(Capitol News Illinois file photo by Jerry Nowicki)
By JERRY NOWICKI
PETER HANCOCK
BETH HUNDSDORFER
& GRACE KINNICUTT
Capitol News Illinois
Longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on 22 counts for allegedly using his position as the top House Democrat to solicit “personal financial rewards” for himself and his associates, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois.
The former leader of the Democratic Party served as Illinois House speaker for all but two years from 1983 until his unseating in January 2021. Throughout that time he was widely viewed as a more powerful political force than anyone in the state, including its governors.
Now, Madigan, 79, is accused of “nearly a decade” of running “a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates,” according to a news release from the Chicago-area U.S. attorney’s office.
“The indictment alleges a long-term, multifaceted scheme to use public positions for unlawful gain, including no-show or low-show jobs for Madigan’s political workers and private gain for Madigan himself,” U.S. Attorney John Lausch, whose office led the investigation, said at a news conference. “The schemes describe involvement of a leader of state government, one of his close confidantes, top management of a large public utility, consultants and others.”
Madigan’s longtime confidante, Michael McClain, whose home was raided by the FBI in May 2019 in what was one of the first public acts of a long-running federal investigation, was also named in the indictment.
McClain, who was at one time a lobbyist for utility giant Commonwealth Edison, “carried out illegal activities at Madigan’s behest,” according to Lausch’s office.
Madigan, widely known as the state’s most careful politician, famously avoided use of electronic communications such as email and cellphones.
Laush did not directly answer a question as to whether wiretaps were used in investigating the ex-speaker.
“We use all the investigative tools that we can…Those aren’t spelled out specifically in the indictment,” he said. “But what you do have are words that are used in conversations. You do have words that are used in documents or on emails that are spelled out throughout the indictment. And that’s the core of our evidence in this case. It’s the words that are spoken by people. It is the things that show up on documents, and those are the things that actually formed the basis for the charges that we brought.”
It was July 2020 when Lausch’s office first made clear that Madigan was the subject of investigative activity without mentioning the former speaker by name.
At that time, the “the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and the longest serving member of the House of Representatives” was named as “Public Official A” in a deferred prosecution agreement in which utility giant Commonwealth Edison admitted to a yearslong bribery scheme.
While the name “Michael Madigan” didn’t appear in the 38-page DPA, the court document made clear that ComEd’s bribery scheme involved hiring close associates of the former speaker to win his support for legislation that was favorable to the company.
In May 2021, Madigan’s former chief of staff, Tim Mapes, was indicted on obstruction of justice and lying under oath charges.
Now, Madigan’s name appears atop a 106-page indictment, along with McClain’s, charging the ex-speaker with 22 counts that include racketeering and wire fraud charges, counts which by themselves could lead to up to 20 years in prison, Lausch said.
According to the indictment, Madigan also used his position as committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and position at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner to “further the goals of the criminal enterprise.”
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com