Six-figure ‘consulting’ fees paid to Burke’s co-defendant

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Former Ald. Edward Burke, whose federal racketeering trial begins next week, has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in “consulting” fees in recent years from campaign funds he controls to one of his co-defendants, campaign records show.

Lawyers for Peter Andrews Jr., a key player for years in the ex-alderman’s 14th Ward Democratic organization, said money from Burke’s political funds was used by Andrews to cover his legal fees.

State law allows campaign funds to pay for legal costs, but a campaign finance expert told the Tribune it was unusual to see an arrangement in which funds are sent to another co-defendant, classified as “consulting” and then used for legal fees.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Ray Long, Jason Meisner and Megan Crepeau.

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