Illinois’ U.S. Senators urge Biden to keep public corruption-fighting prosecutor
Illinois’ U.S. Senators urge Biden to keep public corruption-fighting prosecutor Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Chicago Ald. Ed Burke are among the politicians curbed by Chicago’s current U.S. Attorney. A bipartisan group is trying to keep him in place to continue public corruption prosecutions.
Both U.S. Senators from Illinois are asking President Joe Biden to leave Chicago’s U.S. attorney in place so he can continue pursuing the corruption cases that so far have targeted Chicago’s most powerful alderman and the longest-serving Statehouse leader in U.S. history.
Sun-Times file photo
WASHINGTON President Joe Biden triggered a political storm in Illinois on Tuesday, uniting the Democratic senators, four House GOP members and the Illinois Republican Party in protesting his move to fire Chicago-based U.S. Attorney John Lausch while he is overseeing public corruption probes and prosecutions of top Democrats in the state.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who Biden considered as his vice presidential pick, said they were not consulted about the move and do not want Lausch to step down at this time.
On Feb. 22 and 23, Durbin will preside over the confirmation hearing of Merrick Garland, the Lincolnwood-raised federal appeals court judge who is Biden’s choice for attorney general, with a committee vote set for March 1. One of Garland’s missions will be to reverse ex-President Donald Trump’s politicization of the Justice Department.
Crestwood mayor gets December trial date on federal bribery charges
By Jason Meisner
A jury trial has been set for December for Crestwood Mayor Louis Presta on charges alleging he took an envelope stuffed with cash bribes from a representative of a clout-heavy red-light camera company that does business in his town.
In setting Dec. 6 as a trial date, however, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin noted the situation at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse remained fluid due to the ongoing pandemic, which has led to a logjam of criminal defendants awaiting trial.
“We can’t seat a jury until early April, and even that is subject to change because of reasons we all know,” Durkin said. He set a status date in Presta’s case for July 19 to determine if things were still on track.
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