Politics

Under Fire, Ald. Jim Gardiner Used $122K in Campaign Funds to Pay Legal Fees: State Records

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward), facing a number of lawsuits and investigations, spent $122,028 in campaign cash to pay five law firms in 2023 and 2024, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

More than half of that amount, $67,735, went to attorney Thomas Raines, who defended Gardiner in two lawsuits that cost Chicago taxpayers a combined $187,500 to resolve without a trial, records show. Raines, a registered City Hall lobbyist, has represented a wide variety of people and businesses at odds with the city.

An additional $12,703 went to Loeb & Loeb LLP, a firm that also represented former Ald. Ed Burke, who is now serving a two-year prison sentence after being convicted of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.

Gardiner said the decision by the city’s Law Department under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot not to use city resources to fight the lawsuits “left him no alternative but to turn to permissible resources to defend my actions as an elected official.”

Gardiner spent nearly three times as much on legal fees during 2023 and 2024 than any other member of the Chicago City Council, according to a WTTW News analysis of records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Gardiner declined to answer a question from WTTW News about whether it was appropriate to use campaign contributions for his legal defense.

In all, 26 alderpeople, not including Gardiner, spent a combined $135,000 from their campaign accounts to cover legal fees. More than half of those funds went to lawyers who specialize in election law, including Ed Mullen, Michael Dorf and Michael Kasper.

There is no evidence that any of Gardiner’s legal fees covered election-related work.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward), who spent more than $42,400 on legal fees, the second most of any member of the City Council, paid 75% of those fees to Mullen, records show. Ervin did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News about those expenses.

Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) spent the next highest amount on legal fees, approximately $27,000, records show. A volunteer treasurer failed to file required forms when Fuentes launched her bid for the City Council in 2023, incurring penalties from the Illinois State Board of Elections and forcing her to hire Mullen, Fuentes said.

“We learned a lesson,” Fuentes said.

Illinois law permits elected officials to use funds contributed by supporters of their campaigns to defend themselves from accusations of wrongdoing while in office.

That law was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court in March 2022, after Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward) challenged the decision by his disgraced predecessor Ald. Danny Solis to use $220,000 in campaign cash to defend himself in the investigation that ultimately led to Burke’s conviction and charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

In all, Burke spent more than $3.8 million in campaign cash on his unsuccessful legal defense.

Gardiner has represented Old Irving Park, Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Gladstone Park and parts of Edgebrook, Wildwood and Norwood Park since 2019, and has been at the center of controversy nearly from the beginning of his time in office. Gardiner is one of the most conservative members of the City Council and frequently opposes Mayor Brandon Johnson’s policies and initiatives.

Between 2020 and 2024, Gardiner also served as the 45th Ward’s Democratic committeeperson.

In September 2021, Gardiner apologized for sending profane and misogynistic texts to a former aide about then-Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) and two women who worked at City Hall, including 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack’s chief of staff.

While an effort by some members of the City Council to censure Gardiner for those comments failed, Cook County Democratic Party Chair Toni Preckwinkle stripped Gardiner of his positions on four committees, preventing the then-committeeperson from having any say on who the Cook County Democratic Party endorsed in elections.

Gardiner did not run for reelection as the 45th Ward’s Democratic committeeperson in 2024. Michael Rabbitt now holds that unpaid post.

Other texts obtained by WTTW News show that Gardiner obtained the criminal records of James Suh, a 45th Ward resident who organized a protest against Gardiner, and told his aide to “leak” those records. Suh ran unsuccessfully for 45th Ward alderperson in 2023.

That same month, WTTW News reported federal officials were probing allegations that Gardiner took bribes and demanded payments before taking official actions. Gardiner has not been charged with wrongdoing.

In September 2023, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg found Gardiner retaliated against Pete Czosnyka, a frequent critic and political foe, by directing a city employee to issue “unfounded citations” that could have forced the Jefferson Park man to pay more than $600 in fines.

The Chicago Board of Ethics fined Gardiner $20,000 for that conduct, the maximum allowed under the city’s Government Ethics ordinance. Gardiner is challenging that fine and has yet to pay it, records show.

Also in September 2023, Chicago taxpayers paid $100,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by a man who claimed he was wrongfully arrested at Gardiner’s request after finding a cellphone that belonged to Charles Sikanich, who Gardiner hired to serve as 45th Ward superintendent, records show.

Raines represented Gardiner in that case.

Sikanich pleaded guilty in December to a felony gun charge. Prosecutors alleged he tried to sell an illegal machine gun while working for the city.

In December, Gardiner agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed he violated the First Amendment by blocking six critics, including Czosnyka and Suh, from his official Facebook page in June 2021. Chicago taxpayers will pay $87,500 to resolve that suit, with Gardiner paying $70,000, records show.

Raines also represented Gardiner in that case.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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