Preckwinkle returning Burke cash, stripping his power to help get judges elected

Following a drumbeat of negative press tying her to federally charged Ald. Ed Burke, Cook County Board President and mayoral contender Toni Preckwinkle said in an email Sunday she is returning all of the $116,000 she raised at Burke’s house in January 2018.

Crucially, she is also stripping Burke of his power to help get judges elected to the bench, removing him as chair of the Cook County Democratic Party’s judicial slating committee. She also called on him to resign from the City Council and as the 14th Ward’s Democratic committeeman.

“I won’t have my name dragged through the mud,” Preckwinkle said in her email.

Preckwinkle has found herself tied to Burke in a 37-page criminal complaint unsealed last week that charges him with attempted extortion. Though it accuses Preckwinkle of no wrongdoing, it says Burke leaned on a pair of Burger King franchise executives to attend a fundraiser for her.

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/toni-preckwinkle-returning-edward-burke-cash-takes-away-his-judge-making-power/