Alderman Danny Solis Resigns As Chairman Of Chicago City Council Zoning Committee
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Alderman Danny Solis resigned as chairman of the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee Tuesday.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel made the announcement, saying Solis realized he can no longer be effective.
According to a federal search warrant affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, Solis used his city council position to further the interests of contributors who supplied him with money, viagra and even sex acts in return.
The feds listened in to more than 18,000 hours of Solis' conversations in one year and on three occasions watched him come and go from massage parlors – visits allegedly paid for by a political fixer seeking favors.
Solis has not been charged with a crime, but the 120-page affidavit may explain why Solis chose to wear a wire to record conversations with former Finance Committee chairman Ed Burke.
Equally shocking are revelations in the affidavit that the FBI secretly recorded powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan.
The 2014 meeting at Madigan's law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, concerned a Chinese developer who wanted to build a hotel in Chinatown,in Solis' 25th ward but needed a zoning change to do it.
An associate of the developer recorded the meeting on audio and video. According to the affidavit, Madigan made a pitch to secure the developer's property tax appeals business saying, "We're not interested in a quick killing here. Wwe're interested in a long-term relationship."
Solis later added, "If he works with the speaker, he will get anything he wants for that hotel."
In a statement Tuesday, the speaker's attorney said Madigan recalls several meetings with Solis over the past five years but is unconcerned.
"If indeed some of his conversations were being recorded, the speaker did not know that, but he has no concern if they were. The speaker has no recollection of ever suggesting that he would take official action for a private law firm client or a potential client," he said.
That Chinese developer never hired Madigan's law firm, and the hotel was never built.
Madigan says, to his knowledge, he is not under investigation.
