Former Ald. Edward Burke arrived at Chicago’s federal courthouse Monday looking much like the powerful Democratic politician who ruled City Council for decades, dressed to the nines, silver hair combed back, American flag pin on his lapel.
Only now he’s a private citizen in the fight of his life.
When he rose to his feet in U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall’s courtroom to introduce himself to a panel of citizens who could be deciding his fate, he spoke the only words they would hear him say all day.
“Good morning,” Burke said straightforwardly, and retook his seat.
The proceedings got off to a slow start, however, with attorneys questioning only 20 of the 53 prospective jurors on Monday’s panel.
Among the citizens who could decide the fate of a legendary Chicago political figure: a part-time butcher, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, and a retired IRS agent with a passion for roller-skating.
Kendall told them to return to her courtroom on the 25th floor of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse Tuesday morning, while a second panel of 50 was also awaiting its turn. Selection will continue until attorneys have chosen 12 jurors and four alternates. Opening statements in the case could come as soon as Wednesday.
The son of a Democratic ward boss and alderman, Burke, 79, served more than 50 years on the City Council and allegedly ran the Finance Committee like his own personal fiefdom before his office was dramatically raided by the FBI in November 2018.
Burke arrived at the courthouse at about 8:40 a.m. dressed in a dark suit and tan coat, without wearing his trademark fedora. He took his seat surrounded by his high-powered legal team. His wife, former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, was sitting behind him in the front row of the gallery.
He occasionally rifled through a printed spreadsheet with information about each prospective juror, but for the most part he sat still and looked straight ahead.
Before the first panel of jurors was brought in, Burke’s lawyer, Chris Gair, asked about the large wall display on the 25th floor featuring famous public corruption cases at the courthouse through the years, including former Illinois Govs. Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan. Could it be taken down or covered up so jurors don’t see it?
Kendall said she’d look into it.
Shortly after 9 a.m., a pool of 53 prospective jurors began live questioning.
When the judge asked the potential jurors if anyone knew Burke, a woman raised her hand and said she knows him from “the country club,” presumably meaning the Beverly Country Club, which was staked out by the FBI as part of the investigation. Kendall said they would ask about it more specifically when it’s the woman’s turn to be interviewed.
The judge and attorneys took the all day to question 20 prospective jurors. The judge has said they need to get about 44 people who make it through “for cause” strikes before proceeding to the next phase.
The judge and attorneys delved deep into jurors’ hobbies and personal lives, down to their favorite “Ted Lasso” characters and the names of their pets. One man, a DJ, got on the witness stand mic and gave the courtroom a preview of his shtick: “Turn the lights down low, hey baby, here we go,” he said.
The jury pool, which was prescreened for the ability to sit for the potentially six-week trial, filled out lengthy questionnaires at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Friday, answering questions about their knowledge of the case, their feelings about politicians and other potential biases.
Prospective jurors who live in Chicago were asked if they knew who their alderman was. Generally they answered that they did not. A few said they had heard of Burke, but didn’t know details about his case.
A few prospective jurors with connections to the alcohol industry were questioned about possible connections to Binny’s Beverage Depot, a chain of liquor stores that plays a role in the charges against real estate developer Charles Cui. Binny’s had allegedly drastically cut its lease with one of Cui’s developments on the Northwest Side because the city had denied use of a stand-alone pole sign previously used by a bank at the location.
Cui is accused of hiring Burke’s law firm in exchange for Burke’s help behind the scenes at City Hall. While the sign permit failed despite Burke’s alleged efforts, the alderman ended up voting in favor of several other measures involving Cui’s property in the weeks that followed.
Monday’s proceedings marked the first time Burke has stepped foot in the federal courthouse since his arraignment on the indictment on June 4, 2019, shortly after Burke had been sworn in for a record 13th full term as alderman.
On that day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot reiterated calls for Burke to resign, but he refused, hanging on to his longtime seat in the City Council until finally stepping down in May after deciding not to run for reelection.
Burke 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.
Burke’s longtime ward aide, Peter Andrews Jr., 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.
The third defendant, Cui, 52, of Lake Forest, is charged with one count of federal program bribery, three counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
At the heart of the indictment are more than a hundred secretly recorded meetings and phone calls allegedly showing Burke using his elected office to win benefits for himself, mostly through business for his private law firm. The four main schemes contained in the indictment allege:
— Burke threatened to use his official office to corruptly induce the developer of the Old Post Office to hire his law firm, Klafter & Burke, for property tax appeals.
— Burke and Andrews attempted to shake down two Texas-based business owners for law firm work after they came to Burke for help with a Burger King restaurant they were renovating in the 14th Ward.
— Burke attempted to intercede at City Hall on a sign permit issue important to Cui’s development in Portage Park after Cui agreed to hire Klafter & Burke.
— Burke threatened officials at the Field Museum to hold up their request for a fee increase at City Hall because he was angry they had ignored an application for an unpaid internship submitted by the daughter of Burke’s longtime friend, former Ald. Terry Gabinski.
Burke’s defense team, meanwhile, will try to show that Burke’s maneuvering was nothing more than politics as usual. In fact, Burke is not charged with performing a single official act as alderman in exchange for anything of value, and some of the projects he allegedly put his thumb on the scale for weren’t even in his ward, his attorneys have argued.
The crux of Burke’s defense will likely be to knock down former Ald. Daniel Solis, who was caught in his own corruption scheme before agreeing in 2016 to become an FBI mole and secretly record Burke and others over a period of nearly two years.