Agents Raid Burke's Offices Again

Monday, December 17, 2018 | 0

Two weeks after FBI agents raided the offices of the alderman who oversees Chicago’s workers’ compensation program, they returned Thursday, according to news reports.

Alderman Ed Burke

Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that the investigators were looking for information they didn’t find when they went through longtime Alderman Ed Burke’s offices and carted off records Nov. 29. Authorities have not revealed what records they may be looking for, but Burke, who has been in office since the 1969, is facing mounting scrutiny and criticism.

Chicago may be the only U.S. city in which a member of the legislative branch oversees workers’ comp, which historically has been managed by an agency that’s part of the executive branch of government. Critics have charged that Chicago’s program costs $100 million a year, much more than most cities’ programs, and is nothing more than a political patronage scheme.

Earlier this week, a group of aldermen introduced an ordinance to strip Burke of his authority over the comp program and give it to the corporation counsel, part of the mayor’s office. A federal lawsuit was filed this year over similar separation of powers concerns.

Burke, who turns 75 in two weeks, has long denied any wrongdoing.

“As you are aware, there have previously been several other investigations such as this. In every instance we cooperated fully,” Burke told reporters after the November raid by federal agents. “And in every instance, nothing has been found.”