jurors know the tentative schedule on Friday, and may tell them at some point that there is no pressure to have a verdict before Christmas.
“I’m not there yet, but that certainly something I’ll consider,” Kendall said. “Happy jurors are jurors who kind of know what’s going on.”