DANNY’S DEFENSE DOLLARS
FBI mole, former alderman Solis uses $220K in campaign funds to pay legal fees
Former Ald. Danny Solis (25th) spent two years wearing a wire to help the feds build their corruption case against Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and two years before that under investigation himself.
Somehow, he managed to avoid paying a criminal defense attorney — until now.
Campaign disclosure reports filed this week with the State Board of Elections show Solis, former longtime chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee, paid $220,000 to the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP through his 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization fund.
Solis made the payment May 21 after transferring $85,000 from his other campaign fund, Citizens for Daniel Solis, according to the second-quarter report.
Neither Solis nor Lisa Noller, the former federal prosecutor who represents the disgraced former alderman, could be reached for comment.
The Chicago Sun-Times disclosed in January that Solis had worn a wire to record more than a dozen private conversations as movers and shakers sought official city actions from Burke.
Solis has not been seen in public since being exposed as an FBI mole. His colleagues viewed what he had done as the ultimate act of betrayal.
The Sun-Times has since reported that Solis agreed to cooperate with the feds only after being confronted with allegations of his own wrongdoing. Those allegations were compiled, in part, when the feds were tapping his phone.
He stepped down as Zoning Committee chairman after the Sun-Times disclosed the sordid details. They included trips to massage parlors, a constant supply of Viagra, free weekend use of an Indiana farm once owned by Oprah Winfrey for a graduation party for Solis’ son, and a steady stream of campaign contributions provided by business people seeking city actions.
At one point, as the feds listened in on a conversation secretly recorded by an associate of a Chinese businessman, Solis arranged a meeting with House Speaker Michael Madigan.
At that meeting, the speaker allegedly sought legal business for his firm, which handles property tax appeals.
Later, Solis was recorded telling that Chinese businessman he would be able to rezone Chinatown property to pave the way for a hotel — if he hired Madigan’s law firm to do the legal work. Madigan was not present when the remark was made.
Four Hispanic aldermen demanded Solis come out of hiding and start doing his job or resign from the Council. Solis did neither. He laid low, staying in office until his successor, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, was sworn in on May 20.
The only definitive word from Solis was a March 13 statement issued on his behalf, confirming his undercover role and pleading for privacy.
On the day Solis was exposed as a mole, his colleagues could not contain their anger.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said getting wired up to snare colleagues is “not the way I was brought up.”
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), whose office was raided by the feds last month, was nearly speechless when asked to comment about Solis.
“Not about Danny. I might cry,” Austin said. “You don’t do that. You just don’t.”
Burke offered a stone-faced response, telling reporters he had “done nothing wrong and no recording Danny Solis can make would change that.”
On May 30, Burke was charged in a 14-count indictment based on a federal racketeering statute.
In addition to an alleged Burger King shakedown that was the subject of a Jan. 3 attempted extortion charge against Burke, the indictment included three similar schemes, one chronicled by Solis.
It was an alleged attempt by Burke to extort legal business from 601W Companies, developers of the Old Main Post Office, in exchange for Burke’s help with a variety of matters.
In those recordings, an irritated Burke was caught on tape asking Solis: “Did we land the, uh, tuna?” and complaining the “cash register has not rung yet” and, until he scored the legal business, he was not “motivated” to help the developer with its issues at the Post Office. “As far as I’m concerned, they can go f--- themselves,” Burke said.
Solis has told associates he hopes to someday be hailed as a hero for any part he played in bringing down Chicago’s power structure and helping unravel one of the biggest political scandals this city has seen in decades.