Former Ald. Ed Burke observes testimony about Chicago’s 14th Ward, which he represented for 54 years, during a federal trial on Nov. 17, 2023. (WTTW News)
Ed Burke was “motivated by greed” and repeatedly used his powerful positions as alderperson and chair of the city’s Finance Committee to punish, extort and line his own pockets, federal prosecutors told jurors Wednesday.
Closing arguments began Wednesday, more than a month after proceedings began in Burke’s landmark corruption case. Prosecutors painted the longtime 14th Ward alderperson as a “powerful and corrupt” politician who used that power to “get what he wanted for himself.”
“For the past weeks, you have heard about a pattern of unlawful activity,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur told jurors. “Standing at the center of the steady drumbeat of unlawful activity is this man: Edward Burke.”
Burke faces 14 charges, including racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. He is being tried alongside his former aide Peter Andrews and Portage Park businessman Charles Cui.
In her closing argument, MacArthur said Burke continuously demanded money and benefits from the very people he was elected to serve.
“Edward Burke was a powerful and corrupt politician,” she said. “And this was his racket. His pattern of racketeering activity.”
Four Schemes Alleged
MacArthur on Wednesday began walking jurors through two of the four alleged schemes Burke is charged with.
Racketeering charges — usually brought against members of the mob or street gangs — allege a pattern of corruption unknown to its victims. Prosecutors will have to convince jurors that Burke committed at least two acts as part of that larger pattern of corruption.
That effort began with prosecutors detailing what they said were Burke’s efforts to block a fee increase proposed by the Field Museum in 2017 because officials didn’t agree to hire former Ald. Terry Gabinski’s daughter, Molly, as an intern.
Burke and Andrews, his top aide, are charged with working to hold up the renovation of a Burger King near 41st Street and Pulaski Road until the developer hired Burke’s private law firm. Andrews is also charged with lying to a federal agent.
Prosecutors have alleged Burke exploited the renovation’s need for a driveway permit to extort the firm’s owners, Shoukat and Zohaib Dhanani.
The Dhananis’ owned more than 150 fast food restaurants in Illinois — including the Burger King on Pulaski in the 14th Ward — and Burke saw a “huge opportunity” for “himself to make money,” according to MacArthur.
Burke allegedly brought up his tax firm, Klafter & Burke, on multiple occasions with the Dhananis without prompting.
Before he even met the men, Burke was recorded on a phone call saying that he believed the Dhananis owned 300 restaurants across Illinois and that he’d “like to get some of (their) law business.”
MacArthur called this statement a “clear window” into what Burke wanted out of this process.
On a June 2017 call with Zohaib Dhanani that was played for jurors, Burke said “we were gonna talk about the real estate tax representation and you were gonna have somebody get in touch with me so we can expedite your permits.”
“This was a direct, in-your-face, I-want-your-business move,” MacArthur said. “This was Mr. Burke’s racket.”
Perhaps the most elaborate scheme Burke is charged with involves the Old Post Office, the massive building that straddles the Eisenhower Expressway at the edge of the Loop.
Jurors heard phone calls and watched videos of Burke that were secretly recorded by former Ald. Danny Solis — who agreed to cooperate with federal investigators after they discovered that he had used his position as chair of the city’s Zoning Committee to illegally obtain cash and trips.
The Old Post Office happens to be in the 25th Ward, which Solis represented on the City Council for 25 years. Prosecutors have alleged Burke identified the $800 million renovation of the Old Post Office, which needed an $18 million subsidy and a tax break worth $100 million from the city to move forward, as an opportunity to force the developer to hire his law firm.
Burke allegedly pledged to kick back a portion of the spoils to Soils in exchange for the Zoning Committee’s approval.
In the final scheme, Burke is accused of pressing city officials to look into why a request for a pole sign on the Far Northwest Side had been denied after the developer hired Burke’s private law firm.
Prosecutors alleged the former alderperson accepted a bribe from Cui, who reached out to Burke when he ran into a brick wall when city officials denied his request for a large pole sign outside 4901 W. Irving Park Road, a former bank building that he redeveloped in Portage Park.
Cui is also charged with lying to FBI agents.
‘Extremely Odd’ Allegation
Before closing arguments got underway Wednesday, Judge Virginia Kendall rejected a push from Burke’s attorneys to acquit their client on two charges connected to the alleged Field Museum extortion.
“No rational trier of fact could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Burke attempted to extort the Field Museum,” the ex-alderperson’s defense team argued in a motion Tuesday.
Kendall said she’d take the defense motion — regarding what she called an “extremely odd” allegation of attempted extortion — under advisement, but would let the charges go to the jury for a verdict.
In a recorded 2017 phone call played during the trial, Burke said: “If the chairman of the Committee on Finance calls the president of the Park Board, we know your proposal is going to go nowhere.”
Deborah Bekken, a former Field Museum official, told jurors she clearly understood during that call that Burke was linking the museum’s proposed admission rate hike and their failure to consider Molly Gabinski’s internship application.
MacArthur on Wednesday called this a “true take-your-breath-away moment” in which Burke “linked his power and authority with what it was he wanted.”
She told jurors that Burke abused his power by invoking his power as chair of the Finance Committee to make that alleged threat, even if he didn’t intend to take any actual action to block the fee increase.
But Burke’s defense attorney Chris Gair argued there’s “not one shred of evidence” that Burke was pushing for any sort of job. Gair instead claimed Wednesday that Burke was “blowing off steam” during that call because he felt he hadn’t been treated with enough respect by museum officials.
“There’s no threat to try and get a job,” Gair said.
MacArthur will conclude her closing arguments Thursday and she'll be followed by arguments from each of the three defendants. The government will then get the final word with their rebuttal closing before jurors begin their deliberations.
Heather Cherone contributed to this report.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
