Take them all down

Those federal indictments of Illinois politicians? Coming any day now. Maybe.
We still anticipate plenty of action on the political corruption front coming out of 219 S. Dearborn. But we’ve lowered our expectations about the timing.

By Mark Brown@MarkBrownCST Jan 24, 2020, 4:44pm CST
Everyone’s waiting for U.S. Attorney John Lausch to announce the next corruption indictments of Chicago and Illinois politicians. AP

The truth is we were expecting more indictments by now from the big federal investigations that have gripped Illinois politics for more than a year.

Sorry if we got your hopes up.

That’s not to suggest those indictments aren’t still coming.

We continue to anticipate plenty of action on the political corruption front coming out of 219 S.
Dearborn in the coming days, weeks or months.

The difference is that we’ve lowered our expectations about the timing. You know the old saw about a watched pot never boiling.

In the Chicago news media, we’ve been eyeing the stove with anticipation at least since November.

At first, we were hearing there could be more indictments by the end of the following week. That was replaced with “by the end of the month,” then “before the end of the year” and finally “right after the first of the year.”

We’re almost a full month into 2020. And, despite all of the very public investigative activity in 2019 that placed numerous elected officials under clouds of suspicion, there still are only three who have been publicly charged — Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), state Sen. Thomas Cullerton, D-Villa Park, and former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat. Nobody has been convicted.

Ever since federal agents butcher papered over Burke’s City Hall office windows as they served a search warrant on Nov. 29, 2018, U.S. Attorney John Lausch and his assistant prosecutors have been carrying the burden of great expectations.


Those grew exponentially a year ago this Wednesday, when the Sun-Times began reporting on Ald. Danny Solis’ undercover cooperation with federal authorities, rooted in a long-running, wiretap-assisted probe into his own suspected wrongdoing.

For awhile, it seemed the whole Democratic power structure in Illinois could come tumbling down in months, especially after it was reported by the Chicago Tribune and WBEZ that one of the areas of inquiry was the ties among Commonwealth Edison, parent company Exelon, their lobbyists and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

As it stands, not even Solis has been charged, and there is talk he never will be, or at least he will be spared prison as a reward for his extensive help in gathering evidence against others.

The investigations so far have ended the political careers of four officials who resigned without being convicted: state Sen. Martin Sandoval, Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci,Arroyo and Solis.

Resignations submitted under such circumstances usually are seen as an indication the individual under investigation is cooperating with authorities.

In Arroyo’s case, that perception was heightened a week ago when prosecutors charged him under a legal device called a criminal information, often a precursor to a guilty plea.

Arroyo was charged with bribery in connection with an effort to push legislation allowing “sweepstakes” gambling machines.

Sandoval hasn’t been charged, but a federal raid on his Springfield office in September put him on the hot seat. The search warrant showed investigators were poking into numerous suspected schemes involving Sandoval, known in political circles for his “what’s in it for me” approach to public service. His day will surely come.

Ragucci is among several suburban mayors awaiting their day of reckoning over involvement with SafeSpeed red-light cameras. Federal agents seized $60,000 cash from Ragucci’s home.

The SafeSpeed investigation is just one of the major shoes that has yet to drop. Investigators are looking into whether company representatives made payoffs to get suburban contracts.

Others known to be under investigation, based on federal searches and subpoenas, include Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios and former Ald. Mike Zalewski (23rd).

And don’t forget about the sleeper investigation of the shuttered Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Bridgeport, which also promises political entanglements.

Why is this all taking longer than expected?

Maybe because there are so many cases that federal authorities don’t have the resources to reel in everything at once? Or maybe it’s because suspects started cooperating as charges were about to be filed, giving prosecutors more time to prepare and new information to check out.

Or as a veteran defense lawyer chided me Friday: “How long have you been doing this? It always takes longer than you expect. The feds work slowly.”

Patience is my new watchword.

Still, it’s the end of the month. Stay tuned.

It's interesting that non of these scandals have touched anyone from the 19th Ward. It says something about the local leadership. 


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