Chicago Democrat convicted on only 13 corruption charges

Edward Burke, a former Chicago alderman has been convicted on a mere 13 federal corruption charges, a fairly small number for a Democrat. They include bribery, racketeering and attempted extortion.

Burke was found guilty of 13 out of 14 charges after a six-week trial.

The case against Burke involved corrupt transactions in which he used his political position for bribes and kickbacks, in the spirit of the Bidens . . . allegedly. He was also indicted for using his political position to bring business to his law firm from private developers. 

The New York Post reported that Burke targeted the developer 601W Companies LLC of New York. The company was working on a $600 million renovation to Chicago’s Old Post Office, a Burger King restaurant, and the liquor store chain Benny’s Beverage Depot.

But that's not all. The Democrat tried to extort money from the Field Museum, trying to 

The Democrat also attempted to extort money from the Field Museum, where he tried to pressure them into directing tax appeal business to his private law firm. 

Another former alderman, Danny Solis, wore a wire for about two years to assist the government investigating the case. He secretly recorded the Democrat on several occasions and this was used as evidence in the trial.

“Did we land the, uh, tuna?” Burke asked Solis, allegedly referring to getting a company to bite at the hook. 

In another recorded instance Burke can be heard saying that the developers could "go f**k themselves" if they thought they were going to receive his favorable treatment. It's likely that developer refused to be coerced.

Burke, a Democrat, also known as a political strategist and influencer, was apparently an anti-Semite to boot after he eas heard making anti-Semitic sounding comments, like saying they “deal with Jews to the exclusion of everyone else … unless there’s a reason for them to use a Christian” referring to the lead developer of the Old Post Office renovation project.

Whether that's true or not, [and there's no reason to think it has anything to do with contractors being Jewish] it's interesting that this was something he focused on. 

Burke faces a minimum sentence of only 110 years in federal prison but he's a Democrat and is likely to serve a lot less time than what is prescribed.

His developer, Charles Cui, and Peter Andrews, Burke’s political aide, were also tried alongside Burke. Andrews was found not guilty of all charges, while Cui was guilty of bribery.

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