A new report suggests outgoing Ald. Danny Solis' own legal problems — allegedly trading Viagra and sex for official favors — may have prompted him to wear a wire for federal authorities in a public corruption probe that snagged Ald. Edward Burke. And Illinois' most powerful Democrat, House Speaker Michael Madigan, has been recorded by the FBI, according to a new report from the Chicago Sun-Times.You couldn't ask for a more "Chicago" backdrop than that for Tuesday's start to early voting in the mayoral election. But local election officials are dealing with their own controversy after the city's watchdog suggested election results could be vulnerable to hackers. The latest in the federal probe also puts several mayoral candidates on the defensive again over their ties to Burke, Madigan and others who are part of Chicago's Democratic machine And Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen has two Chicago attorneys who've handled high-profile federal criminal cases involving a range of politicos, from ex-Chicago Ald. Ed "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak to a political adviser to now-imprisoned ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Welcome to The Spin. |
 The Sun-Times reported on Tuesday that Madigan, who's not only the the longtime House speaker but also the state Democratic Party chairman, was recorded during a meeting arranged by Solis, who wired up in a federal investigation that triggered the attempted extortion charge against veteran Ald. Burke. Madigan's statement: "To my knowledge, I am not under investigation." Read Tribune reporter Dan Petrella's full story here. As Petrella points out, the latest revelations came as Madigan "starts a new legislative session with more Democrats in the House than there's been in decades, plus a new governor who could need help advancing an ambitious agenda, including overhauling the state's tax system and legalizing recreational marijuana." Here's what the new governor had to say. (Spoiler alert, it's not a lot): "There is an ongoing FBI investigation, and I think we need to see that play out," Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference about winter weather. "I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on that ongoing investigation." Sex, drugs and Solis: "Retiring Ald. Danny Solis (25th) received sex acts, Viagra, free weekend use of an Indiana farm once owned by Oprah Winfrey and a steady stream of campaign contributions in exchange for shepherding official City Council actions, according to allegations in a federal court affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times." Read the full story here. Calls for reform: Chicago aldermen and mayoral candidates continued pushing Tuesday for the kinds of government reforms they say Chicagoans are clamoring for in the wake of a federal public corruption investigation at City Hall. Full story. |   |
 "Early voting is a function of minds made up," Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, told me ahead of opening the downtown early voting Super Site on Tuesday morning for the city's mayoral election. And between the City Hall investigation and record-setting cold, most people probably have their minds made up to stay indoors. After all, there are no takebacks. Once you cast a ballot, it's set in stone. So even early voters will procrastinate, waiting until just before the Feb. 26 election to see "if another shoe is going to drop," Allen said. "We always see the majority of early voting occur in the final seven days," he said. The basics: Early voting started Tuesday at the downtown Super Site, 175 W. Washington St. Any registered voter in Chicago can cast a ballot there. That's your only option until Feb. 11, when early voting sites open in the 50 wards. Read all you need to know about early voting, which includes the option to vote by mail, here. But take note: There will be no early voting at this site Wednesday because of the extreme cold. Watchdog: Election results vulnerable to hack: From the Tribune's Todd Lighty: "The Chicago elections board can't guarantee the integrity of voting results in the event of a natural disaster or cyber attack, the city's watchdog warned Tuesday in a highly critical report of the agency's operations. The wide-ranging audit by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson also concluded that the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners does not post many job openings and has not conducted employee performance reviews in a at least 10 years. Ferguson said the board was warned a decade ago about many of the financial problems he's uncovered and failed to correct them." Read the full story here. Front of the line? With 14 candidates in the race and polls not a sure bet, it's tough to identify the front-runners in the mayor's race. What we can say is that businessman Willie Wilson was among the first voters to cast a ballot, he announced via Twitter. Preckwinkle and the unions: From the Tribune's Hal Dardick: "When Toni Preckwinkle wages her biggest political battles, the Service Employees International Union has her back, providing money, consultants and campaign workers. In turn, the Cook County Board president has been good to the union, giving its members raises, adding more jobs, furthering its political agenda and hiking taxes to shore up the retirement fund." Read the full story here. Cubs owner opens wallet for Daley: From the Tribune's Bill Ruthhart: Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has thrown his financial support behind former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley's campaign for mayor. Daley late Monday reported $195,000 in campaign contributions, including a $25,000 donation from Ricketts." Read the full story here. Daley reported an additional $314,562.16, bringing his total raised for the campaign to more than $5.25 million. Susana Mendoza, meanwhile, reported a $100,000 contribution from the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC. The latest donation brings her total to more than $1.75 million. | |
 President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has hired two Chicago attorneys ahead of his highly anticipated congressional testimony next month and his expected cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, The Associated Press reports. Michael Monico confirmed in a brief conversation with the Tribune that he and fellow Chicago attorney Barry Spevack — the pair, according to their firm's website, specialize in "high-stakes white collar litigation" — have been hired by Cohen. They take over for New York-based attorneys Guy Petrillo and Amy Lester. If the names of the veteran attorneys sound familiar, here's why: The pair has represented embattled ex-Ald. Edward Vrdolyak in several cases, including the current tax-related charges arising from the state's massive settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s. The trial in that case had been set for April 15, Tax Day. The duo also represented ex-Bulls player Derrick Rose when he and two others were sued in federal court by a woman who accused the trio of rape. A jury eventually cleared Rose and the two other men. Monico also represented Christopher Kelly, a onetime fundraiser to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Kelly, under pressure to cooperate in the case that led to Blagojevich's eventual conviction and prison sentence, pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud in an $8.5 million kickback scheme at O'Hare International Airport and tax offenses. Kelly took his life as he was about to start a prison sentence in that case. Monico, onetime federal prosecutor, is a longtime criminal defense attorney, while Spevack's area of expertise is federal and state criminal and civil appeals, according to their bios. On Tuesday, the attorneys offered a joint statement about representing Cohen: "We look forward to helping Mr. Cohen fulfill what he has told us is his only mission — to tell the truth as he knows it and to turn the corner on his past life and taking ownership for his past mistakes by cooperating as best as he can with all governmental authorities in search of the truth." According to The Associated Press: Cohen is a central figure in Mueller's probe. He also played a pivotal role in buying the silence of a porn actress and a former Playboy Playmate who both alleged they had sex with Trump. The president denies the claims. He is scheduled to begin serving a three-year prison sentence in March in that case. | |
 From the Tribune's Annie Sweeney: "With the structure of storied supergangs like the Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords long gone, Chicago's policymakers need to catch up and refocus efforts to reduce Chicago's persistent violence on its root causes of economic disinvestment and historic segregation, argues a report released by the University of Illinois at Chicago." Read the full story here. Outdated notions: Sweeney points out in her story that, "Shootings are no longer fueled by large-scale territory disputes authorized by gang leaders. Instead, the violence is concentrated in areas where young men — confronted by a chronic lack of jobs and opportunity — align in block-to-block cliques. While drug disputes still drive some conflict on the West Side where open-air markets thrive off easy access to the Eisenhower Expressway, much of the violence today is driven by interpersonal conflict and retaliatory shootings, according to the report." | |
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