“We got — we’ve gotta kill it. Period,” Madigan’s longtime confidant, Michael McClain, allegedly told ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore in a recorded call in May 2018. “The problem is, any day now, the budget is gonna suck all the oxygen out of the building … and the members won’t be paying any attention to our lobbyists … and Lisa Madigan’s gonna walk in and say, ‘This is my legacy legislation, please vote for me.’
ComEd
As Dan Quayle was no Jack Kennedy, Mike McClain is no Abe Lincoln
That defense didn’t work well for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but it’s for the Judge in McClain’s case to decide the merits of the objection. What is striking is a bombastic and, frankly, foolhardy reference in a footnote – Page 27, Footnote 15 – to our state’s favorite son. No, not Barack Obama, but Abraham Lincoln. It’s one McClain should tell his lawyers to drop from his brief.
As federal case still orbits Madigan, what’s next for the ComEd bribery probe?
Defense attorneys in the McClain case also referenced another famous Illinois politician, Abraham Lincoln, noting that the revered president asked in May 1863 that U.S. Trust Corp. hire the nephew of a Union Army general killed in a Civil War battle. “Even Abraham Lincoln, renowned for his honesty, made job recommendations while serving as president,” their motion stated.
Madigan falls from power in 2021 but little changes in Springfield
For the first time in decades, Illinois got a new House speaker and the Democratic Party of Illinois got a new chairman as Madigan fell from power. Critics say little has changed at the state capitol, however.
Feds say members of Madigan’s inner circle weren’t ‘merely’ lobbying
Federal prosecutors argued Monday that a bid from four members of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle to convince a judge to toss part of the indictment filed against them ignores the alleged corruption at the heart of the case. “The illegal conduct alleged in the indictment did not consist merely of lobbying, and it […]
Tribune: Former Chicago alderman made audio and video recordings of Madigan for Feds
With a sprawling political corruption investigation drawing ever closer to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Tribune has learned that a Chicago alderman cooperating with the government secretly made audio and video recordings of the once-powerful politician on a variety of topics. Then-25th Ward Ald. Daniel Solis recorded Madigan on numerous occasions as the […]
Madigan’s inner circle challenges bribery indictment, points to ‘fatal’ gaps
From The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES – Members of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle argued Tuesday that their indictment in the ComEd bribery scandal suffers from a series of “fatal” gaps — including the lack of a clear quid pro quo. Lawyers for Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, onetime ComEd lobbyist John […]
