Free Republic

A jury found four former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists guilty of bribery-related charges Tuesday as part of an eight-year conspiracy scheme centered around former Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. In the highest-profile corruption case in Illinois in more than a decade, the jury convicted the defendants on all counts. "We're tired of political corruption," juror Amanda Schnitker Sayers said after the verdict. "We're hoping this is a first step." The Chicago veterinarian put the blame on Madigan. "He really did cause this all to happen," she said. Although Madigan wasn't on trial, the longest-serving state legislative leader in...

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The federal indictment against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday sent shockwaves through the halls of state and local government, with politicians from both sides of the aisle condemning Madigan's alleged behavior as "deplorable" and "disturbing."Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, a political foe of Madigan's for years, said Wednesday "may be the darkest day in Illinois government history." "This is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan, but it's an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades," he said. "But the public needs to get answers from the speaker,...

For decades, Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan dominated the state’s political system, corrupting it to his own ends. What should we make of his ouster? The Chicago machine turned out some of the most notorious names in American public corruption, including Anton Cermak, Richard J. Daley, and Ed Kelly. The machine also turned out Mike Madigan, who ruled over Illinois politics for 50 years, 36 of which he spent calling the shots as House speaker. Most people thought Madigan would only leave office in handcuffs or a casket. Most people were wrong. For the first time since 1970, “the Velvet...

Lawmakers from both parties have called for John Lausch to keep his job President Joe Biden is forcing Chicago's top federal prosecutor to resign amid ongoing criminal probes of powerful Illinois Democrats and their associates. U.S. attorney John Lausch is prosecuting close confidants of Democrat boss Mike Madigan, an ally of former president Barack Obama who resigned from the state legislature Thursday after a decades-long reign in Springfield. Lausch's office will also prosecute Chicago alderman Edward Burke (D.), an influential figure accused of strong-arming businesses into retaining his law firm. Lausch's abrupt removal has drawn bipartisan criticism from Illinois lawmakers...

I’m certainly hoping that newly elected Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch has the leadership skills, the wisdom, the guts and the character to help yank the state back from the economic abyss and promote legislation that will improve our quality of life. Does he? “A 2002 police report indicates that officers in west suburban Hillside were called to Welch’s home, where an ex-girlfriend told them that Welch slammed her head into a kitchen countertop numerous times after she called him ‘a loser.’ The woman did not press charges after talking it over with a relative of Welch’s.” “Welch also faced...

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is out of the leadership post he’s held for nearly four decades. On Jan. 13, 2021, state Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch was elected the new speaker of the Illinois House. On January 11, Madigan announced he was suspending his campaign for the position he’s held for nearly four decades after falling short of receiving the 60 votes needed to secure another term, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. “As I have said many times in the past, I have always put the best interest of the House Democratic Caucus and our members first,” the statement continued....

Federal prosecutors marched deeper into House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle Wednesday, charging longtime confidant Michael McClain and ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore in a bribery scheme designed to curry favor with the powerful Southwest Side Democrat. Also named in the 50-page indictment are ex-top ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and Jay Doherty, the former president of the City Club, who was accused of helping to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to three people with ties to Madigan’s 13th Ward. All four are charged in a document that also makes frequent references to ex-ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who has already pleaded...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan “must resign” if allegations of corruption are true against the fellow Democrat long considered the state’s most powerful lawmaker. “The speaker has a lot that he needs to answer for, to authorities, to investigators, and most importantly, to the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said during a stop in suburban Chicago. Former federal prosecutor Phil Turner, now a Chicago defense attorney, said it’s likely the government has pursued Madigan for years and with the ComEd allegations, found a fruitful avenue to reach him. More than half a dozen Illinois Democrats...

Federal prosecutors implicated Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Friday in a brazen, Chicago-style bribery scheme involving ComEd that allegedly went on for years and involved payments to Madigan associates exceeding $1.3 million. Though the stunning, lengthy details were revealed in documents that charged only ComEd — and not Madigan — with bribery, they said ComEd has agreed to “fully and truthfully cooperate” with federal prosecutors. The company has agreed to pay a $200 million fine and acknowledged that it sought Madigan’s help for legislation that could be worth more than $150 million to the utility company. Madigan is not...

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Thursday called for a portrait of the late Illinois U.S. Sen. Stephen Douglas in the Capitol’s House chamber to be removed and replaced with one of former President Barack Obama, whom he called “a more fitting representation of the modern-day Democratic Party.” Madigan also called for the removal of statues on the Illinois State Capitol grounds of both Douglas, a defender of slavery, and Pierre Menard, the first lieutenant governor and a slaveholder. The speaker’s call to take down the portrait and statues is part of a movement to remove memorials of historical figures...

