“Federal agents showed up unannounced at the City Hall office of Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke, kicked everyone out and papered over the windows Thursday morning,” the Chicago Sun Times reports. “The nature of their visit was not known, but Ald. Burke has dodged dozens of federal investigations over five decades in Chicago politics.” Burke once worked as a tax lawyer for Donald Trump.
As stated in the article -- Burke only represented Trump in cases to reduce property taxes on Trump's Chicago buildings (which he has done for 100s of other corporate/wealthy clients). He is not Trump's "tax lawyer". Burke’s firm, Klafter & Burke, repeatedly has sought to reduce the property taxes that Trump Tower and other commercial properties have to pay — a lucrative business that’s also enriched Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, D-Chicago. The article also makes it very clear that: Burke is a Democrat He has over 50 years of involvement with Chicago's shady Democratic politics. Over the years, Burke also has come under fire for representing clients doing business with the city, requiring him to abstain from many votes. He also has come under scrutiny for the $100 million city worker-compensation fund operated out of his committee. He has been under federal investigation numerous times but evaded charges. His election opponent in his heavily Hispanic district made his work for Trump (which is minor) an election issue. Burke has amassed a considerable campaign war chest which could be used for legal expenses. He has survived federal investigations that threatened to undercut his power base, once even by blaming a dead man for ghost-payrolling irregularities on his committee payroll.
As an interesting follow-up --- this recent article shows that Ed Burke is not running for re-election and is facing trial on federal racketeering charges related to the raid mentioned in the original post. Of course, none of this is related to work done for Trump way in the past. Some quotes from the article are below. This Ed Burke guy is quite the Chicago political character. Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, longest-serving member of the city council, will not run for reelection https://abc7chicago.com/ed-burke-chicago-alderman-14th-ward-news/12504873/ ================ At the time, big brother Edward had only been charged with attempted extortion for allegedly shaking down a Burger King franchise owner for legal business and for a $10,000 campaign contribution to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Now, Edward Burke faces far more sweeping racketeering charges. They include the alleged Burger King shakedown and three similar schemes chronicled by former Zoning Committee Chairman Danny Solis (25th), who spent two years wearing a wire on Burke. Among them: that Burke tried to extort legal business from 601W Companies, developers of the Old Post Office, in exchange for his help with a variety of matters, including an $18 million tax increment financing subsidy, a $100 million tax break and help resolving issues with Amtrak and the city's Department of Water Management. In those recordings, an irritated Burke asks Solis, "Did we land the, uh, tuna?"; complains that the "cash register has not rung yet"; and states that, until he scores legal business, he was not "motivated to help the developer." "As far as I'm concerned, they can go f- themselves," Burke says. Although the final chapter will be written by the verdict in his federal corruption trial, Burke's has already been a remarkable story of political survival and rehabilitation.