The FBI interviewed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in 2008 about politicians who supported a real estate development that’s now part of a federal trial, but there is no indication the mayor did anything wrong, the city’s Law Department said.
Daley was interviewed at a downtown Chicago hotel as part of a federal investigation that resulted in charges against former Alderman Isaac Carothers and developer Calvin Boender, The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. Boender is on trial after pleading not guilty to charges of bribing Carothers to get a zoning change. Carothers pleaded guilty.
The mayor cooperated with the investigators and there’s no indication Daley was ‘‘anything other than a witness,’’ said Chicago Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.
Boender, a politically well-connected millionaire, allegedly gave Carothers nearly $40,000 worth of home improvements in 2006 in exchange for his help in getting the West Side’s 50-acre Galewood Yards area rezoned. Prosecutors allege the zoning change meant additional profits of $3 million for Boender.
There has been no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Daley.
‘‘The mayor cooperated with a request for an interview during the course of the investigation,’’ Hoyle said in an e-mail to the Tribune.
Last week, a former city planning commissioner testified that she attended a meeting in the winter of 2004-05 with Boender, Daley and U.S. Rep., Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., about Boender’s project. She said Daley had a short response: ‘‘He said, ’Thank you.’ That was about it.’’ City lawyers have characterized the meeting as routine.
Daley had been subpoenaed to testify as a defense witness at Boender’s trial, but defense attorneys later said they decided not to call him.
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The FBI interviewed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in 2008 about politicians who supported a real estate development that’s now part of a federal trial, but there is no indication the mayor did anything wrong, the city’s Law Department said.
Daley was interviewed at a downtown Chicago hotel as part of a federal investigation that resulted in charges against former Alderman Isaac Carothers and developer Calvin Boender, The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. Boender is on trial after pleading not guilty to charges of bribing Carothers to get a zoning change. Carothers pleaded guilty.
The mayor cooperated with the investigators and there’s no indication Daley was ‘‘anything other than a witness,’’ said Chicago Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.
Boender, a politically well-connected millionaire, allegedly gave Carothers nearly $40,000 worth of home improvements in 2006 in exchange for his help in getting the West Side’s 50-acre Galewood Yards area rezoned. Prosecutors allege the zoning change meant additional profits of $3 million for Boender.
There has been no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Daley.
‘‘The mayor cooperated with a request for an interview during the course of the investigation,’’ Hoyle said in an e-mail to the Tribune.
Last week, a former city planning commissioner testified that she attended a meeting in the winter of 2004-05 with Boender, Daley and U.S. Rep., Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., about Boender’s project. She said Daley had a short response: ‘‘He said, ’Thank you.’ That was about it.’’ City lawyers have characterized the meeting as routine.
Daley had been subpoenaed to testify as a defense witness at Boender’s trial, but defense attorneys later said they decided not to call him.