Springfield IL bishop Paprocki specifically calls on Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton not to present themselves for Communion. This week, Illinois passed the most extreme pro-abortion state legislation in America — with some Catholic lawmakers taking the lead in pushing forward this anti-life bill. In response, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, today issued a public decree communicating to his priests that all Illinois Catholic lawmakers who voted for the state’s new Reproductive Health Act, or for an earlier 2017 bill that legalized taxpayer funding of abortions, should not present themselves to receive Holy Communion...

George Norcross III, the South Jersey Democratic power broker long at odds with the governor, has declared all-out war on Phil Murphy, calling him a “liar” and “politically incompetent.” After enduring a steady drumbeat of criticism over how his company and other entities tied to him allegedly benefitted from lucrative tax incentives meant to help revive the city of Camden, Norcross went on the attack. He lambasted a special governor’s task force deployed to investigate the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in connection with those tax incentives, as well as the governor.

A federal judge has ordered the arrest of two allies of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for failing to appear for depositions in a lawsuit filed by Madigan’s opponent in the 2016 election. The Chicago Tribune reports Joseph Nasella and Michael Kuba were subpoenaed by Jason Gonzales, who ran against Madigan. Gonzales claims the speaker’s team stacked the ballot with phony candidates with Latino-sounding last names to confuse voters. Gonzales’ lawyers allege Nasella and Kuba were paid with funds Madigan controls to circulate petitions for the alleged sham candidates. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly on Monday authorized deputy marshals to...

**SNIP** Mendoza is a creature of Burke and Madigan, and she’s also a close ally of Danny Solis. The alderman and companies founded by his sister dropped $140,000 in campaign cash on Mendoza. When Solis was heated up as a habitué of massage parlors and a helpmate to the FBI, Mendoza freaked. She’s now trying to change the subject by shaking the angry ethics finger at Preckwinkle and at Daley. In political terms, Mendoza kissed the hands of Mayor Rich Daley as if he were a fat pasha wearing a fez and smoking a hookah. But now she’s ripping Daley’s...

Retiring Alderman Danny Solis (25th Ward) received sex acts, Viagra, free weekend use of an Indiana farm once owned by Oprah Winfrey and a steady stream of campaign contributions in exchange for shepherding official City Council actions, according to allegations in a federal court affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Although no charges have been filed publicly against Solis, the 2016 affidavit lays out in detail a federal corruption case against the veteran alderman, who was one of the closest City Council allies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Emanuel’s predecessor, Richard M. Daley. It also alleges that among the people...

DePaul University freshman David Krupa scored an impressive victory in Chicago politics on Saturday: Boss Madigan — the most powerful Democrat in Illinois — backed out of a challenge to Krupa’s candidacy for alderman in the Southwest Side’s 13th Ward. “I am truly humbled to be the first candidate on the ballot to challenge the 13th Ward since 1991,” Krupa, 19, told me at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners offices. A few political guys mumbled privately that Madigan must be so angry that he might as well fill a burlap bag of the severed heads of a few of...

State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray says she is receiving warnings from lawmakers and unions that a “no” vote on his leadership bid will lead to retaliation.

A Southwest Side David vs. Goliath story. The David is David Krupa, 19, a freshman at DePaul University who drives a forklift. He’s not a political powerhouse. He’s just a conservative Southwest Side teenager studying political science and economics who got it in his head to run for alderman in a race that pits him against the most powerful ward organization in Chicago. The Goliath is the 13th Ward Democratic Organization run by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, aka Boss Madigan, the most powerful politician in the state. Boss Madigan has long hand-picked his aldermen. He likes them loyal and...

Our politics aren’t broken, they’re fixed. Indeed, one of my very favorite political junkies just told me she’s decided to skip the race for governor. She can’t bring herself to cast a vote, this time, for the lesser of the evils. It probably wouldn’t bother the candidates’ campaigns to hear that. They’re not really out to serve average voters. Politicians of one or the other major party draw legislative boundaries that are rigged to the advantage of their party’s incumbents. Major-party politicians have created complex rules and hurdles for candidates to get on the ballot. Outsiders who try to run...

Is Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives really a creature of Democratic boss Mike Madigan? Gov. Bruce Rauner says so on his commercials. So it must be true, right? No. A friend saw the Rauner ad against Ives and texted, “So she’s a Madigan candidate?” No, I told him. Absolutely not. But when you have millions and millions to spend, like Rauner, you can say almost anything if you pay for it, and if media don’t call you out on it. Ives, the conservative Republican from Wheaton who is challenging Rauner in the primary for governor, is no Madigan toady. The...