(The Center Square) – Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi got a prominent seat in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s private box for the swearing in of the 101st General Assembly in 2019.
Kaegi was seated up front with some of the state’s most powerful union leaders, Madigan’s family and some of his top precinct captains.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, the lead prosecutor in the ongoing corruption trial of Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain, asked Madigan a single question about Kaegi: Did he run the office that your private law firm sought tax deductions from?
Madigan said it was “one” of the offices his private firm worked with to secure lower property taxes for his clients. Kaegi is responsible for establishing fair and accurate property assessments in Cook County.
Of the dozens of questions Bhachu asked Madigan on cross examination Monday, it stood out because it has little to do with the corruption charges Madigan faces. It further stood out because it appeared to get to the heart of what Bhachu wanted: To paint the state’s longest-serving House speaker as a politician who used his considerable public influence for private gain.
Bhachu also sought to highlight potential conflicts of interest with Madigan’s public office. Bhachu wanted to show that Madigan gave Kaegi a prominent seat at the inauguration in Springfield, knowing that Kaegi’s office considered requests from Madigan’s firm to lower property taxes for his clients.
At the time, Madigan was the state’s most powerful politician. He served as Speaker of the House, which made him the ultimate authority on what legislation was called for a vote in the state’s lower legislative chamber. And as head of the Democratic Party of Illinois, a position Madigan held concurrently with the job of Speaker, Madigan also had control of the party’s purse strings.
At the same time, Madigan’s private law firm worked on behalf of clients to reduce their property tax bills.
Bhachu’s line of questioning sought to poke holes in Madigan’s assertions that his private law firm had strict guardrails to prevent potential conflicts.
Madigan’s firm was successful. Last week, when the jury was out of the room, Bhachu said that in good years, Madigan generated nearly $1 million from his 50% ownership of the law practice.
Prosecutors charged Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain with 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct. The federal government says they sought no-show jobs from state-regulated companies for political allies in exchange for passing legislation favorable to the companies in Springfield.
Prosecutors have alleged that ComEd and AT&T Illinois gave out jobs and contract work to those loyal to Madigan to get legislation passed that would benefit their company balance sheets.
ComEd agreed to pay $200 million in July 2020 to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged $1.3 million in jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments to influence Madigan.
AT&T Illinois agreed to pay $23 million as part of its own deferred prosecution agreement in 2022.
Madigan resigned his House seat after losing the speakership in January 2021.