Longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan Indicted
US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, speaks to media Wednesday following the indictment of former House Speaker Michael Madigan. (Photo: Blueroomstream/Screenshot)
Michael J. Madigan, one of the most powerful figures in the history of Illinois politics, is now among the long list of Illinois politicians to face federal corruption charges.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch announced a 22-count federal indictment against Madigan Wednesday, shocking the Illinois political class more than any other indictment of an Illinois politician since Rod Blagojevich.
Madigan and his longtime confidante, former State Representative and retired lobbyist Mike McClain , face charges of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud, and other extortion offenses.
The indictment accuses Madigan of leading, for nearly a decade, a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial wellbeing, while also generating income for his political allies and associates,“ Lausch said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “The charges allege that Madigan used his various elected and professional positions to further the goals of the criminal enterprise.”
Lausch said Madigan required companies, like electric utility Commonwealth Edison, to pay Madigan’s associates as a reward for their loyalty to Madigan without performing viable work for the company. He said many of the jobs for Madigan associates were “low show or no show.” The indictment also alleges Madigan used his power in Springfield to siphon business to his law firm.
The grand jury which returned the indictment against Madigan and McClain has apparently been empaneled since April of last year, with the indictments being returned Wednesday.
It does not appear that any of his lieutenants or confidants “flipped” on Madigan, but that the feds got their evidence from wiretapped phone calls.
“What you do have are words that are used in conversations. You do have words that are used in documents or on e-mails that are spelled out throughout the indictment,” Lausch said. “And that’s the core of our evidence in this case.
Lausch all but confirmed some of the evidence comes from wiretaps. It is widely believed both McClain and former Chicago Alderman Danny Solis were monitored by the FBI..
Madigan and McClain allegedly attempted to convince Governor JB Pritzker’s office to hire Solis, a hire that never took place. We’re told Pritzker was interviewed by the FBI, but has not been included in any allegations.
“There’s no allegation in this indictment against the Governor or his staff,” Lausch said.
Pritzker issued a statement Wednesday afternoon calling the indictment a “condemnation” of Illinois’ political system:
“An indictment of this magnitude is a condemnation of a system infected with promises of pay-to-play, and the era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end.,” Pritzker said. “The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the public’s trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Republicans attempted to bring Madigan’s ties to Commonwealth Edison to the forefront in 2020 by launching a special House investigative committee, that was chaired by now-House Speaker Chris Welch. Many Republicans accused Welch of slow-rolling the allegations against Madigan.
“As Chair of the Special Investigating Committee, I made it clear that this matter needed to be handled in a court of law, completely separate from the legislature,” Welch said in a statement Wednesday. “As is evident by this federal indictment, the full weight of the justice system was needed to ensure all charges are investigated properly and thoroughly. At my direction, the Office of the Speaker has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said in a news conference Wednesday evening that it may be the “darkest day in Illinois government history.”
“This federal indictment against former Speaker Michael Madigan is the beginning of the power cleaning so desperately needed in Illinois government,” he said. “The depth of the corruption alleged in this indictment is truly breathtaking. But this is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan, but it’s an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades,”
Lausch says corrupt politicians continue to be a problem in Illinois.
“Unfortunately, this type of criminal conduct drastically undermines the public’s confidence in our government,” Lausch said. “We have a very stubborn public corruption problem here in Illinois. Rooting out and prosecuting public corruption has been and will always be a top priority of this office.”
No arraignment date has been set yet.