“Political and government-related bribery, extortion, fraud, conflicts of interest, theft of campaign funds, and tax cheating continue to undermine the public’s trust in government,” according to the report.
Michael Madigan
The SEC on Thursday announced it had filed charges against Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd and its parent company Exelon, alleging they engaged in a “multi-year scheme to corruptly influence and reward” former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
During an April 2022 court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu called Solis one of the most significant government informants and witnesses of the last several decades. But prosecutors do not plan to call him during the trial of former Ald. Ed Burke, set to start Nov. 6.
Madigan, 81, once so dominant that he was known as the “velvet hammer,” was at the heart of the allegations that led to 32 guilty verdicts in those trials. He now faces an uphill battle to avoid guilty convictions to match his former chief of staff Tim Mapes and longtime political confidant Mike McClain.
The verdicts came following a nearly three week trial and five hours of jury deliberations at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown.
“Our system of justice depends on the integrity of this process,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz told jurors Wednesday. “What (Mapes) didn’t do, ladies and gentlemen, was tell the truth.”
The prosecution was expected to formally rest Friday, the trial’s ninth day at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown, but due to technical delays and ongoing testimony, that will be pushed back to the start of next week.
The FBI-recorded calls played in court Thursday related to former state Rep. Lou Lang — who resigned his position in early 2019 amid sexual harassment allegations.
The email was introduced as evidence in the trial of longtime Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice after allegedly lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan and his inner circle.
“When the defendant answered those questions, the defendant lied,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said, “not just once, but again and again and again to prevent the grand jury from finding out what Madigan had done and what Madigan had done through him.”
Tim Mapes, 68, was indicted more than two years ago on a pair of charges stemming from his alleged false testimony before a 2021 grand jury about Madigan’s relationship with longtime confidant Michael McClain.
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a bribery charge levied against Commonwealth Edison, months after four former ComEd officials were convicted of attempting to corruptly influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
New efforts from Michael Madigan’s attorneys to suppress key evidence in his upcoming bribery trial. A battle among Chicago’s democrats for political power on the city’s Northwest Side. And fallout from allegations of hazing and racism in Northwestern University’s football team.
During his time as U.S. Attorney, Lausch oversaw numerous high-profile investigations in Chicago, among them, the indictments of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on racketeering and bribery charges and longtime Chicago Ald. Ed. Burke.
The four former Commonwealth Edison executives and officials convicted on bribery and other charges this week in the so-called “ComEd Four” case will be sentenced early next year.
When jurors Tuesday convicted a quad of Illinois power players on corruption charges, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wasn’t among them. Madigan wasn’t on trial. But he was at the heart of the case, with a juror telling journalists that Madigan “really did cause all this to happen.”
