More than seven years after federal agents knocked on his door, former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis faced questions publicly for the first time Tuesday about his work as an FBI mole when he took the stand in the corruption trial of longtime Ald. Ed Burke.
A packed courtroom watched as Burke’s defense attorney Chris Gair questioned Solis for nearly three hours in one of the trial's most-anticipated sequences.
“On June 6, 2016, the FBI showed up at your house at about 8 o’clock in the morning?” Gair asked Solis.
“Yes,” Solis replied.
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“And you were darn scared, right?” Gair pressed. “Yes,” Solis answered.
Confronted with evidence of his own alleged crimes, accused of taking bribes like cash and trips, Solis then spent more than two years wearing a wire on some of the city's biggest political players, secretly recording roughly 20,000 phone calls and meetings.
Those recordings are now key evidence in the case against Burke, who was indicted in 2019 on 14 counts of racketeering, extortion and bribery - accused of using his immense government power to steer business to his private law firm specializing in property tax appeals.
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Prosecutors allege Burke – 14th ward alderman for 54 years and chair of the powerful City Council Finance Committee – attempted to strongarm developers of the city’s Old Main Post Office, a Northwest Side Binny’s and a Burger King in his ward into hiring his firm.
Burke’s defense maintains he never profited from any of the alleged schemes, calling it “a bribery case without bribes.” His attorneys on Tuesday pointed to Solis’ motivation in recording Burke and lying to Burke at the direction of the FBI.
“Your reason to cooperate with the government was to save yourself, wasn’t it?” Gair asked Solis, who responded, “Yes.”
Gair drilled down on Solis’ outreach to Burke throughout his cooperation, asking, “When you had meetings with Mr. Burke or phone calls with Mr. Burke, it was almost always you reaching out to Mr. Burke, yes?”
“Probably, yes,” Solis replied.
“And that was because you were trying to help yourself with your own criminal problems, correct?” Gair pressed. Again, Solis responded simply, “Yes.”
Prosecutors have called Solis – who signed a deferred prosecution agreement as part of his deal – one of the city’s “most significant cooperators in the last several decades.” He also wore a wire on former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, indicted on federal corruption charges last year and scheduled to stand trial in the spring.
Burke’s attorney ended his questioning of Solis Tuesday by drilling down on that deal, asking Solis what his understanding was of the penalties he may have faced for his alleged wrongdoing at the time he agreed to cooperate.
“You understood it was years in prison?” Gair asked. “It could be,” Solis responded.
“You’re not going to be serving years in prison?” Gair replied, to which Solis said, “Not according to my agreement.”
“You’re not going to serve any days in prison?” Gair asked. “That’s correct,” Solis said.
“You’re not going to serve any hours in prison?” Gair continued. “That’s correct,” Solis repeated.
“You’re not going to be indicted for anything?” Gair asked, eliciting from Solis a third and final, “That’s correct.”
Prosecutors - who rested their case earlier in the day Tuesday - chose not to question Solis, and Burke’s defense attorneys rested their case.
Also charged alongside Burke are his aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui. Closing arguments are slated to begin Wednesday afternoon.
