Madigan Allies Push Back
Former House Speaker Michael Madigan waves after leaving the Dirksen Federal Building last month. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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While jurors continue to deliberate his fate, a group of longtime allies and supporters of House Speaker Michael Madigan have reached out in recent days to question and criticize the federal government’s prosecution of the longtime Speaker and once powerful political figure.
“This case is a sham,” said a longtime Madigan aide, who asked not to be identified citing potential “retribution” from the federal government. “Anyone who has ever worked in state government has recommended someone for a job and anyone who has ever worked in Springfield has negotiated legislation. And you think all of the lawyers in the House and Senate aren’t trying to get new clients every day? Give me a break.”
When Madigan left the General Assembly in 2021, we wrote a piece featuring numerous former aides who painted a much different picture of Madigan’s leadership operation than prosecutors have over the past four months.
“He’s a tremendous human being. The years that I worked for him were the highlight of my career,” said Rob Uhe, now a lobbyist who was Madigan’s Chief Counsel and Parliamentarian from 1998-2007.
Supporters questioned how the federal government has backed off of some of it’s planned witnesses and arguments throughout the trial.
A Chicago Tribune story this weekend pointed out Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) began testimony in the case, but never returned to the stand, seemingly without explanation. A Madigan ally pointed out Alaina Hampton, the former Madigan aide who accused a Madigan campaign staffer of sexual harassment, blowing open a series of cases that dragged down Madigan’s final term as Speaker, was expected to take the stand. She never did.
Another accused the Justice Department of “cherry picking” its time frame for allegations against Madigan related to energy utility Commonwealth Edison. Most of the charges stem from 2014 forward, but Madigan allies pointed out that just a few years earlier, between 2008-2010, Madigan spearheaded legislation creating the Illinois Power Authority (which the utilities opposed) and forced ComEd and Ameren to pay back over $1 billion to consumers.
Madigan supporters say he longtime speaker got ahead not by breaking the rules, but by playing by the rules better than anyone else.
“The fact of the matter is that the caricature of him trying to conquer the world is bulls---t,” said a former campaign staffer in our 2021 story. “He’s working a lot harder than the other side ever has, ever, including when it was their map. It was the Republican map in the 90’s, it was their map, they drew it. They took the boundaries, and we won all of those campaigns but ’94.”
Jurors ended their sixth day of deliberations Wednesday.
