Madigan Trial Week in Review (via Capitol News Illinois) — Capitol News Illinois reporter Hannah Meisel is covering the corruption trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan from the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago.
The former speaker, who left office under growing pressure related to the FBI investigation surrounding him in early 2021, faces 23 counts of racketeering, bribery, extortion and wire fraud.
For the full background on the trial, the yearslong investigation and Madigans’s fall from power, read Meisel’s preview story here: 4 decades after rising to power and nearly 4 years since his fall, former Speaker Madigan goes to trial
To summarize, prosecutors allege he used his political power and various offices – including as a partner in his law firm – as a “criminal enterprise” to protect and enhance his power while enriching himself and his allies. But his defense attorneys argue the state is trying to criminalize the political process and baseline constituent services.
His co-defendant Mike McClain, a veteran Statehouse lobbyist and longtime Madigan confidant, was already convicted on public corruption charges last year in the separate but related “ComEd Four” trial. The feds are again trying to show McClain is an “agent” of Madigan, while his defense attorneys say he simply engaged in legal relationship maintenance, a core function of lobbying
Below is a rundown of the coverage from the courtroom – where the trial is scheduled each Monday through Thursday well into December. This page will be updated as the trial progresses.
WEEK SIX: NOV. 25 – 27
Monday, Nov. 25
‘You shouldn’t be talking like that’: Madigan scolded alderman-turned-FBI mole for bringing up ‘quid pro quo’: Former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis spent hours on Monday testifying about embarrassing details of his life in the years before the FBI approached him in June 2016; the alderman was cheating on his wife and deep in debt, receiving favors like Viagra pills from those seeking to influence him. The jury then heard the moment the feds’ focus shifted to Madigan in 2017 and saw the first of several videos Solis secretly recorded as the speaker and his law partner pitched their property tax services to real estate developers. Read the story here.
Tuesday, Nov. 26
‘You know why I’m interested’: Wiretaps, secretly recorded videos show Madigan recruiting business to his law firm: The jury continued to be barraged with secretly recorded videos and wiretapped calls on Wednesday, including one in which Solis told Mike McClain, now on trial with Madigan, that he’d been steering property tax work to Madigan from developers in his 25th Ward. Prosecutors also showed jurors video of an August 2018 meeting when Solis – at the FBI’s direction – asked Madigan for his help getting appointed to a high-paying state board after he left the Chicago City Council. Read the story here.
Wednesday, Nov. 27
Madigan prosecutors conclude questioning of alderman-turned-FBI mole Danny Solis: After 14 hours on the witness stand and nearly a dozen secretly recorded videos, the government finished questioning Solis on Wednesday before trial broke early for the long Thanksgiving weekend. Before defense attorneys begin their cross-examination, prosecutors played a few more videos and wiretapped phone calls between Solis and Madigan, including one of the alderman telling the speaker that he wasn’t going to run for city council again in 2019. Read the story here.
WEEK FIVE: NOV. 18 – 21
Thursday, Nov. 21
Ex-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis, who secretly recorded Madigan for FBI, takes witness stand: As trial neared its conclusion for the week, ex-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis took the stand for what could be weeks of testimony. The star witness had cooperated with the FBI for years and told the jury that a bribery charge against him would be dropped if he testified against Madigan. The jury also learned that Solis’ wiretapped conversations with Madigan helped make the ex-speaker a target of the investigation in 2017, a year after Solis began cooperating. Read the story here.
Wednesday, Nov. 20
Madigan ally testifies he was rewarded with no-work contracts as ‘good soldier’ for speaker: Ed Moody held several political offices by the end of his career, thanks in large part to time he spent knocking doors on behalf of Madigan. He testified that Madigan and McClain helped him secure a $4,500 monthly contract through which he was paid indirectly by ComEd. Though he did little to no work for the utility, Moody said the payments were contingent on continuing his political work for Madigan. Read the story here.
Tuesday, Nov. 19
Wiretap: In pushing for Madigan-backed appointment, ex-ComEd CEO sought to ‘take good care’ of ‘our friend’: Chicago businessman Juan Ochoa, who was named to ComEd’s board after Madigan spent 1 ½ years pushing for the appointment, took the witness stand Tuesday. Jurors heard wiretaps regarding the appointment, including one of then-outgoing ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore telling McClain she set up a meeting between her replacement Ochoa. “You take good care of me, and so does our friend, and so I will do the best I can to take care of you,” she said. Read the story here.
