Perhaps the weakest federal criminal charge against former Ald. Edward Burke (14th) was about his plot to extort the Chicago Field Museum because a friend’s daughter never heard back about an internship after Burke sent over her resume.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall seemed “unimpressed” by federal prosecutors’ reasoning in mid-December after Burke’s legal team moved to dismiss the charge ahead of closing arguments, according to Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner.
Kendall ultimately decided not to dismiss the charge, but said, “It certainly is an extremely odd attempted extortion count. I’m going to allow it to go to the jury, but I’m taking it under advisement,” Meisner reported at the time.
