The trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, now in its ninth week and set to run into the new year, has captured the attention of political junkies but not so much the public at large.
We think there are a number of reasons for this surprising state of affairs. First and foremost, the election of Donald Trump to a second term, the budget crisis in Chicago and the other misadventures of Mayor Brandon Johnson have sucked up a lot of the local political oxygen.
Also, the main revelation of the unseemly political machine Madigan led for decades occurred last year during the so-called “ComEd Four” trial, which resulted in felony convictions of Commonwealth Edison’s former CEO and Michael McClain, the long-time lobbyist and close friend of Madigan’s who’s on trial yet again along with the former speaker. A fair chunk of Madigan’s prosecution has covered the same ground.
But one new wrinkle caught our attention. Prosecutors called witnesses to the stand Wednesday alleging in essence that Madigan intervened on behalf of his son Andrew to pressure a Pilsen nonprofit to give its insurance work to Andrew Madigan’s firm, Alliant Insurance Services. From 2019 to 2021, Andrew Madigan allegedly pocketed at least $43,000 personally after The Resurrection Project, the Southwest Side nonprofit, hired Alliant, according to testimony heard in the trial.
The evidence was compelling that Andrew Madigan likely wouldn’t have won the business had his father not gotten involved. During a 2018 conversation recorded by then-Ald. Daniel Solis, who was wearing a wire in cooperation with the feds, Madigan complained to Solis that The Resurrection Project hadn’t given Andrew its business after Solis previously had arranged a meeting. The speaker wanted Solis to make matters clearer to the nonprofit.
“After the meeting, you know, Andrew tried to follow up,” Madigan was recorded telling Solis. “And never … never got returned calls.” Solis responded that he’d contact The Resurrection Project and its executive director, Raul Raymundo, again.
“Just ask him, ‘Give Andrew something.’ … Give him a chance to show what he, what he can do,” Madigan said.
No, that wasn’t Marlon Brando in “The Godfather.” That was the longest-serving state House speaker in American history speaking those lines.
Sure enough, Raymundo got the message. He testified Thursday that he emailed Andrew Madigan within days of hearing again from Solis and introduced the younger Madigan to the organization’s chief financial officer. It took a little over a year, but Alliant got the work.
No evidence was presented that any threats, implied or explicit, were issued to ensure Andrew Madigan’s calls and emails were returned. It was a testament to Madigan’s power that such heavy-handed tactics were rarely necessary. If the speaker is asking for a favor, best not disappoint.
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Jessica Basham, Michael Madigan's former chief of staff, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after a day of testimony in Chicago on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Ald. Daniel Solis leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after another day of testimony in the corruption trial of former Speaker Michael Madigan in Chicago on Dec. 3, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Nov. 27, 2024, after another day in his corruption trial. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Ald. Daniel Solis arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Nov. 25, 2024, to take the stand in the Michael Madigan corruption trial. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan waves as he arrives for his corruption trial, Nov. 25, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after testifying in the trial of Michael Madigan, Nov. 21, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former lobbyist Michael McClain arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Nov. 19, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former ComEd board member Juan Ochoa arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Nov. 19, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is facing corruption charges, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Nov. 12, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez, a key witness in the racketeering case against Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Nov. 12, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Michael McClain, a lawmaker-turned-lobbyist and longtime confidant of former Speaker Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse this month. McClain was convicted last year alongside three others — including two lobbyists — as part of a scheme that involved funneling payments to Madigan allies who did little or no work. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives with attorney Lari Dierks for his trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Nov. 4, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Lobbyist and longtime Michael Madigan aide Will Cousineau, right, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after testifying on Oct. 31, 2024. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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Former House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago during his ongoing corruption trial on Oct. 24, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
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Michael McClain leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 23, 2024, in Chicago. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for the start of his trial on Oct. 21, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Michael McClain leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago as his and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s ongoing corruption trial ends for the day on Oct. 24, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for the openings at his trial on Oct. 21, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former state Rep. Lou Lang leaves Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after being dismissed for the day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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Former House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 17, 2024, after a jury was finally selected in his racketeering trial. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Speaker of the House Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after another day of jury selection in his corruption trial on Oct. 10, 2024. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago after a day of jury selection in his corruption trial on Oct. 9, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
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Co-defendant Michael McClain, a former ComEd lobbyist, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 9, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan walks across Dearborn Street toward the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 2, 2024, for the final in-person hearing before his Oct. 8 trial begins. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan is seen during a break in his hearing held at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Sept. 16, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
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Michael McClain, left, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on May 2, 2023, after being found guilty in the ComEd Four bribery trial. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan arrives at his office in Chicago on Oct. 18, 2021.
