This week a federal jury will begin deliberations to decide the fate of the man who was once Chicago’s most powerful alderman. Its decision could be a lesson for other wayward politicians to come.
Former 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke is facing judgment after a six-week trial on a 14-count federal indictment, including charges of racketeering, bribery and extortion. Most center on allegations that Burke deployed his massive clout to leverage business for his private law firm.
The prosecution claims he tried to strong-arm companies and individuals seeking to do business with the city, interests connected to Chicago’s Old Post Office, a Burger King on the Southwest Side and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side. Burke, 79, is also accused of threatening to hold up the Field Museum’s request for an admission fee increase because the museum did not heed his request for a paid internship for the daughter of a close friend.
If you believe the evidence prosecutors rolled out, Burke is the quintessential model of the Chicago Way, that is, the way to crime.
“Mr. Burke’s hand was out again and again, demanding money and benefits from the very people he was supposed to act on behalf of,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur declared last week during her closing argument. His conduct “really is a master class in Mr. Burke using and exerting his power.”
Burke’s attorney, Joseph Duffy, strenuously and loudly argued for his client’s innocence. He slammed the government’s case, calling prosecutors “desperate to come up with something against Mr. Burke.”
Burke’s actions were “perfectly legal and appropriate for an alderman to do,” Duffy argued.
Burke is being tried alongside Peter Andrews Jr., his former aide, and Chicago developer Charles Cui.
Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, right, gets applause after his farewell speech on his final day as alderman at the City Council meeting, April 19, 2023. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
If the jurors convict, that will be nothing new. “Urbs in Horto” may be Chicago’s official motto, but more the unofficial one is, “Where’s mine?” Thirty-seven Chicago council members have been convicted of federal crimes since 1971, shows an analysis by Injustice Watch, a news website that covers criminal justice issues.
Two former aldermen, Danny Solis of the Southwest Side’s 25th Ward, and Carrie Austin, who represented the 34th Ward on the Far South Side, are currently under indictment. Last year, former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson was convicted of two counts of lying to regulators and five counts of filing false income tax returns. He served four months in a federal prison. So, I was bemused by the parade of well-known politicians who visited the courtroom last week as the trial wound down.
News reports ticked off the curious list. There were recently retired 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney, and former 1st Ward Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno. “They were there to show moral support for Burke,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 2021, Moreno pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and giving a false report to authorities. He had been “accused of lending his Audi to a woman he was dating and then reporting it stolen,” the Chicago Tribune reported. He later “pleaded guilty to a DUI and speeding after he was charged in late 2020 with drunkenly crashing into several cars on a posh Gold Coast street.”
Edward Burke, second from right, on the day he was sworn in as alderman, is with his mother, Mrs. Ann Burke, and Judge Joseph B. Hermes, left, and the Rev. Richard Wolfe of Visitation Parish, in City Council Chambers on March 14, 1969. (George Quinn / Chicago Tribune)
Chris Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and member of America’s most iconic political family also visited the courtroom. Kennedy, who unsuccessfully ran for Illinois governor in 2018, shared a handshake and pleasantries with Burke, “in a show of support,” WGN reported.
I hope they were doing more than glad-handing. I hope they were listening. Have they heard, for example, about the feds’ monumentally successful history?
A 2023 analysis of data from the U.S. federal court system by the Pew Research Center shows that in fiscal year 2022, only 290 of 71,954 defendants in federal criminal cases (about 0.4%) went to trial and were acquitted. Another 1,379 (1.9%) went to trial and were found guilty. However, the vast majority of defendants in federal criminal cases that year did not go to trial at all, with 89.5% pleading guilty, Pew found. Another 8.2% had their case dismissed at some point in the judicial process, according to the data obtained from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Why do supposedly smart and accomplished “public servants” take their cases to court, despite the high success rate of government prosecutions?
During the trial, Burke was consummately composed, even smiling at times, as prosecutors played, over and over, highly incriminating tapes that sought to portray him as a hustler on the make. Perhaps some criminal defendants are incapable of fathoming that their actions are illegal, even immoral. They have been doing it too long, playing it too hard, to turn back now.
Those in the know say that at Chicago’s City Hall, the most powerful are also the most adept at not getting caught. Burke served in the Chicago City Council for 54 years, much of that time as the chairman of the Finance Committee.
One media outlet has referred to Burke as having “near-absolute power” in City Hall.
Burke will turn 80 on Dec. 29. If convicted and sent to prison, he will likely spend the rest of his life there. When the jury decides, let us hope Burke’s buddies are listening.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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