Jury selection underway in highly anticipated trial of Ed Burke

CHICAGO - For decades, he ruled the Chicago City Council as its most powerful leader. But on Monday, former Alderman Ed Burke walked into a federal courthouse hoping to avoid going to prison for the rest of his life.

Burke was smiling, wearing a dapper suit and his signature fedora. His wife Anne, a former Illinois Supreme Court justice, was at his side. But the charges Burke is facing are deadly serious. 14 felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and extortion.

In 2018, the FBI raided Burke's City Hall and ward offices, carting off boxes of records. Months later, federal prosecutors charged Burke with using his political clout to force businesses to hire his law firm for tax appeal work. "Ringing the cash register" is how Burke described it in a secretly recorded conversation.

Monday morning, a total of 53 potential jurors were brought into the Dirksen courtroom from all across northern Illinois. They were called up one by one to talk a little bit about themselves and whether they could be a fair and impartial juror.

Judge Virginia Kendall peppered the potential jurors with a variety of questions, everything from "What TV shows are you binging?" to "Do you go on the internet frequently? Do you post anything of a political nature?"

It will be difficult to find jurors who haven't heard of Burke, who served a record 54 years in the City Council, much of that time as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, which controls the city's purse strings.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys must agree on 12 jurors and four alternates before opening statements can begin, which could occur as soon as Wednesday.

Judge Kendall said the trial is expected to take six weeks, meaning it should end right around the holidays when Burke celebrates his 80th birthday.