Ex-ComEd boss faces questions over Madigan-connected subcontractors

[April 19, 2023]  By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Former Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore faced tough questions from prosecutors Tuesday about what she knew about several people connected with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on the utility's payroll.

Pramaggiore, 64, returned to the witness stand Tuesday after a full day on the stand Monday in the packed courtroom of Judge Harry Leinenweber.

On Monday, she testified that she was unaware that a string of subcontractors tied to Madigan were paid $4,000 to $5,000 a month under a lobbyist's contract for years by ComEd. Those subcontractors did little, if any, work for the company.

On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker questioned Pramaggiore about some inconsistencies in her testimony. Pramaggiore said she was aware of the subcontractors after a 2014 text from former ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty. However, she said she wasn't aware that the subcontractors were connected to Madigan.

Streicker showed Pramaggiore a transcript of a Feb. 18, 2019, call secretly recorded by former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who was cooperating with federal investigators at the time. During that call, Pramaggiore expressed surprise that Madigan associates were collecting checks without doing any work and had been doing so for years.

However, when Pramaggiore met with investigators in May 2019, she told them she didn't recall such a conversation. Streicker asked if Pramaggiore was so taken aback by the call that she forgot it. Pramaggiore said she was busy with her new job at Exelon Utilities.

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.

"I didn't think anything more of it," she said. "I had a lot on my plate."

Streicker also noted that after the secretly recorded call was played for Pramaggiore at the interview with investigators, Pramaggiore ended the interview.

"It was over," Pramaggiore said. "It was the end of the day."

Prosecutors allege Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, former ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty and former lobbyist and state lawmaker Michael McClain gave out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan associates in exchange for Madigan's support with legislation that affected ComEd in Springfield. All four defendants have all pleaded "not guilty" to conspiracy, bribery, and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records.

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, 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 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.