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The Wrath of Khan: Is FBI Taking Over Faisal Khan's Probes of Aldermen?

By Ted Cox | November 16, 2015 11:18am
 Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan.
Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

CITY HALL — Faisal Khan prepared to close up shop as the City Council's legislative inspector general Monday, working under an FBI subpoena meant to assure the "integrity" of his files.

Meanwhile, aldermen battled behind the scenes to decide whether to appoint a new legislative inspector general, strengthen the office or assign its duties to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson — a proposal previously backed by a majority of the council.

According to Politico's Natasha Korecki, FBI agents hauled away files and computers from the office last week. Read the entire Politico story here.

Yet Assistant Legislative Inspector General Michael Graham insisted Monday the operation wasn't quite so extensive. "The FBI did serve us a subpoena," he said, requesting "any files referring to any referral we've made" to the FBI. It was basically intended, he added, to assure "the integrity of the files."

 Ald. Joe Moreno is calling for hearings on whether to name a replacement for Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan or give his duties to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.
Ald. Joe Moreno is calling for hearings on whether to name a replacement for Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan or give his duties to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

On Monday, FBI spokeswoman Joan Hyde would neither confirm nor deny the agency's actions.

Although the Office of the Legislative Inspector General is not allowed to initiate its own investigations, it does refer actual findings of illegal activity to the appropriate agency, federal or local. The FBI moved to protect material related to investigations it was already working on.

"As you can imagine, the situation at the office is kind of up in the air, especially concerning our physical files and digital files," Graham said. "There's a little bit of a worry about who may have access to our files."

The files referred to the FBI are now protected by subpoena, and Graham said other files were being "maintained within the office ... under lock and key."

The office prepared to close its doors Monday as the City Council debated where to go from here.

On Friday, Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), chairman of the Rules Committee, announced a so-called blue-ribbon search committee was being formed to find a replacement for Khan, just as his four-year term was expiring. The committee included Mary Robinson, former Cook County Shakman compliance administrator. The city also sought applicants to file for the post by Nov. 30.

Yet other aldermen supported competing proposals to eliminate the position and give its duties to Inspector General Ferguson, an idea that was actually backed by Khan and his office.

"In our experience, the right agency for this job is the inspector general," Graham said.

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) has already submitted such an ordinance, signed by 35 aldermen. Yet Harris has yet to call it for a hearing.

Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th), who said he worked on that ordinance, along with "Joe Ferguson, quite frankly," added Monday that he was co-sponsoring a new ordinance with Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) that would seek to create "parity" between the inspectors general by allowing the LIG to initiate investigations, as well as setting minimum budget requirements for the office. Pawar said that would be submitted at Wednesday's City Council meeting.

Pawar said he was out to "make sure that there's some parity between the powers of the LIG and the IG." He added that he aimed to address "structure rather than personality," especially after Khan clashed openly with aldermen and filed suit against the city to increase funding.

Pawar also said Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) was preparing a letter calling for Harris to hold a hearing on the issue, adding, "Then we can have a conversation about which one do we want."

"We haven't had a hearing on it," Moreno echoed Monday. "We need to have a hearing on it."

Calling Khan "incompetent" and saying he "didn't have the right tools," Moreno attacked the very idea of having two inspectors general.

"It's redundant. It's not good policy," he said. "We need one IG. The 50 of us [in the City Council] are not special."

"I would like to see Joe Ferguson become our oversight czar," said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th).

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday he's not concerned about the FBI's involvement and that the issue of whether there should be a City Council watchdog had been decided long ago. He echoed comments he made Friday that "now the question is, who should be the inspector general and what should they do?" Emanuel emphasized, "We would never go back to the days of no inspector general."

WTTW-TV Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight" reported last week that Khan had documented $282,000 in illegal campaign contributions to aldermen from 2013 alone.

Graham confirmed that Monday, but said allegations were disclosed to aldermen "with as light of a touch as possible," as the city's Ethics Ordinance allows them to make corrections.

Allowing that city rules on contributions are sometimes complex, Graham said aldermen found to have taken flagged contributions were basically told: "We think these are kind of suspicious. If you disagree or would like to repay them, now is your time period."

"People may not follow every guideline, but then you correct the mistake," Pawar said.

"I know the City Council hasn't done itself any favors," he added. Yet, "all people have are their reputations. Yeah, the City Council is an easy target, but individually people still have reputations beyond what they do politically."

Pawar emphasized, "How you talk about it is important too," adding, "I think there's a difference between people making mistakes, contributors making mistakes, aldermen making mistakes" and what can be misinterpreted as "rampant illegal fundraising."

The question is, who will discern between those two judgments once Khan shuts up office Monday?

"From an outsider's perspective, I've always been more of a fan of the Board of Ethics doing this type of work," said Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th). "I can't say I'm upset that the LIG is gone," he added. "I'm hoping we can move in a more positive direction, just generally."

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