Michael Madigan
CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declined to acquit former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza after his September trial on charges that he bribed ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan ended in a hung jury. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman was forced to declare a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in…
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CHICAGO – After nearly a dozen years working for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Tom Cullen went out on his own in 1999, building up a lengthy roster of diverse – and often high-paying – clients that kept him busy. Even so, Cullen continued to volunteer with the Democratic Party of Illinois, overseeing campaigns and…
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CHICAGO – It was the last day of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session in 2018 when veteran Statehouse lobbyist Mike McClain realized his bill wasn’t going anywhere. McClain was officially retired but still took on “assignments” from his longtime friend Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. But one particular project he took on proved especially…
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Whenever someone assures you that another person you’re both dealing with “understands” the “quid pro quo,” you’d be wise to run away as fast as you can and never look back. But that’s exactly how then-Ald. Daniel Solis assured then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in late June of 2017 that their mark – the developers of…
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McClain’s fingerprints could be seen on the list with the recommendations of Troy Culbertson to continue to run the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy and Dan Brink to remain on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. A note also included a suggestion for Pritzker to continue the $250 million overhaul of the Quincy Veterans Home started…
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SPRINGFIELD – For the second time in seven months, then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called up Chicago Alderman Danny Solis after reading about a proposed real estate development in the alderman’s ward. “Danny, I think there’s a, a proposed development in – it’s called Peoria Park,” Madigan said in the January 2018 call, apparently conflating…
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CHICAGO – It’s been a month since the jury in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal corruption trial last heard the name of star government witness Danny Solis during opening statements. The government’s brief explanation that the ex-Chicago alderman agreed to cooperate with the FBI after “abusing his own office” – and the defense’s…
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CHICAGO – It had been a tumultuous winter and spring for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as he was forced to fire or distance himself from several top allies, three of whom were accused of sexual harassment at the height of the #MeToo movement. But after the seismic events of June 6, 2018, when Madigan…
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‘My client is the speaker’: Jury hears three dozen wiretapped calls of McClain between 2018 and 2019
CHICAGO – By early 2019, Mike McClain had been a fixture around the Statehouse in Springfield for the better part of 50 years, first as a Democratic lawmaker in the 1970s and then for decades as a high-profile contract lobbyist. And though he officially retired in late 2016, McClain could still be spotted around the…
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CHICAGO – In 2006, electric utility Commonwealth Edison was riding out the last year of a decadelong state-mandated rate freeze, which had put the company in “dire” financial straits. In a period when corporate profits climbed at record rates, ComEd was an outlier. And as the utility stared down the possibility of state lawmakers extending…
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CHICAGO — Opening arguments began Monday in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who faces 23 bribery, fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges related to five “episodes” over the last 14 years. The former speaker wore a charcoal suit with a red tie, watching dispassionately and taking notes as federal prosecutor Sarah…
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