An FBI mole at the 2016 Democratic National Convention: The origin story of the Ald. Edward Burke corruption probe
CHICAGO -- A who’s who of Illinois Democrats was gathered in Philadelphia in July 2016 for the party’s national convention, where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were vying for the chance to take on Donald Trump.
Among the Chicago heavyweights in attendance that week was Ald. Daniel Solis, a staunch Clinton supporter who told the Tribune the excitement of potentially having the first woman in U.S. history ever to be nominated for president was “a historical moment in the life of this country and in my life.”
As it turned out, Clinton’s nomination wasn’t the only history going down in the City of Brotherly Love. Behind the scenes, one of the most significant public corruption cases in Chicago history was about to be born.
Two months before the event, Solis had quietly agreed to cooperate with federal investigators after being confronted with evidence he’d used his elected position for personal gain. By the time the convention began on July 25, he was outfitted with an audio recorder, a first step in what became an unprecedented turn as an FBI mole.
The main target at that time could not have been bigger: then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, the head of the Illinois Democratic Party on his way to becoming the longest-serving state legislative leader in the country.
But with a political player like Solis cooperating, the net was cast far
