Feds grill Daley about Hired Truck

FBI: He's not a target, but he's a 'logical interview'

The feds for the first time interviewed Mayor Daley on Friday about a burgeoning Hired Truck investigation that has reached into the mayor's patronage system.

"At this time he's not a target," Chicago FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Grant told the Sun-Times on Friday after the two-hour interview at City Hall. "He's a logical interview. He runs city government, he makes decisions."

Daley -- appearing on the verge of tears at a hastily called news conference after he met with the feds -- said the findings of the probe have so far made him feel "embarrassed," "mad" and "disappointed."

But, he added, "I will overcome these challenges."

It was only a matter of time before the feds interviewed the mayor.

"Because of recent indictments we had, he was a logical interview to conduct," Grant said. "We had to ask: What do you know, when did you know it? How involved are these organizations in city business?"

Grant noted Daley's questioning came after the federal probe reached the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the mayor's patronage system. Grant said the feds questioned why "certain areas of the government appeared to be rewarded with jobs."

"How much involvement did he have to those activities that happened so close to his office?" Grant said.

Answered 'fully and openly'

Daley revealed the interview at the news conference. He said federal agents questioned him for two hours, asking about "a number of subject matters." Daley said he "answered their questions fully and openly."

He said the "probe has caused me to ask many questions of my own and evaluate how and where the system broke down."

Daley said the meeting, which ran from about 8 to 10 a.m., included federal agents, Corporation Counsel Mara Georges and Daley's newly-hired private attorney, John Villa, of the Washington, D.C.-based firm Williams and Connolly, a nationally known white-collar defense firm.

Villa specializes in defending corporate and legal corporations in civil and criminal cases, according to his company's Web site. He also practices criminal defense. Daley said officials from the U.S. attorney's office contacted him "a number of weeks ago" seeking a meeting. He "requested" they meet at City Hall. The meeting was scheduled on a Friday, Daley's traditional day for releasing bad news.

Asked if he answered the questions under oath, Daley, who served nine years as Cook County state's attorney, answered "I don't know."

His spokeswoman later said, "We're not going to answer that" and then clarified that "we're unclear" about whether he was under oath.

Attorneys said it was a moot point because lying to federal agents is a felony whether the subject is under oath.

'Disappointed in people'

Daley did say "when there is wrongdoing in my government, I take responsibility for it," adding he's "committed to root it out and do everything I can to prevent it." He noted that, "in life you get disappointed in people."

So far, 32 people have been charged in the Hired Truck scandal, 23 pleaded guilty and one died after he was charged. The Sun-Times exposed widespread corruption in the Hired Truck program last year and Daley later scrapped it.

That investigation has broadened as politically connected defendants in the probe, including former first deputy water commissioner Donald Tomczak, continue to flip and spill to the feds.

In July, the feds landed at the mayor's doorstep, saying clout was traded for City Hall jobs. They lodged fraud charges against longtime Daley loyalist Robert Sorich, who ran the IGA office. The office oversees political hiring and activity. The charges revealed 30 people were cooperating with the feds. Sorich also has close ties to Cook County Commissioner John Daley, the mayor's brother.

The feds also charged Streets and Sanitation official Patrick Slattery, accusing him of carrying out Sorich's bidding and brought in for questioning Sorich's right-hand man, Tim McCarthy. But he was not charged.

Jackson Jr. sounds off

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., the mayor's most vocal critic, said the City Hall investigation "proves that no one is above the law, nor should they be."

Though Ald. Joe Moore (49th) cautioned that: "No one should rush to judgment based on the fact he was interviewed."

Grant likened the questioning to interviewing the president of a company if a vice president were in trouble. "We want to know: Do you know about your subordinates' activities?"

Grant said plans to interview Daley were in the works for some time and that Daley had been cooperative all along.

"It was his decision to hold a press conference," Grant said, adding: "I would never classify him as a target."

Daley was stoic throughout most of the news conference, but his eyes noticeably teared up when asked if his job as mayor was worth the stress caused by federal inquiries.

"It is worth it," he replied. "I love being mayor. I love this job. . . . I love this city."

Contributing: Abdon M. Pallasch