Lawyers for the ComEd Four defendants have tried to cast doubt by challenging the allegation built into the case that Madigan could be bought.
The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore.
The stark contradiction to Madigan’s carefully cultivated reputation as a political untouchable was seized upon by the defense as testimony came to a close last week, when attorney Patrick Cotter all but declared the government’s allegations were preposterous. Defense attorneys have argued repeatedly — and will surely again Monday — that none of the jobs and other benefits allegedly bestowed upon Madigan can be directly tied to anything the speaker did for ComEd in the General Assembly.
Whether Madigan’s physical absence at the defense table will play at all into the jury’s deliberations remains to be seen, but it has meant that the jurors heard the speaker accused of a lengthy list of questionable acts without him being there to defend himself. In addition to paying the subcontractors, the utility also hired a clouted law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes, distributed numerous college internships within Madigan’s 13th Ward fiefdom, and blatantly backed former McPier chief Juan Ochoa, the friend of a Madigan ally, for a seat on the utility’s board of directors, the indictment alleged.
Each of the four defendants will have an hour and a half, though they can trade time with each other, the judge said.Under the governing case law, prosecutors do not have to show a specific quid pro quo existed between Madigan and the four defendants, only that there was a corrupt intent to provide the stream of benefits to Madigan in order to win his influence over legislative acts.
“I know there is substantial dispute among the circuits, but not the 7th Circuit,” Leinenweber said. “We are living in the 7th. ...Eventually it’s going to probably get to the Supreme Court, and either you’re right or you’re wrong.” While the jury heard hours and hours of testimony about ComEd’s efforts in the legislature, there were several key aspects of the bribery probe that were kept out of the courtroom.
The matter may have given prosecutors a chance to explore a closer relationship between Hooker and Madigan, but the judge ruled that redistricting litigation was too far afield of the ComEd Four charges and barred the issue from being brought up in the trial. Madigan told McClain to “go forward with Ochoa” despite substantial pushback from a top ComEd official, including concerns about Ochoa’s financial matters.“If the only complaint about him is that he suffers from bankruptcy twice, so did Harry Truman,” Madigan quipped.
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