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 Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Commonwealth Edison
are accused of racketeering in a civil lawsuit seeking at least $450 million in
damages for utility customers.
The lawsuit filed Aug. 10 stems from the prosecution agreement ComEd signed that
outlines $1.3 million in contracts and bribes to Madigan cronies intended to
curry his support for legislative benefits worth at least $150 million. That
$150 million in “ill-gotten gains” to which ComEd admitted plus at least $300
million in damages allowed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act should be paid to ratepayers, lawyers argue.
The lawsuit also seeks to curb Madigan’s power to legislate utility issues or
shape politics.
“We filed our civil RICO case now to protect Illinois ratepayers from further
damage by Michael Madigan – in both his capacity as Speaker and as Chair of the
Democratic Party of Illinois – and also to get our clients back the damages they
have suffered from ComEd’s and Madigan’s bribery scheme,” attorney Stuart Chanen,
a former federal prosecutor, told The Center Square.
Attorneys are seeking class-action status in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District, Eastern Division. The civil suit is the third since the ComEd
prosecution agreement was filed July 17.
“We apologize for the past conduct that did not live up to our values and have
made significant improvements to our compliance practices to ensure that nothing
like it ever happens again,” ComEd spokesman Paul Elsberg told the Chicago
Tribune after an earlier lawsuit was filed. “The improper conduct described in
the deferred prosecution agreement, however, does not mean that consumers were
harmed by the legislation that was passed in Illinois.”
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The prosecution agreement includes ComEd’s promise
to cooperate with federal prosecutors and pay a $200 million
penalty. It involves regulations in the Illinois House starting in
2011, but Elsberg said reliability is up and rates are down now as a
result of state lawmakers’ actions.
Madigan has not been charged with a crime. He has
refused to resign from his leadership roles despite calls from nine
Democratic state lawmakers and over 50 other Democratic leaders,
including two former gubernatorial candidates.
Some of those Democratic lawmakers have pushed for Madigan’s ouster
because they fear he will damage efforts to pass their “fair tax” on
Nov. 3. That fear is warranted.
Federal corruption probes have targeted or resulted in charges
against five of the state lawmakers responsible for pushing the hike
in state income taxes. The referendum asks voters to abandon the
Illinois Constitution’s flat tax protection and entrust state
lawmakers with greater power to decide who is taxed by how much,
including taxes on retirees, a marriage penalty and taxes up to 47%
higher on the small businesses that create most of Illinois’ jobs.
With Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker also facing a federal probe of an
attempt to dodge $331,000 in property taxes, voters’ ability to
trust state leaders with more power over their taxes may be too low
for Pritzker to buy back – even with a $56.5 million persuasion
campaign.
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