* This argument, particularly the last excerpted paragraph in Hannah Meisel’s report, is basically the heart of the government’s bribery case. ComEd had to do what Madigan wanted or it could “provoke a reaction”…

On Oct. 26, 2011, the General Assembly overrode then-Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto on the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, also known as “Smart Grid.”

The override vote came one day after O’Neill agreed to execute a contract with the law firm Reyes Kurson, headed by Democratic operative and bigtime Madigan fundraiser Victor Reyes.

[Former ComEd general counsel Tom O’Neill] described himself as having “relented” after months of inquiries from McClain about whether ComEd’s legal department was going to retain Reyes Kurson, even in the middle of working “around the clock” on the Smart Grid veto override effort. […]

O’Neill was pushed to renew Reyes Kurson’s agreement in the coming months, he told the jury, noting McClain was “engaged, active, relentless at a point” in making the push. […]

Prosecutors sought to firm up O’Neill’s perception by next showing the jury an email McClain wrote to [then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore] two days later. In the email, McClain admonished Pramaggiore that she had to get involved with the Reyes Kurson contract renewal, or else “provoke a reaction from our Friend” – a nickname McClain used often when speaking of Madigan.

* McClain’s letter to O’Neill offers a slightly different perspective…

Tom,

You and I have often talked about this issue.

So, I am trying to get my arms around it if you would allow me.

In 2011,we agreed to a contract with them for 850 billable hours of work for each year for three years. I am going through my notes so please forgive me. I may not be exactly accurate.

So, in 2011, because the contract began in the Fall there were no billable hours.

In 2012, we hired them for only 280 hours.

After you learned that we were terribly short on the hours in 2012, you may a concerted effort to use them more and they billed 910 hours in the calendar year, 2013.

In 2014, again with your efforts they billed 1,130 hours. In 2015, they billed 690 hours.

So, forget the exact three year contract for a minute. Three years at 850 hours would be approximately 2,550 hours. 2,550. If you add up the billable hours that my notes reflect, again, you probably have exact numbers they have billed 3,010. 3,010.

I think you said you liked their work.

So, I know you are concerned about how many hours to “guarantee” them. Do you intend to offer something less than 850 per year or could you give me some idea? I know I will hear about it no matter what.

So, I am not displeased. There is no doubt that the company has kept the spirit of their word with this Law Firm. They love working for the company. I think you are professionally okay with their work.

I just would like to get up to speed when you are ready.

I am sure your people may have different numbers or maybe I have done a better job than I thought.

Please advise when it is convenient. I know that Victor is nervous about keeping this relationship. He often talks to me about how great it is to work with your people.

Thanks.

My best,

Mike

* Sun-Times…

McClain attorney Patrick Cotter promised jurors last week they would “hear no words” linking job recommendations from Madigan with any piece of legislation. The explicit connection has yet to be made, but prosecutors have seemed to work methodically to link the hiring pressure described by O’Neill to key bills.

Indeed they have…

“Well, I hate to bring this to your attention but I must,” McClain wrote [to Pramaggiore]. “Sorry. I am sure you know how valuable Victor is to our Friend.”

McClain added, “I know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involve [sic] and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend. Our Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?”

Pramaggiore wound up forwarding McClain’s email to O’Neill without comment. O’Neill said he also wound up forwarding a separate email to Pramaggiore, without comment, that discussed ComEd’s consulting contract with Roosevelt Group, Reyes’ separate lobbying firm.

“Because I felt he was double-dipping,” O’Neill said.

* More from the Tribune…

Pramaggiore’s mantra, according to O’Neill, was essentially, “What’s important to the speaker is important to ComEd.” […]

The defendants’ attorneys contend that the so-called scheme was nothing more than legal lobbying, part of the state’s high-stakes, often-messy politics where myriad interest groups and stakeholders compete for access to lawmakers. […]

Though the contract was unusual because it guaranteed an amount of hours, O’Neill was careful to say that Reyes Kurson did perform for ComEd and that the utility was generally happy with their output.

* As an aside, check out this email. ComEd briefed Moody’s and S&P about their 2011 “formula rates” bill. One of the top items the ratings agencies asked about was “Madigan’s view.”

* Isabel’s coverage roundup…

* Sun-Times | Quinn endorses Vallas over Johnson in April 4 mayoral runoff: Quinn endorsed Vallas for mayor after extracting a promise to renegotiate the proposed franchise agreement with Commonwealth Edison that Lightfoot tried and failed to ram through the City Council in the waning weeks of her administration. Quinn called the ComEd bribery scandal surrounding Madigan — showcased by the ongoing federal corruption trial of the so-called “ComEd four” — the “biggest utility scandal in American history.” “People in Chicago and all over the ComEd service territory were bilked out of millions of dollars by a bribery scheme that went on for nearly a decade. We need a mayor of Chicago who’s gonna be tough on that kind of corporate crime just like street crime. Paul is the best person to do that. I know Paul 40 years. He’s not a shrinking violet,” Quinn, driving force behind the Citizens Utility Board, told the Sun-Times Wednesday. “We should call in the ComEd executives for hearings at City Hall to get to the bottom of what they were doing for almost ten years and specifically ask them why, in light of what they just testified the other day — that they were making record profits in 2022 — why they are not giving refunds to consumers and businesses from their ill-gotten profits,” Quinn said. “They made those profits through illegal conduct and bribery. That franchise agreement should be held up until it’s re-done … so consumers are treated fairly and the company doesn’t get away with highway robbery.”

* Tribune | Ex-ComEd attorney testifies he was pressured by Michael Madigan associates to hire clout-heavy law firm while negotiating legislation in Springfield: “I am sure you know how valuable (Reyes) is to our Friend,” McClain wrote in the email, shown to the jury Tuesday. “I know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involve(d) and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend. Our Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?”

* Sun-Times | ComEd was pressured to hire politically connected law firm as it fought for key bills in Springfield, former top official testifies: Thomas O’Neill, ComEd’s former general counsel, explained to jurors the pressure he felt in 2011, and again in 2016, to sign and renew the contract for the Reyes Kurson law firm. He said it largely came from lobbyist Michael McClain, who often seemed to be doing the bidding of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, a Reyes ally.

* Capitol News Illinois | ComEd’s former top lawyer paints Madigan confidant as ‘double agent’ in testimony: O’Neill knew McClain had other corporate clients aside from ComEd as a contract lobbyist, but he also got the impression that Madigan was one of McClain’s clients. “By the way he conducted himself…he represented the speaker’s position on matters, to the point where it seemed like the speaker was his primary client,” O’Neill told the jury Tuesday.

* Center Square | In bribery case, prosecutors shift focus to former utility leader: Prosecutors spent several hours with O’Neill on the stand going through the passage of energy legislation in Illinois as they worked to establish a foundation for their case against former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty and former lobbyist and state lawmaker Michael McClain. All four have pleaded “not guilty” to conspiracy, bribery, and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records. ComEd is the state’s largest electric utility.