(The Center Square) – Jurors are scheduled to return from an 18-day holiday break on Monday at the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain in Chicago.
Judge John Robert Blakey held a charge conference for attorneys on Jan. 2, when prosecutors and the defense teams discussed terminology used in the indictment.
The jury last reported to the Dirksen Federal Building on Dec. 19, when Madigan’s attorneys called Illinois Appellate Court Justice David Ellis to the witness stand.
Ellis served as counsel to Madigan three separate times, including as chief counsel to the speaker from 2006-2007 and as special counsel in Chicago from 2012-2014, when he was elected to his current position as an appellate court justice in Illinois’ First District.
St. Xavier University Professor David Parker observed that Ellis went from being Madigan’s counsel to the appeals court bench in 2014.
“I saw that and I’m like, ‘Hmmm, I wonder how that happened’,” Parker told The Center Square.
Ellis testified that Madigan basically ran his campaign when he first ran for judicial office and that McClain donated to his campaign fund.
Before Ellis took the stand, Madigan’s attorneys called real estate developer Andrew Cretal and former Madigan aide April Burgos to testify. Burgos said Madigan was “one of the nicest, most genuine people” she had ever met in her life.
Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021 and was speaker for all but two years between 1983 and 2021. He chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years.
McClain was a longtime lobbyist who previously served as a state representative in Illinois’ 48th district from 1973 to 1982.
Madigan and McClain have pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct.
A federal indictment accused Madigan of leading a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates. The indictment also alleged that Madigan directed McClain’s activities and that McClain carried out illegal activities at Madigan’s behest. Prosecutors allege that ComEd and AT&T Illinois gave out no-work or little-work jobs and contract work to those loyal to Madigan to get legislation passed that would benefit them in Springfield. Four ComEd executives and lobbyists were convicted last year in a related trial, and ComEd itself agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors.
State Representative-elect Regan Deering, R-Decatur, said longtime corruption in Illinois has real effects for everyday people.
“The highest taxes in the nation, rising prices, of course, and we’re losing opportunities. It’s clearly a broken system,” Deering told The Center Square. “You know Illinois is a broken system. It covers so many levels.”
Deering was elected in November to represent Illinois 88th House District, which includes parts of Macon, McLean, DeWitt and Piatt counties. She said elected officials have a responsibility to react to the problems caused by corruption.
“It’s high taxes, it’s high prices, it’s less public service, etcetera,” Deering said, calling for transparency and accountability to replace the state’s current culture.
Deering and other members of the Illinois’ 104th General Assembly are scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Springfield.
