Feds subpoena Beavers' expense records

Cook County commissioner admits he used funds to boost salary

By Hal Dardick, TRIBUNE REPORTER

Federal prosecutors are looking at nearly four years of expense records for Cook County Commissioner William Beavers, who acknowledged Wednesday that he used the government allowance to augment his salary for two years.

Grand jury subpoenas issued by the U.S. attorney's office ask for all of Beavers' expense filings since he took county office in December 2006. The most recent subpoena was issued Oct. 4 in an investigation that dates to May 2009.

The subpoenas, obtained by the Tribune through the state's open-records law, indicate they were issued as part of an "official criminal investigation." Prosecutors asked that the records be turned over to an Internal Revenue Service agent, but they don't specify the exact nature of the probe.

Beavers, a storied 75-year-old Chicago Democrat, said Wednesday that he used his $1,200-a-month expense allowance to boost his income until it attracted media attention in late 2008.