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Defendant Michael McClain, center, exits the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in downtown Chicago for the day during the ongoing “ComEd Four” bribery conspiracy trial on March 28, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
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Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan departs from his lawyers' office on March 9, 2022, after making his first virtual court appearance for his indictment.
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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan walks on his second-floor patio at his Chicago home on March 3, 2022.
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Michael Madigan arrives at his West Lawn home on March 2, 2022, before it was announced he was indicted on federal racketeering charges.
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Speaker Michael Madigan arrives for the Illinois House Democratic Caucus during a spring session of the General Assembly at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield in 2019.
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After a meeting with then-Gov. Bruce Rauner (not shown), Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan prepares to address the media at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago on Dec. 6, 2016.
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House Speaker Michael Madigan answers questions at a press availability Jan. 24, 2012, after he addressed the fifth annual Elmhurst College Governmental Forum.
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Lobbyist Mike McClain, center, appears outside Speaker Michael Madigan's office at the State Capitol in Springfield on May 25, 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
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House Speaker Michael Madigan listens Dec. 3, 2013, after introducing a bill to overhaul the state government worker pension system.
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Jessica Basham, Michael Madigan's former chief of staff, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after a day of testimony in Chicago on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
Madigan’s boost for his son was not the first time in Chicago history that a high-powered pol helped an adult child find their footing in the insurance business. Insurance is one of those services every individual and every organization — for-profit, nonprofit or government — must buy. The industry, thus, tends to draw more than the usual interest from power brokers like Madigan. It’s not difficult for such people to put the squeeze on municipalities or nonprofits, many of which depend on state government for revenue.
Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1970s famously erupted with an expletive when confronted with apparent strings he’d pulled to help his progeny, including son John, who was beginning a decades-long career in insurance. After the firm employing John Daley had won lucrative business from the city of Chicago, Boss Daley fumed, “If a man can’t put his arms around his sons, then what kind of world are we living in?”
Now 82 years old, Madigan was a Daley protege, getting his start in politics and government thanks to Daley in the 1960s. Madigan first won election to the Illinois House in 1970, again with Daley’s help.
What last year’s “ComEd Four” proceedings and the current trial have underscored is how the Machine-style politics that Daley perfected of rewarding valuable precinct workers and important political allies with paid gigs continued under Madigan. The difference was that, as courts clamped down on government patronage, Madigan turned to those nonprofits and businesses whose success depended in large part on the state (be it from grants or favorable regulations or whatever) to take care of those in his favor. And those beneficiaries in turn would perform the political work to keep Madigan in power.
Commonwealth Edison, which admitted in an agreement with federal prosecutors to bribing Madigan with jobs and contracts for his allies throughout much of the 2010s, was Exhibit A in this approach. But ComEd was far from the only company or organization that played by these largely unspoken Madigan rules.
“What kind of world are we living in?” “Give him a chance to show what he can do.”
We’ve yet to see how a jury (and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court) rules on whether Madigan broke the law by keeping the Daley Machine operating long after many naively had declared it dead. But, whatever the outcome, his disgrace and removal from power thanks to federal prosecutors and law enforcement is a great service to Illinois, which maybe can finally live in a world less ruled by clout.
