Federal prosecutors have placed powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan at the heart of a wide-ranging bribery scheme allegedly perpetrated by electrical utility ComEd.
However, that has not stopped political donors from pouring money into Madigan’s war chests. The Speaker, who also serves as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, then uses that money in large part to fund Democratic political campaigns and operations statewide.
A large chunk of Madigan’s campaign cash has continued to come from personal injury lawyers and other trial law groups whose money largely comes from businesses they sue in courts in Cook County, Madison County and elsewhere.
Earlier this month, Madigan’s political organizations reported approximately $25 million on hand heading into the fall campaign.
The Friends of Michael J. Madigan campaign committee – the cornerstone of Madigan’s political fundraising apparatus – alone reported raising $10 million in the last year, including $1 million since federal prosecutors announced charges against ComEd stemming from the alleged bribery conspiracy.
According to campaign finance records, the bribery scheme appears to have done little to damage Madigan’s ability to rake in cash for his political organizations.
A large number of trial lawyers are among those continuing to donate large sums since news of the bribery accusations surfaced in mid July.
According to campaign finance records posted on Sept. 24, trial lawyers collectively donated $161,000 to the Friends of Michael J. Madigan, with all donations dated Sept. 21.
Donors on the list include such law firms as the Clifford Law Firm; Keefe Keefe & Unsell; Power Rogers & Smith; Salvi Schostok & Pritchard; and Simmons Hanly & Conroy, each of whom donated $12,500 on Sept. 21.
Attorney Terrence Quinn; and the firms of Hurly McKenna & Mertz; Tomasik Kotin & Kasserman; Wise Morrisey; and the Cavanagh Law Group, each donated $10,000.
The firms of Dudley & Lake and the Prince Law Firm donated $8,000 each.
Other law firms and attorneys donating to Michael Madigan on Sept. 21, with donations ranging from $2,000-$5,000 each included:
Cogan & Power; John J. Perconti, of the firm of Levin & Perconti; Rich Rich & Cooksey; Coplan & Crane; Horwitz Horwitz Horwitz & Associates; Strong Law Offices; Motherway & Napleton; Howard Ankin, of Ankin Law; and the Keating Law Offices.
The most recent big take from the attorneys, however, only continues a long history of donations from trial lawyers, who have long remained loyal to the man who runs the state’s Democratic Party and has held large sway over Springfield and much of the rest of the state for four decades.
A trial lawyer, Edward T. Joyce, for instance, served as treasurer of the Friends of Michael J. Madigan committee as recently as 2012.
That role is now filled by lawyer Michael J. Kasper, an attorney who regularly represents Democratic Party interests in court and who regularly spearheads efforts to remove challengers to Democratic Party candidates from ballots each election cycle and has led efforts to kill reform measures in court.
According to state campaign finance records, lawyers, law firms and their political lobbying organizations collectively donated more than $1.8 million to Friends of Michael J. Madigan from 2018 to July 2020.
Big donors in that timeframe have included the firms of Wise Morrisey; the Gori Law Firm; the Horwitz firm; Simmons Hanly & Conroy; Cavanagh Law Group; Clifford Law; Cogan & Power; Keefe Keefe & Unsell; Levin & Perconti; Romanucci & Blandin; Hurley McKenna & Mertz; Power Rogers & Smith; Salvi Schostok; Meyers & Flowers; Cooney & Conway; and Korein Tillery, among others.
Madigan has already begun sharing the windfall to fuel Democratic political goals.
On Sept. 18, Friends of Michael J. Madigan transferred $2 million to the Illinois Democratic Party, checking in as the largest single transfer of money ever into the Illinois Democratic Party’s coffers.