BURKE: Claims innocence |
NOT
THAT SUCH a plea was unanticipated. The shock would have come about if Burke were
willing to actually admit to doing anything illegal. His defense is likely to
be that the strongarm tactics he uses is merely the way Chicago government
operates.
Which
could be why Mayor Lori Lightfoot is so eager to keep ranting that Burke ought
to resign his post in the City Council – the one that he won so easily back in
February even though he had Latino activists trying desperately to dump him
from office.
Lightfoot
followed up Burke’s plea at the Dirksen Federal Building with her own statement
saying the alderman must go NOW!!!, even though he’s under no legal obligation
to do so. It’s federal prosecutors who must prove their case in court before
Burke can be removed from office.
Which
wouldn’t bother me so much, except that it’s the third time Lightfoot has
called for Burke’s resignation in the less-than-a-week it has been since Burke’s
criminal indictment became publicly known.
FOR
SOMEONE WHO is herself a former federal prosecutor, she has to know her pleas for
resignation are meaningless. Is she really that much of a broken record?
I
can’t help but think that every time from here on in that she opens her mouth
on this issue, she merely builds up Burke’s reinforcement to want to fight this
charge in court.
LIGHTFOOT: Keeping up rhetoric of resignation |
Ed
Burke’s fate will be decided in due time, most likely in the next couple of
years – it takes time to work one’s way through the judicial process. And if
Burke is destined for a dismal fate, there’s no need to rush it just to appease
the ego of Chicago’s newest politico.
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