Former ComEd CEO testifies she never saw Madigan as an ally

[April 18, 2023]  By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore said Monday that she was unaware the company had hired several people connected with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan until 2019, long after lawmakers passed legislation that brought the utility back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Pramaggiore, 64, continued on the witness stand Monday. Her attorney, Scott Lassar, questioned her about her time at Commonwealth Edison, energy legislation in Springfield that affected the company and her work habits.

Lassar repeatedly asked her if she felt Madigan owed the company favors, if she asked Madigan to help the utility pass bills and if she thought she needed to do favors for Madigan to get legislation passed in Springfield. She repeatedly said "no" to those questions.

"The bills had to stand on their own," she said at one point Monday. "I don't think hiring people would have any influence on that calculus."

Pramaggiore's testimony stands in contrast to testimony earlier in the trial from Tom O'Neill, who worked in several roles for ComEd and its parent company, Exelon. O'Neill said Pramaggiore was set on keeping Madigan happy.

"She said things like 'what's important to the speaker is important to ComEd,'" he told jurors.

Pramaggiore testified that she learned that former ComEd contract lobbyist and co-defendant Jay Doherty was paying subcontractors with ties to Madigan in 2019 when news of the federal investigation became public. Prosecutors are expected to challenge that on cross-examination.

Pramaggiore also told the jury that she received hundreds of emails each day as ComEd's CEO and that she had staff members who helped identify which emails she needed to see. She said she didn't read all her emails, including emails on which she was copied. She also said she didn't read all the contracts presented to her for her signature. She said she trusted that those things would be properly vetted before they got to her level.

"There were usually layers of review before they got to me," she said.

Former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker; Michael McClain, a long time Madigan confidante; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; and Jay Doherty, a lobbyist and consultant who once served as chief of the City Club of Chicago.

Pramaggiore also denied referring to Madigan, McClain and Hooker as her "spirit guides" in an email after she was promoted to the top position at parent company Exelon Utilities. She said she was referring only to McClain and Hooker, who helped her navigate the legislative process, not Madigan.

Pramaggiore said that she had considered hiring Madigan's former chief of staff Tim Mapes after Mapes had resigned amid a bullying and harassment scandal.

Earlier in the trial, prosecutors played a recording that captured McClain pressing Pramaggiore about finding a job for Mapes after he resigned as the speaker's chief of staff.

"I keep thinking about how we can be helpful to [Mapes]," Pramaggiore said, adding "it’s hard to do anything directly."

On Monday, Pramaggiore said she liked Mapes and thought he could help utilities find common ground in other states.

"I thought he was really smart," she said.

Prosecutors charged Pramaggiore, Doherty, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and former lobbyist and state lawmaker Michael McClain with conspiracy, bribery, and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records. All four have pleaded not guilty.

ComEd, the state's largest electric utility, agreed to pay $200 million in July 2020 to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments in a bid to influence Madigan.

Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to 2021. He wielded additional power as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Madigan, who resigned after losing the House speakership in January 2021, has been charged with 23 counts of racketeering, bribery and official misconduct in a separate case that could go to trial in April 2024. He has pleaded "not guilty."

Brett Rowland is an award-winning journalist who has worked as an editor and reporter in newsrooms in Illinois and Wisconsin. He is an investigative reporter for The Center Square.