Sources: Federal agents attack powerful Chicago Ald. Office of the Mayor of Ed Burke



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Federal agents raided the premises of the mighty Ald City Hall in Chicago. Ed Burke Thursday morning confirmed sources close to development.

Officers arrived at the office early Thursday morning, ordered employees to leave and glued to the windows of the office entrance to conceal the ongoing investigation, a source confirmed. A woman who left the office without identifying said that FBI agents were inside.

Burke's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Burke branch office on the southwestern side also had the same brown paper stuck on the front door with three signs saying "The office is closed." An officer sitting in a police car parked behind Burke's division office said he offered no more details.

A police source told the Chicago Tribune that FBI agents raided Burke City Hall's office and that the search was continuing. No arrest has been made or is imminent, said the source, who had no details about the nature of the investigation.

Burke has long been chairman of the finance committee of the city council, where he controls most of the legislative stock exchange channels at City Hall. He has been in office since 1969 and is running for a new record term of 14 terms.

Ald. Howard Brookins, who has offices next to Burke's in City Hall, said he did not know what was happening behind the brown paper that covered Burke's office doors. But he wondered whether federal agents would raid an official who ran for reelection in February.

"I'm listening to the news and reading the newspapers, and I thought they had not done anything as close as an election. I'm shocked by how you, or why such a thing would happen about 90 days before an election, Brookins told a scrum of reporters.

Burke's wife, Anne Burke, has just been re-elected for another term on the Illinois Supreme Court. She was to be sworn in on Thursday afternoon.

Burke, who turns 50 on the board, holds the record for Chicago's oldest alderman.

Burke was elected a member of the Democratic Committee of the 14th constituency in July 1968, after the death of his father, Ald. Joseph P. Burke, died of lung cancer while he was stationed. Since then, Burke has become the chairman of the powerful finance committee of the city council, where he exerted a great influence on the cords of the Chicago Stock Exchange.

This includes the city workers' compensation program, excluding police officers and sworn firefighters wounded in the line of duty.

In 2012, a federal grand jury asked Burke's Finance Commission to hand over the documents for a "duty handicap" program, which in 2011 alone had paid $ 115 million to municipal workers with disabilities, according to documents obtained in March. this moment by the Chicago Tribune.

The 2012 subpoenas were issued approximately a week after city inspector general Joseph Ferguson, a former federal prosecutor, announced that Burke's committee had rebuffed his attempts to obtain several of the same folders.

Burke has been under increased political pressure in recent years as a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.

US elected representative "Chuy" Garcia and his allies successfully triumphed Burke's brother, Dan Burke, in a public primary last year. Dan Burke was defeated by high school councilor Aaron Ortiz.

Garcia and his allies in the southwestern part have vowed to target Ald. Burke then, and four opponents registered to run for the alderman in the February 26 election.

Burke Law Firm is one of the largest property tax offices in the city. Burke's work has included property tax appeals for President Donald Trump's Chicago Tower.

This drew the wrath of Latin American and progressive activists who used Burke's work to link the alderman with Trump's anti-immigration policies.

Earlier this year, Burke was asked if he feared he would not be re-elected because of his brother's defeat and the next goal of Garcia and his progressive allies.

The powerful alderman gave an answer in one word: "No"

Gregory Pratt from Chicago Tribune contributed.

Check back for updates.

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