Alderman Edward Burke, Part II: Top Machine Boss o
Post# of 65629
12 Apr 2010
As we watch Obama’s Chicago-style politics in action, it’s time to answer the question the old media, both in and outside Chicago, ignores to this day. Who were the key people in the Chicago Machine who helped advance Obama to the White House? One, Alderman Edward M. Burke, was an early supporter of Barack.
In the mid-1980’s, Chicago Outfit Lawyer Robert Cooley voluntarily went undercover for the FBI as part of an investigation called Operation Gambat. Cooley wore a wire on, among others, Burke’s good friend and made-man, Alderman Fred Roti. The Chief Judge of Cook County’s Chancery Court and an Assistant Senate Majority Leader of the Illinois State Senate were also targeted. Cooley’s work eventually led to the only judge in U.S. history being convicted of fixing a murder trial. More on that Judge in Part 3.
Operation Gambat resulted in a series of trials, guilty pleas and convictions involving 24 people – mobsters, police officers, politicians, attorneys, and judges.
In 2004, Cooley wrote a book wherein he accused Alderman Burke of fixing a murder trial for the Chicago Outfit. Cooley claims Burke pressured Cook County Judge Arthur Cieslik to acquit the defendant as a favor to the Outfit.
The case before Judge Cieslik concerned the beating death of an African-American by a Chicago Police officer who was related to a Chicago Outfit Capo named Angelo “The Hook” LaPiertra. (Angelo liked to hang bodies on hooks.) Cooley’s book quotes Burke saying this about the case:
Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2010/04/12...-politics/