Judge denies defense motions as Madigan case heads to trial next week

A judge on Wednesday denied former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s motion to dismiss some of the charges he faces before trial next week. 

Judge John Robert Blakey also denied a motion from Madigan’s co-defendant in the case, Michael McClain, for a separate trial. McClain, a former state lawmaker, lobbyist and longtime Madigan ally, had asked for his own trial without Madigan because Madigan’s defense team plans to blame McClain for the multi-year corruption scheme.

The judge’s rulings clear for the way for the state’s highest profile corruption trial in years to begin with jury selection at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in Courtroom 1203 at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse in Chicago.

Blakey denied multiple motions from Madigan’s and McClain’s defense teams to dismiss parts of the indictment. The judge also denied Madigan’s motion to suppress wiretap evidence prosecutors plan to bring at trial and Madigan’s motion to strike the phrase “Madigan Enterprise” from the indictment along with other defense motions.

The judge also denied McClain’s motion for severance.

“McClain does not offer more than his own assertions that his and Madigan’s defense theories preclude one another and that resultingly the jury will not be able to function fairly,” Blakey wrote.

The judge also rejected Madigan’s request to “hire an undisclosed firm to conduct out-of-court research about prospective jurors, including internet searches of prospective jurors that would purportedly screen for prejudice against Defendants.” Madigan’s defense team said the company would use a “proprietary research” protocol.

“Among other dangers, this Court entertained grave concerns that an unsupervised inquiry of the jurors outside of court might deprive this Court of the full factual record needed either to prevent improper outside contact with jurors, or the ability to assess claims of the improper exercise of preemptory strikes,” the judge wrote.

In his ruling, Blakey said the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Synder v. U.S. limiting the federal bribery statute doesn’t derail the charges against Madigan and McClain. 

“While Snyder clarified the reach of [the federal bribery statute], it did not alter binding Seventh Circuit precedent regarding the stream of benefits theory or its impact on the quid pro quo requirement,” the judge wrote. “Indeed, even Defendants’ own authority acknowledges that the ‘quid pro quo requirement is satisfied so long as the evidence shows a ‘course of conduct of favors and gifts flowing to a public official in exchange for a pattern of official actions favorable to the donor.'”

The trial is expected, generally, to run Monday through Thursday starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m.

Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021, as speaker from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to 2021. That made him one of the state’s most powerful politicians, especially given his role as head of the Democratic party in the state. He faces 23 counts of racketeering, bribery, and official misconduct as part of a federal indictment. Madigan has pleaded not guilty.

In March 2022, Madigan and convicted former lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain were charged with 22 counts of racketeering and bribery for his alleged improper dealings with the state’s largest utility, ComEd. Prosecutors further alleged that he used his political power to unlawfully steer business to his private law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. In October 2022, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment that charged Madigan and McClain with conspiracy related to an alleged corruption scheme involving AT&T Illinois.