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SPRINGFIELD — Without comment, the Illinois Supreme Court moved Monday to suspend the law licenses of former Commonwealth Edison CEO Ann Pramaggiore and ex-company lobbyist Michael McClain after their felony bribery convictions.
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CHICAGO — Millions of Illinoisans could see higher energy bills next year, but the size of those increases will be determined by a state agency that has recently had its oversight powers expanded. Four gas utilities and the state’s two largest electric utilities are currently requesting authority from the Illinois Commerce Commission to increase rates.…
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CHICAGO — Exelon, the parent company for Commonwealth Edison, has been paying the legal fees for two now-convicted former Edison executives who were part of a conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, WBEZ has learned. The move has created an unusual dynamic. On one hand, the company’s subsidiary, ComEd, is cooperating with federal investigators…
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On Tuesday, former Gov. Pat Quinn was at the Capitol to add his ideas to the mix. He delivered a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic leadership in the General Assembly calling for a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to enact stricter ethics laws directly by initiative petition and binding referendum. “We need our…
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Ray Long of the Chicago Tribune covered the “ComEd 4” trial and also, literally, wrote the book on Michael Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He and MRN’s Bob Gough talk about the outcome and what it means for future lobbying efforts in the Statehouse. McClain’s sentencing in federal court is scheduled…
Read Full Article Local and state political leaders are reacting to Tuesday’s guilty verdict of retired lobbyist Mike McClain of Quincy on nine charges of federal bribery. Statement from the office of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: “Since taking office, Gov. Pritzker has advanced the cause of ethics reform in key areas, especially in bringing more transparency to the…
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“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” — St. Augustine Mike McClain’s friends and supporters always saw him as their champion. When roads and bridges needed to be built, McClain got the call. Need a Civic Center? McClain is on it. The ultimate fixer. The insider’s…
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CHICAGO – A federal jury on Tuesday convicted three ex-lobbyists and the former CEO of electric utility Commonwealth Edison for their involvement in an alleged bribery scheme aimed at longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and Mike McClain of Quincy – the utility’s longtime contract lobbyist and close confidant of…
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CHICAGO – Before jury deliberations begin on the fate of four ex-Commonwealth Edison officials after a six-week bribery trial, an attorney for one of the defendants got emotional Monday afternoon when imparting the weight of the jury’s task. “Be the shield that you were meant to be,” Patrick Cotter told jurors after gathering himself. “The…
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A defense attorney for a longtime friend of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called on a federal jury Monday to “be the shield” between a private citizenand a “very powerful government committed, dedicated and on a mission to get Mike Madigan.” But federal prosecutors asked that same jury to reject the idea that a “stunning” stream…
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CHICAGO – After nearly six weeks, a federal jury has heard almost all the evidence in the bribery trial of three ex-lobbyists for electric utility Commonwealth Edison and its former CEO who are accused of bribing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Prosecutors allege the four arranged for Madigan allies to get jobs and contracts…
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CHICAGO – In May 2018, Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore called the utility’s longtime top contract lobbyist, Mike McClain, with some news: she was about to be promoted to CEO of Exelon Utilities. In that role, she would oversee ComEd and five other utilities under the parent company’s umbrella. “Never would’ve happened without you and…
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CHICAGO — Near the end of a long day of animated testimony Monday, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore’s voice grew quiet. The jury in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial had just heard for the second time a wiretapped recording on which she told a close associate of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, “You take good care of me,…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Federal jurors have spent five weeks listening to the voice of former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, caught in a cache of secret FBI recordings in which prosecutors say she conspired with her colleagues to bribe then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. But late Thursday, the polished former energy executive and theater major finally got the chance to…
Read Full Article Anne Pramaggiore to take rare – and risky – step of defending herself to jury CHICAGO – Federal prosecutors on Wednesday rested their case against three ex-lobbyists and the former CEO of electric utility Commonwealth Edison in a trial where the four stand accused of orchestrating a yearslong bribery scheme to influence Illinois’ most powerful…
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CHICAGO – Former Commonwealth Edison executive Fidel Marquez had been a government informant for less than a month when he had a meeting with longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in mid-February 2019. The meeting was routine; Marquez, another executive and ComEd’s relatively new CEO met with Madigan at the beginning of the General Assembly’s…
Read Full Article QUINCY — ComEd and Exelon faced another round of serious negotiations over legislation in Springfield early in 2019, and former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain had a problem. The longtime confidant ofthen-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had already retired from his lobbying job, so Madigan asked who would serve as ComEd’s “lead” on the bill. McClain couldn’t…
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In intense courtroom moment, government’s star witness accused of saving his own skin CHICAGO – About an hour before sunrise on a mid-January morning in 2019, two FBI agents arrived at the home of Fidel Marquez’s mother, where the longtime executive of Commonwealth Edison had been staying. The agents played a series of recordings of…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Michael McClain laughed inside Saputo’s restaurant in Springfield as he shared with then-ComEd executive Fidel Marquez his story about his 2016 retirement, and how he handed his list of duties over to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan and McClain were longtime friends. McClain has described himself as an “agent” of Madigan. And after McClain…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Longtime Commonwealth Edison contract lobbyist Jay Doherty thought he was merely reminiscing and giving advice to a colleague and friend in a February 2019 meeting set up by ex-ComEd executive Fidel Marquez. But Marquez was wearing a hidden camera, having just a few weeks prior agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation of…
Read Full Article Former ComEd executive turned government informant Fidel Marquez called his ex-boss a “close” and “personal friend,” then detailed how she funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to associates of former House Speaker Michael Madigan to stay on his winning side. The government’s star witness took the stand at the ComEd bribery trial on Monday as prosecutors presented FBI recordings…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – Being the longtime friend of longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan granted Mike McClain certain privileges not afforded to other lobbyists in Springfield, jurors heard in a federal corruption trial that, in part, centers around the relationship between the two. McClain “had pretty free access” to the offices in Madigan’s suite on the…
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CHICAGO — A veteran Democratic state lawmaker who sponsored major gaming legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives told a federal jury Monday that former Speaker Michael Madigan once ruled that chamber “through fear and intimidation.” When asked what Madigan valued most in other legislators, state Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita answered, “loyalty.” And before the…
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Trial’s second day included hours of opening arguments, first witness CHICAGO – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t set to go on trial for racketeering and corruption charges until next summer, but his decades of power in Illinois government and politics loomed large Wednesday as opening arguments got underway in a related case. Madigan’s name…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — For the first time since their indictment on corruption and bribery charges in November 2020, three former lobbyists and one former executive of electric utility Commonwealth Edison appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday – the first day of what’s expected to be a six-to-eight-week trial. It’s Illinois’ biggest public…
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