Daniel Solis
Prime Suspect: Daniel Solis, Chicago Alderman
Nickname: The Wire
Status: Under federal investigation
Former Chicago Alderman Danny “The Wire” Solis is the man who kicked all of this off. Solis, who was the chairman of the city’s powerful Zoning Committee, was being investigated for two years by the feds. As they listened to hundreds of hours of his tapped phone calls, the former Alderman racked up the offenses – from doling out favorable official actions for campaign donors to soliciting personal benefits like viagra pills and prostitution services.
Solis wasn’t willing to take the full brunt of DOJ, however, and decided to cooperate with the feds by wearing a wire as he dealt with other Chicago politicians. The wire caught conversations with Ed Burke that led to Burke’s indictment. Another recorded conversation took place within the law offices of Madigan where the Speaker pitched a developer to use his law office’s services. Solis later told the developer that they should use Madigan’s law office if they wanted to obtain the necessary permits to build. That conversation pulls back the curtain on the corrupt system that Madigan has long been suspected of running and personally benefiting from.