Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration threw federal prosecutors a legal curveball today by causing an unexpected delay in the high-profile corruption case of former Ald. Danny Solis, who is also a government mole.

The former 25th Ward alderman was in federal court for his arraignment on a single bribery charge related to an alleged 2015 attempt to squeeze a developer for campaign contributions.

The federal charge was part of a deferred prosecution agreement that Solis and federal prosecutors entered into in 2018 but that had not been made public so far.

In exchange for putting off prosecution of the bribery charge against Solis until 2025, the former alderman agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in other ongoing corruption cases, which are believed to include Ald. Edward Burke, 14th Ward, and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

At today’s court hearing, where the agreement was expected to win court approval, Solis entered a not-guilty plea as expected. Immediately thereafter, prosecutors divulged details about the city’s surprise effort to get involved in Solis’ case.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu told U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood that he was notified by Lightfoot’s administration this morning about its desire to intervene in Solis’ case to argue that it had been victimized by the former alderman’s alleged misconduct.

Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor facing a potential uphill reelection battle next year.

“There can be no doubt that former Ald. Solis violated the public trust in profound ways, not the least of which was by monetizing his position as Zoning Committee chairman for the benefit of himself and others, likely for years,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “Because of all of the crimes that have been put on the public record, Solis victimized the residents of his ward and residents in the entire city, all of whom were deprived of the integrity and honesty that should be sacrosanct with all public officials

“As a consequence,” the mayor continued, “I have directed the Law Department to prepare a victim’s impact statement, which will be filed with the court in this case. No one is above the law and Chicago residents expect that their elected officials will be held accountable.”

In court, Bhachu said his office “always invites” victims to be heard but cast skepticism on any potential claims of victimization on the city’s part.

“Whether or not in this case the city actually is a victim remains to be determined,” Bhachu said. “It’s doubtful it is, in fact, the case.”

Today’s hearing was expected to have been a low-drama affair, colored by ongoing restrictions that prevent prosecutors and defendants from being in federal court and instead require proceedings to play out on a conference call.

While Solis was spared the indignity of having to walk before cameras in the lobby of the Dirksen Federal Building, he did make his first public appearance — albeit over the phone — since the Chicago Sun-Times first reported in 2019 that he had been wearing a wire for the government.

Besides entering his plea of not guilty, the 72-year-old former alderman offered a series of answers to questions from Wood about his age, health and mental condition, almost uniformly referring to her as “your honor.”

“Mr. Solis, do you understand the charges against you and the penalties you’re facing?” Wood asked him.

“Yes, I do your honor,” he said.

“How do you plead to the charge in the information today?” she asked.

“I plead not guilty, your honor,” Solis said.

Later in the call, no representatives of the mayor spoke up to explain the city’s position, leaving the judge to give Lightfoot’s administration until April 20 to enter any pleadings into the court’s docket.

Lightfoot’s legal maneuvering today comes after the mayor has repeatedly pushed to do away with the unwritten practice of so-called aldermanic prerogative. That’s the long-standing tradition in City Hall that says the local alderman gets final say over decisions in their ward.

In a recent WBBM interview, Lightfoot pointed at the Solis indictment as part of what’s wrong with the process of how the City Council operates.

“You cannot read that indictment, and not have pause about the way in which Danny Solis ran the zoning committee for his own profit and the profit of others in a way that wasn’t just unethical, it was illegal,” Lightfoot said in the interview.

Dave McKinney covers Illinois politics for WBEZ. Follow him @davemckinney.