Jury selection set to begin in corruption trial of former Illinois House speaker
(The Center Square) – Tuesday is Day One of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s and co-defendant Michael McClain’s trial on racketeering and bribery charges.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch announced a federal jury’s indictment of Madigan on March 2, 2022.
“The indictment accuses Madigan of leading, for nearly a decade, a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates,” Lausch stated.
Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, issued a statement before the upcoming trial.
“You may recall that back in 2020 when I served in the Illinois House, I was one of three petitioners who called for a House investigation into alleged corruption activities of Madigan. This request was made in response to information that had emerged regarding an alleged arrangement between the speaker, one of his closest confidants, and ComEd, where funds were allegedly funneled to Madigan allies in exchange for a favorable vote on energy legislation,” Chesney said. “ComEd admitted to their role in the agreement in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement with the federal government.”
That special investigation committee in late 2020 only heard from one witness who provided damning testimony before the Democrat House Committee chair abruptly shut down the investigation, Chesney recalled.
The Democrat House Committee Chair was State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who then succeeded Madigan as speaker of the Illinois House.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, told The Center Square that he does not expect the proceedings to move quickly.
“I anticipate that jury selection will be a lengthy process with this trial, just because of the fact that Madigan is a well-known public figure,” Windhorst said.
The trial is expected to last about 10 weeks.
Although Madigan has a long history of political influence in Chicago, Windhorst said he believes justice will be done.
“I believe our system of justice is the best of the world and we, as much as is humanly possible, get to the truth of the matter through our system,” Windhorst said.
St. Xavier University Professor David Parker told The Center Square that Judge John Robert Blakey has done a fantastic job with the case so far.
“I know he dismissed a couple of the arguments by the prosecution, especially having to do the the jury selection and then having to deal with the Supreme Court’s decision in Snyder. I think it’s in good hands. I think the trial is in very good hands,” Parker said.
Parker referred to the case involving former Portage, Indiana Mayor James Snyder. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June of this year that a federal anti-bribery law does not make it a crime for state and local officials to accept a gratuity for previous acts.
United States of America v. Madigan is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning with jury selection at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, also known as the Dirksen Federal Building, in Chicago.
