The FBI raided the offices in Chicago of one of President Donald Trump’s former attorneys, Edward Burke, who is a member of the city council. Burke’s small firm represented Trump in Chicago over tax matters, obtaining $14 million in relief from property tax assessments over 12 years on the president’s flagship Trump Tower in that city.
The FBI confirmed the raid on the morning of Nov. 29 to CBS Chicago and to other news outlets, but noted warrants were executed in “multiple locations today.” That included both Burke’s law offices and his City Hall office. Office windows in both locations were covered in butcher paper after the FBI entered.
Burke represented Trump for 12 years in property-tax matters in Chicago. No details are available about the reason for the raids. The timing is coincident with Special Counsel Robert Mueller obtaining an additional guilty plea from Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
Burke’s aldermanic and law offices didn’t immediately reply to requests from comment from Fortune.
Burke stopped representing Trump in May in a sharp break. In letters filed in county courts and to a state property tax appeal board, Burke said “irreconcilable differences” with the Trump Organization led him to halt his work on behalf of the firm entirely. He stepped aside in five cases in progress that argued for millions of dollars in refunds of property tax.
Burke’s wife, Anne Burke, was sworn in the same day to another term on the Illinois Supreme Court. Burke will seek another term as alderman, Chicago’s term for city council members, in city elections held February 2019. Burke has held his position representing Chicago’s 14th Ward since 1969.
