Records show feds' investigation of Ald. Burke broader than previously known

When FBI agents raided the City Hall offices of Alderman Edward M. Burke on Nov. 29, they were seeking a wide range of documents that shows the scope of their investigation into Burke was broader than previously known, records indicate.

Burke faces one charge of attempted extortion that alleges he tried to shake down a Burger King franchise owner for business for his private law firm while the company needed city permits for a restaurant location in Burke's 14th Ward.

But FBI agents also were looking for any records that would show whether Burke traded votes in the city council to obtain business for his law firm, Klafter & Burke, which handles property tax appeals for many companies that do business with City Hall.

Agents also wanted documents showing whether Burke, Chicago's longest-serving alderman, was trying to gain patronage jobs or other work or benefits for his personal associates, according to a copy of the five-page attachment to the search warrant released Wednesday night by the City Council Committee on Finance.

The document indicates the feds were interested not only in what Burke did as alderman but also actions he took specifically as the powerful head of the City Council's Finance Committee. Burke resigned from that position earlier this month.

In an unusual move, agents refer in the attachment to eight people only by letters of the alphabet, along with 14 "entities," also identified only by letters. The federal agents searching Burke's City Hall offices knew, of course, what entities or individuals the different letters stood for but wanted to keep them secret from Burke and his associates.

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