Infamous ‘tuna’ quote, other secret recordings paint picture of old-school Chicago in Ed Burke corruption trial
Five years after federal agents raided then-Ald. Ed Burke’s City Hall office, jurors at his corruption trial last week got to hear what’s fast becoming known simply as the “tuna” call.
In one of the trial’s most highly anticipated moments, federal prosecutors played the secret recording of Burke allegedly asking then-colleague, Ald. Daniel Solis, if the developers of the massive Old Post Office had agreed to hire Burke’s private law firm.
“So did we land the, uh, the tuna?” Burke asked.
Burke made the now-infamous May 2017 inquiry as he was allegedly using his clout as Chicago’s longest-serving alderman to intervene on the developer’s behalf on a host of issues with the $600 million project, including fights with Amtrak, restoring water service and two massive tax incentives that would have to go before the city Finance Committee that Burke chaired.
By the time Burke made his “tuna” remark, Solis, the 25th Ward alderman and Zoning Committee chairman, had been working undercover for the FBI for nearly a year, helping the feds build the racketeering case that ended Burke’s record 54-year run as 14th Ward alderman in
