(The Center Square) – Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez is expected to testify for a sixth day at the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael Madigan.
Defense attorneys for Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain cross-examined Marquez on Wednesday.
Shortly after lunch, Madigan defense attorney Tom Breen raised his voice and asked Marquez, “Are you here to trash Michael Madigan?”
“I am not,” Marquez responded.
Breen began his questioning of Marquez by asking about Jan. 16, 2019, when FBI agents visited Marquez at his mother’s home, played recordings for him and asked him to cooperate with investigators. Breen suggested that Marquez agreed to secretly record conversations with longtime associates and friends the same morning that the FBI first confronted him.
Breen asked about a meeting Marquez had with Madigan, then-ComED CEO Joe Dominguez and others about ComEd’s legislative plan for 2019. Marquez agreed with Breen that the conversation had not been recorded, even though Marquez was cooperating with the government at the time.
Marquez said the utility’s goal was a perpetual extension of formula rates, but he said ComEd walked back the goal to five years. Marquez added that Madigan had a distrust of ComEd, which dated back to legislation involving a potential ComEd merger in 2007.
Breen asked about Marquez’s application for a firearm at a pawn shop in Arizona on March 8, 2024, when Marquez incorrectly stated that he had not been indicted. Marquez responded “no” to a question on the form that asked if he had been convicted of a felony. Marquez said he had made an “honest mistake” and said he didn’t believe owning firearms was an issue, because he was allowed to keep the firearms he already owned. Marquez had also called it “a mistake” during direct testimony last week.
When pressed by Breen, Marquez said he wanted a “snake gun,” because snakes approached his house in Arizona. Marquez confirmed that he even had his dog participate in snake-avoidance training.
Breen then questioned Marquez about interns McClain had urged Marquez to hire at Madigan’s request. Marquez said he did not have discussions about interns or job recommendations during the handful of times he visited Madigan’s ward office. Breen reintroduced a government exhibit of an email from McClain to Marquez with recommended internship candidates. Breen pointed out that the email chain started with Madigan associate Kevin Quinn.
Earlier Wednesday, following a morning break, prosecutor Amar Bhachu challenged Madigan defense attorneys’ plan to enter an order of adjudication for civil contempt in 2022 regarding Marquez’s attempt to avoid paying his wife during divorce proceedings. Madigan attorney Tod Pugh said the evidence was not introduced before the trial, because the defense team had just become aware of it Tuesday night.
Judge John Robert Blakey allowed defense attorneys to question Marquez about the issue but said he did not expect the defense to “spend 20 minutes” on it.
Breen later asked Marquez about the contempt order. Marquez confirmed that he had not transferred property and said that he complied with the court’s order when he was threatened with jail time.
Prosecutors are expected to question Marquez again during redirect testimony Thursday morning
Before Breen began cross-examining Marquez, McClain defense attorney Patrick Cotter asked Marquez about his decision to enter into a plea agreement with the government after Marquez faced federal charges for what Cotter called “job recommendations” by McClain. Marquez admitted that he thought what he was doing at ComEd was wrong. He said he agreed to cooperate with the government in part because he was hoping to avoid charges or face a reduced jail sentence.
Cotter raised his voice multiple times as he challenged Marquez’s assertion that he had a meeting with then-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker in part to solicit career advice, when in fact Marquez wanted to have the conversation in order to record Hooker for government investigators.
Blakey sustained an objection by Bhachu when Cotter asked McClain if he had deceived the people he was recording. Blakey said the question had been asked and answered, and he read a stipulation regarding the government’s legal means of collecting evidence.
Blakey told Cotter several times to avoid repetitive questioning, following Bhachu’s objections. Blakey also told Cotter to stop interrupting the witness.
On Tuesday, prosecutors played a recording from Feb. 22, 2019, involving McClain, Marquez and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore.
During the call, Pramaggiore urged Marquez to recommend to new ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez that McClain or Hooker handle communication between ComEd and legislative leaders in the Illinois General Assembly.
“Fidel, it’s in your best interest to be the one to raise with him that we need an outside point person to the speaker and the Senate president both, that it’s your recommendation that we consider either Michael or John Hooker. They’re seasoned. They know what they’re doing. The speaker will accept them,” Pramaggiore said during the recorded call.
Before the jury was seated Wednesday morning, prosecutor Diane MacArthur said that the government expected former Chicago City Council member Daniel Solis to testify sometime next week. Solis began cooperating with federal prosecutors in 2014. He served as 25th Ward alderman from 1996 to 2019.
In the federal indictment against Madigan and McClain, Solis is referred to as “Alderman A.”
Madigan and McClain are facing 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct.
Prosecutors allege that Madigan and McClain used Madigan’s public office to secure jobs for their associates by advancing legislation favorable to ComEd.
The utility admitted in 2020 that it sought to influence Madigan by placing his associates into jobs requiring little or no work. ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 million and cooperate with the federal investigation in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors drop a bribery charge against the utility.
United States of America v. Madigan et al is scheduled to resume Thursday morning at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.
Brett Rowland contributed to this story.
