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 Federal agents in May raided the homes of three individuals
across Illinois with close ties to House Speaker Mike Madigan and utility giant
Commonwealth Edison.
But a new subpoena served during that spree has come to light courtesy of WBEZ,
which on Oct. 20 published a story on federal activity at an esteemed Chicago
public affairs organization.
According to WBEZ’s source, a federal grand jury subpoena requested City Club of
Chicago correspondence with between 10 and 20 individuals, including Madigan.
The club, which hosts events on politics and public policy, has not been accused
of any wrongdoing. Neither has Madigan.
Specifically, officials raided the offices of City Club of Chicago President Jay
Doherty, who has also worked as a lobbyist on behalf of ComEd. WBEZ and the
Chicago Tribune reported the raid was part of an investigation into whether the
energy utility made clout-heavy hiring decisions in exchange for actions at the
Statehouse, including rate increases.
The CEO of Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, abruptly resigned in October
following news that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the companies for documents
related to their Springfield lobbying activity.
 Raids on Madigan’s inner circle
Federal agents in mid-May raided the Western Illinois home of one of Madigan’s
closest allies, former state lawmaker and lobbyist Mike McClain. Authorities
knocked on McClain’s door around the same time they executed search warrants at
the homes of two other close Madigan allies: former Chicago Ald. Michael
Zalewski and former Madigan political lieutenant Kevin Quinn.
All three have ties to ComEd.
McClain and ComEd
More than any other political figure, McClain is known to have Madigan’s ear,
often dining and traveling with the speaker. He served as assistant minority
leader under Madigan from 1981 to 1983 and was formerly a Springfield lobbyist
for some of the state’s most powerful interest groups, including ComEd.
McClain retired from lobbying in 2016. “I feel like I’m very close to [Madigan]
and I love him like a brother, and I’m loyal to him,” McClain told the State
Journal-Register at the time. He originally planned to retire in 2015, but
efforts to extend subsidies to two nuclear power plants in Illinois owned by
Exelon kept him in Springfield.
“[W]e had the Exelon bill come up, and my friend Mike Madigan was facing some
tough times, and so [the retirement] kind of got put on hold,” McClain told the
Quincy Herald-Whig.
McClain helped pass the Exelon deal, which raised rates on ComEd customers by
between 25 cents and $4.54 a month. One Democratic state representative at the
time joked that energy industry lobbyists “probably made a lot of money this
last year or two,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
Zalewski and ComEd
Zalewski served as an alderman for 20 years in Chicago’s 23rd Ward, which
overlaps with Madigan’s 22nd House District on Chicago’s Southwest Side. That
district has re-elected Madigan to the Illinois House of Representatives every
two years since 1970.
The Zalewski raid was part of a probe into “efforts to get work for Zalewski” at
ComEd, as well as “interactions” between Zalewski, Madigan, and McClain,
according to the Better Government Association and WBEZ.
Also within Madigan’s district is 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, whose brother
Kevin saw his home searched by federal authorities in May.
Quinn and ComEd
Federal agents are investigating $10,000 in payments to former high-ranking
Madigan political aide Kevin Quinn from accounts linked to five current or
former lobbyists for ComEd, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Madigan ousted Quinn from his political organization in 2018 after campaign
worker Alaina Hampton accused him of sexual harassment. In a statement, the
speaker acknowledged Quinn, who worked for Madigan for nearly 20 years, “engaged
in inappropriate conduct and failed to exercise the professional judgment I
expect of those affiliated with my political organizations and the Office of the
Speaker.”
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But after his firing, Quinn was still able to pull
in money from Illinois lobbyists whose success often depends on the
speaker’s gavel.
The checks to Quinn came from accounts linked to
five current or former lobbyists for ComEd, according to the
Tribune, including:
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$1,000 from McClain, whose wife signed the
check from the couple’s joint bank account.
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$1,000 from Tom Cullen, a former Madigan
political operative and current lobbyist.
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$2,000 from Chicago City Hall lobbyist and
former Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board member
Michael Alvarez.
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$2,000 from Cornerstone Government Affairs, a
lobbying firm that employs former Madigan political director
Will Cousineau.
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$4,000 from former Democratic state Rep. John
Bradley’s law firm. The southern Illinois lawmaker is a former
member of Madigan’s House leadership team.
Revolving door
Illinois is one of only 11 states that do not have “revolving door”
laws forbidding lawmakers from lobbying once they leave office,
according to a report compiled by the National Conference of State
Legislatures.
At least two dozen former Illinois state lawmakers have lobbied on
behalf of ComEd or Exelon since 2000, according to a 2017 analysis
from the Illinois Policy Institute. A majority of those lawmakers
served on their chamber’s energy or public utilities committees.
Some even chaired those committees, including McClain, who was
chairman of the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources
Committee from 1979 to 1980.
The other states without “revolving door” laws include Idaho,
Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. Even among these states, many have more
restrictions than Illinois on what lawmakers can do after leaving
office.
For example, in Kansas there is a two-year limit if a lawmaker was
involved in any contracts made between the state and a prospective
employer. Michigan has a ban on lobbying, but only for politicians
who resign from office.
While these restrictions are still weak compared to the rest of the
nation, they are much stronger than the few laws in Illinois.
Illinois only places restrictions on former lawmakers who worked on
state procurement contracts for a year after leaving office, and has
no general laws preventing lobbying by former lawmakers.
Stalled reform efforts
Despite the cost and damage Illinois faces from corruption, Gov.
J.B. Pritzker has done little to address it.
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ran on an anti-corruption platform
and has already pushed several key reforms through the City Council.
They include granting expanded powers to the city inspector general,
limiting outside employment for aldermen, calling for independently
drawn political maps, and increasing penalties for ethics
violations.
Pritzker should back a number of commonsense corruption reforms in
the wake of scandals across the state, including:
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Strengthened revolving door restrictions on
state lawmakers
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Empowering the Illinois legislative inspector
general, which is a muzzled watchdog office that must seek
approval from state lawmakers before opening a corruption
investigation in the Illinois General Assembly
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Mandating state lawmakers recuse themselves
from votes in which they have a conflict of interest
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Reforming the Illinois House rules, which grant
more concentrated power to the House speaker than any
legislative rules in the country
Ethics reform in Springfield should be a priority
not just for the governor, but for all elected officials.
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