Jurors hear more recordings at corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker

[October 29, 2024]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – At the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, prosecutors have continued to make their case with recordings of Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain.

U.S. government attorneys have played dozens of an estimated 200 total recordings jurors are expected to hear during the trial, which is projected to last 11 weeks.

Madigan and McClain are facing 23 federal counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct.

McClain referred to Madigan in a conversation with longtime union executive and Illinois Tollway Board member James Connolly on Dec. 11, 2018.

“I always told these young pups when they started lobbying, I said ‘Hey guys, you only have one client. As long as you treat that client well, you’ll do real well for the people that are paying you,’” McClain told Connolly.

In another recording, Madigan told McClain about commitments from lawmakers on Nov. 6, 2018.

“There’s … eight that have not committed, and of the eight, there’s three of them that I know are going to be fine. The three of them would be [then state Rep. Sarah] Feigenholtz, Christian Mitchell, and uh, Bob Rita,” Madigan said.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” McClain replied.

State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, testified for 10 minutes last Thursday afternoon but did not return to the stand on Monday.

In another recording of a call between Madigan and McClain, Madigan referred to state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, and then-state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie.

“You’ve told me that Moeller’s got an email where Lang is inviting some woman to come to his room to talk about her bill,” Madigan said to McClain on the call.

Lang faced a sexual harassment allegation at the time, which led McClain, at Madigan’s urging, to tell Lang to consider a different career.

“Would you be willing to sit down with Lang and, however you do it, just tell Lang, ‘Hey, Lou, you haven’t cleared muster,’” Madigan told McClain on the recording.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and co-defendant Michael McClain

With former ComEd general counsel and Senior Vice President Tom O’Neill in the witness box, prosecutors began taking the jury through a series of energy bills considered by state lawmakers from 2011 to 2019. For each vote on the various bills, prosecutors recorded the bill number, the date and whether Madigan supported it.

O'Neill said that in 2011, ComEd lobbyists worked to pass the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act. He said meetings on the legislation took place in Madigan's suite of offices next to the rotunda in Springfield.

He also discussed calls with credit-rating agencies in New York. Those agencies, which determined how well the company was positioned to meet its financial obligations, wanted to know Madigan's view of legislation the utility wanted to pass. O'Neill said they didn't ask if the bill had support from other lawmakers, just Madigan.

O'Neill said that's because, as speaker, Madigan controlled the legislative agenda and had the power to call or not to call bills in the Illinois House.

Prosecutors spent several hours with O'Neill on the stand as they worked to establish a foundation for their case against Madigan.

O'Neill previously testified during the ComEd Four trial. In that case, a jury convicted McClain and three others in a scheme to bribe Madigan with no-show jobs in exchange for passing legislation that would help the utility.

ComEd 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 $1.3 million in jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments 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.

Madigan chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois from 1998 to 2021.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.

Brett Rowland contributed to this story.

All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved