CHICAGO (AP) — An effort to scrub Eliot Ness’s reputation
as the federal lawman who brought down Al Capone came to Chicago’s City
Hall on Friday.
In a hearing that was unusual for focusing on
events that played out 80 years ago, a city council committee voted to
send a resolution to the full council next week that would urge federal
lawmakers not to name a federal building in Washington, D.C., after the
famed Prohibition agent.
"The notion that he put Al Capone behind
bars is pure unadulterated Hollywood fiction," said Alderman Ed Burke,
who has been pushing for the resolution ever since he heard about the
proposal to name the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
headquarters after Ness.
During the meeting, Burke relayed what
he’s learned about Ness. The committee also heard a tutorial from a
group of retired federal agents, who told stories about how Ness grabbed
headlines and — thanks to a book and movies — has been given credit for
heroics he had nothing to do with.
"He was afraid of guns and
barely left his office," former IRS agent Bob Fuesel said. His own study
of Ness began more than a half century ago when he heard about Ness
from old-timers who’d been in Ness’ unit, "The Untouchables."
Fuesel
got a better reception Friday than he did when he tried to tell Kevin
Costner the same thing as an adviser to the 1987 film, "The
Untouchables." Costner, he said, quickly set him straight on how little
Hollywood cares about historical accuracy.
Ness, who died in 1957,
wasn’t involved in the tax evasion investigation, the agents and Burke
told the committee Friday, telling of the painstaking investigation of
handwriting samples from a ledger that led agents to a key witness in
the investigation — at a dog track in Florida.
The agents were
quick to say that Ness did battle Capone’s bootlegging operation and put
together the incorruptible unit that raided some of Capone’s breweries.
"He
did a good job," said another retired IRS agent, Bill Desmond, who
pointed out that Ness put together a case that resulted in a few
thousand violations of the nation’s Prohibition act.
The problem,
Desmond said, is that prosecutors felt the tax evasion charge was
stronger, largely because they were worried jurors wouldn’t convict
anyone providing them with booze.
At least one member of the
committee wondered aloud before the hearing why the council was
concerning itself with this particular chapter of Chicago’s history.
"To
me, there’s more important things to worry about then the name of a
building in Washington, D.C. that we have nothing to do with," said
Alderman Nicholas Sposato, who did not stick around for the vote.
Burke
acknowledged the issue "is not the most important thing we are going to
talk about," but said as long as the U.S. Senate is considering such a
move, it merits the council’s attention.
Naming a federal building is a big deal, Burke added, and said there are plenty of agents who deserve
such an honor.
"They sacrificed for their country," Fuesel said.
The
offices of two of the three U.S. senators pushing to name the building
after Ness — Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sherrod Brown of Ohio
— said in an email they still support the effort. The office of Sen.
Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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