Monday, Nov. 18
Madigan jury sees ‘Magic Lobbyist List’ seized from co-defendant during FBI search: McClain’s habit of printing out emails made FBI agents’ job a bit easier on May 14, 2019, as they searched his home office, another office area in the basement featuring a wall of filing cabinets and his car in the garage. The jury this week saw several of the seized documents from a series of coordinated raids, including McClain’s “magic list” of prominent Statehouse lobbyists with close ties to Madigan. Read the story here.
WEEK FOUR: NOV. 12 – 14
Tuesday, Nov. 12
‘This is the way things are done in Illinois’: Defense attorneys begin cross-examining star witness: ComEd exec-turned-FBI mole Fidel Marquez ultimately spent six days on this witness stand, this week taking heat from defense attorneys during cross-examination. A lawyer for McClain drilled down on Marquez’s previous testimony – and his guilty plea in 2020 for bribery conspiracy – aiming to show that there was no quid pro quo agreement in place between Madigan and those fielding the speaker’s job recommendations at ComEd. Read the story here.
Wednesday, Nov. 13
‘You agreed to wear wires against your ComEd family’: Star witness in Madigan trial grilled on cross-examination: The cross-examination continued Wednesday, with Marquez’s credibility in question. Earlier this year, Marquez tried to buy a gun in his new home state of Arizona, though he shouldn’t have been able to due to his felony guilty plea and pending sentencing. And the defense tried to paint that as part of a pattern of dishonesty that involved selling out his “ComEd family” in an effort to save his own skin. Read the story here.
Thursday, Nov. 14
‘Make it a federal court suit’: Jurors hear wiretap of McClain describing subcontracts alleged to be bribes: Marquez’s time on the stand wrapped up Thursday, and jurors heard yet more recordings of wiretapped phone conversations. In one call between McClain and another ComEd lobbyist, Madigan’s co-defendant summed up a pair of subcontracts that the feds claim are bribes: “We had to hire these guys because Mike Madigan came to us. It’s just that simple … So if you want to make it a federal court suit, okay, but that’s how simple it is.” Read the story here.
WEEK THREE: NOV. 4 – 7
Monday, Nov. 4
Jury sees more evidence surrounding payments to Madigan campaign worker ousted for sexual harassment: On Monday, the jury heard more calls from August 2018, when McClain arranged payments to former Madigan political staffer Kevin Quinn, who was ousted for sexual harassment allegations. After calling a lobbyist close to the speaker, McClain updated Madigan on the project and asked which of them should tell Quinn’s brother, Chicago Ald. Marty Quinn, about the arrangement. “Yeah, I think I ought to stay out of it,” the speaker replied. Read the story here.
Tuesday, Nov. 5
‘They were being paid as a favor to Mike Madigan’: Feds’ star witness takes stand: Tuesday marked the first day of testimony for Fidel Marquez, ComEd’s former chief lobbyist-turned-cooperating witness. Asked during direct examination about three Madigan political workers who were subcontractors to ComEd lobbyists, Marquez responded: “I didn’t expect them to do any work for ComEd as they were being paid as a favor to Mike Madigan.” Read the story here.
Wednesday, Nov. 6
ComEd lobbyist warned FBI mole to ‘keep Madigan happy’ and not mess with no-work contracts: On Wednesday, the jury saw some of the videos that Marquez secretly recorded while working with the FBI. One of them features McClain at Saputo’s, a staple restaurant in Springfield’s political circles. “I would say to you, don’t put anything in writing,” McClain counseled Marquez about the no-work contracts in between bites of pizza “… I think all that can do is hurt ya.” Read the story – and watch the video – here.
Thursday, Nov. 7
Jury sees relentless ComEd job placement requests from Madigan co-defendant: Mike McClain pushed hard to get certain job seekers a place at ComEd, even if the candidates made “politically inappropriate” comments during an interview, failed basic screening tests or didn’t even show up to take those tests. The candidates were recommendations on behalf of Madigan, and the jury saw several emails Thursday showing McClain’s relentlessness in getting them hired. Read the story here.
