The Mapes Tapes
Tim Mapes, the former Chief of Staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, leaves the Governor’s office with Madigan in 2013.
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As prosecutors allege Tim Mapes, the longtime former Chief of Staff to former House Speaker Michael Madigan lied to a grand jury to protect his former boss, they’ve laid out audio tapes from dozens of wiretapped phone calls they believe prove Mapes lied under oath.
In audio tapes released by the U.S. Attorney’s office so far, Mapes is caught on tape discussing numerous issues with retired lobbyist Michael McClain, which he claimed to the grand jury he didn’t recall. McClain was convicted as part of the “ComEd Four” trial earlier this year.
In many calls captured by the FBI, Mapes, who was fired in 2018 during a sexual harassment scandal, and McClain discussed issues directly related to helping Madigan weather the storm from the same scandal that took Mapes down. They also discussed ways to find a new job for Mapes, complained about numerous staff members, lobbyists, and legislators. They also questioned the loyalties of some of Madigan’s to lieutenants.
“I always try to protect him,” Mapes said in a June 21, 2018 call with McClain, just two weeks after Mapes was fired. “That’s what you gotta remember. And keep those people that are around the important stuff that way.”
Tapes show McClain and Mapes discussing numerous projects Madigan had assigned to McClain, including forcing former Rep. Lou Lang to resign or how to help Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) navigate gaming legislation.
“So, you know one of my assignments is to tell Lou Lang that he has no, uh, life in the House anymore,” McClain told Mapes in an October, 2018 phone call.
“Yeah, and you had one discussion with him, did you have more?” Mapes asked McClain, which prosecutors believe show Mapes knew first hand how much Madigan’s “gatekeeper” knew about the issues at hand.
While in front of a grand jury in early 2021, Mapes was asked if McClain had “any contact” with Lang between 2017 and 2019. Mapes replied “I don’t know of any.”
The two also discussed getting a lobbying job for Mapes and trying to find a new job for Madigan’s longtime spokesman, Steve Brown.
Mapes and Madigan also discussed a shady Chinatown land deal and the ongoing ComEd bribery probe all the way through 2019.
The trial will likely continue through most of next week.