The former CEO of ComEd and three close associates of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who led the Illinois Democratic Party for decades, have all been convicted on federal corruption charges for their alleged roles in a scheme to use bribes to curry Madigan’s favor for legislation that boosted ComEd’s fortunes and cost Illinoisans billions of dollars.
Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 2, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts against former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; top Madigan associate Michael McClain; ComEd lobbyist and Madigan loyalist John Hooker; and Jay Doherty, a Chicago consultant and Madigan associate who led the City Club of Chicago and performed consulting services for ComEd for years.
The guilty verdicts against the so-called “ComEd Four” wrapped up a weeks-long trial before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenwebber.
At trial, prosecutors presented reems of evidence against the four defendants, including recordings of phone conversations in which they often discussed the importance of keeping Madigan happy to ensure ComEd’s priorities received favor in the state capitol from the man who all acknowledged controlled the outcome of nearly every piece of legislation in Illinois.
Three years earlier, ComEd entered into a deal with prosecutors to resolve indictments against the company itself. Under those indictments, ComEd was accused of steering more than $1.3 million in payments to Madigan associates.
Further indictments accused ComEd, under Pramaggiore, of conspiring with the Madigan inner circle, including McClain, Doherty and Hooker, to allow the seeding of Madigan lackeys within the ComEd organization, including the installation of a Madigan associate on the company’s board of directors, seemingly giving the former House Speaker direct influence within ComEd’s management structure.
Further, prosecutors asserted the defendants created allegedly concocted fake documents to cover up their actions and slip the alleged misdeeds past ComEd’s traditional internal controls.
In exchange for such favors, Madigan steered passage of legislation sought by ComEd, including controversial new laws which steered billions of dollars worth of subsidies paid by electrical utility customers to ComEd, ostensibly to support ComEd’s aging nuclear power plants.
In response to the charges, defense counsel for the ComEd Four told jurors prosecutors were trying to criminalize routine political lobbying, in which private interests seek to find ways to curry favor with lawmakers to persuade them to back their legislative priorities.
Jurors entered deliberations late last week. After about 27 hours of deliberations, the jurors returned guilty verdicts against all four on all nine counts against each.
Sentencing hearings have yet to be set.
With the convictions in hand, barring contrary actions on appeal, federal prosecutors will set their sights on scoring a similar win against Madigan, who also faces indictments in connection with the alleged bribery conspiracy.
Madigan’s trial is not scheduled to begin until April 2024. Madigan is 81 years old.
The defendants had all played key roles through the years in helping Madigan maintain and expand his power in Springfield and Chicago, and beyond.
Hooker, for instance, served as one of the lead plaintiffs on a lawsuit that eviscerated an effort by Illinois voters to change the way the state draws legislative district boundaries.
The Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court sided with Madigan, denying voters the chance to vote on a state constitutional amendment that would reform the redistricting process to create a nonpartisan commission to handle the task, rather than allowing the powerful Speaker and his allies to draw the lines.
Republicans had for years called for Madigan to be ousted, pointing out the Speaker’s alleged corruption and iron grip on Illinois’ political process.
That grip was strengthened by a massive army of political workers and a huge campaign war chest, fueled by millions of dollars in donations from labor unions, trial lawyers and businesses, and other individuals seeking to curry favor with the powerful Madigan.
Democrats, however, steadfastly maintained their support Madigan, particularly from 2014-2018, during the years in which Republican Bruce Rauner served in the governor’s office, seeking to advance a range of reforms.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is a billionaire, was among those who supported Madigan’s political organization, transferring $7 million in 2018 to Madigan’s organization through a campaign organization largely funded by Pritzker’s own money.
Many others even continued to support him even after federal prosecutors began indicting members of Madigan’s political organization and drew ever closer to the Speaker himself.
Even as the indictments mounted, Pritzker refused to demand Madigan step down.
However, after his associates were indicted, Madigan was ultimately removed as Speaker after a group of progressive legislators refused to give him the votes he needed to secure another term at the top of the Illinois House. He was replaced by his political ally, State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside.
Madigan then resigned his seat in the General Assembly, as well.
Democrats under Welch and state Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, used the power Madigan and his associates had secured to enact one of the most partisan legislative maps in the country, allowing Democrats to increase their supermajority in the General Assembly. That supermajority was then used to enact a raft of legislation long sought by progressives, including the abolition of cash bail, expansion of abortion rights and a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” among other items.