WEEK TWO: OCT. 28 – 31
Monday. Oct. 28
Madigan co-defendant warned ComEd CEO not to ‘provoke a reaction from our Friend’: Electric utility Commonwealth Edison was once again at the center of court proceedings as the week began. Tom O’Neill, a former top attorney for the company, testified that Madigan’s apparent interest in a contract negotiation between ComEd and a political ally was “unusual.” The jury also saw an email from McClain to ComEd’s former CEO urging her to get involved with the contract’s renewal or else “provoke a reaction from our Friend” – a nickname McClain often used for Madigan. Read the story here.
Tuesday, Oct. 29
ComEd execs joked Madigan co-defendant was ‘double agent,’ utility’s former top lawyer testifies: O’Neill continued his testimony Tuesday, noting that some at ComEd referred to McClain as a “double agent” and that it was “hard to know which client he was serving.” Even so, O’Neill said he didn’t view McClain’s practice of passing along the names of Madigan-affiliated job-seekers as bribes or even in violation of ComEd’s internal policies. Read the story here.
Wednesday, Oct. 30
Madigan co-defendant had unparalleled access to speaker, ex-top aide testifies: In the Illinois Capitol, some lobbyists make calls in quiet corners, while others might hang out in a lawmaker’s office. But no lobbyist had what McClain did: unfettered access to Madigan’s office suite. While former top staffer-turned-lobbyist Will Cousineau was on the witness stand testifying about that access, the jury heard another wiretapped call in which McClain counseled Cousineau to “remember who our real client is,” a reference to Madigan. Read the story here.
Thursday, Oct. 31
Wiretaps show McClain arranging checks for Madigan loyalist fired after #MeToo allegations: Cousineau remained on the stand through Thursday and was scheduled to return on Monday. A wiretapped call between him and McClain was central to Thursday’s testimony. In it, McClain detailed a plan to get a small group of Madigan’s allies – including Cousineau – to secretly pay $1,000 or more per month to ousted political staffer Kevin Quinn, who’d been fired after facing sexual harassment allegations. Read the story here.
WEEK ONE: OCT. 21 – 24
Monday, Oct. 21
Madigan’s approach to power at center of opening statements in his corruption trial: The jury heard Madigan’s opening statements and got a first look at a key piece of evidence that has for years been teased in legal filings. In that grainy video, Madigan meets with Chicago Ald. Danny Solis to discuss how the speaker’s property tax appeals firm could get business from an apartment development project. But Solis, the chair of Chicago City Council’s powerful zoning board, was secretly wearing a video camera. Read the story here.
Tuesday, Oct. 22
Feds ‘turned over heaven and earth’ in Madigan probe but found no real bribes, co-defendant says: It was McClain’s day for opening statements on Tuesday as he sat at a defense table for the beginning of his second corruption trial in 19 months. His defense attorneys sought to show the government had tunnel vision as a result of its yearslong investigation into Madigan and “wrongly concluded that since Mike Madigan is powerful, therefore he must be corrupt.” The jury also heard from a pair of former lawmakers who had conflicts with Madigan. Read the story here.
Wednesday, Oct. 23
ComEd exec testifies utility prepared for bankruptcy before 2011 law threw it a lifeline: McClain’s role as electric utility Commonwealth Edison’s longtime top contract lobbyist is central to the trial. On Wednesday, a ComEd executive said the company was preparing for bankruptcy in 2007 and continued in “dire” financial straits before it successfully lobbied for a 2011 law that helped make it profitable again. How that measure became law – and whether it happened legally – was the focus of Wednesday’s court proceedings. Read the story here.
Thursday, Oct. 24
‘My client is the speaker’: Jury hears wiretapped calls of Madigan co-defendant, longtime friend: The jury heard witness testimony and nearly three dozen wiretapped phone calls on Thursday. Included were calls the feds hope will bolster their argument that McClain was Madigan’s “agent” – a term McClain himself sometimes used. In another call, McClain told a colleague: “Your client is only Mike Madigan. It’s not the Democratic Party … it’s not anybody that hired you, it’s not your mom and dad. The only person you care about is Mike Madigan.” Read the story here.
