* The Tribune…

As the bombshell federal investigation into then-House Speaker Michael Madigan was heating up two years ago, prosecutors handed Madigan’s former chief of staff Tim Mapes the ultimate free pass, albeit with one crucial string attached.

Granted immunity, Mapes was assured he would not be charged as long as he told the truth to a federal grand jury. But he allegedly blew it.

According to prosecutors, Mapes lied repeatedly in his March 31, 2021, grand jury testimony in an ill-fated attempt to protect his longtime boss, claiming he couldn’t recall anything relevant about Madigan’s relationship with Michael McClain, the speaker’s longtime confidant at the center of the probe.

Those allegedly misleading statements had little effect, as Madigan and McClain were both indicted on racketeering charges last year alleging Madigan was at the top of a criminal enterprise aimed at enriching himself and his cronies and maintaining his nearly unfettered political power.

Click here for the seven alleged lies that could send Mapes to prison.

* Jon Seidel for the Sun-Times…

Now, Mapes is set to stand trial starting Monday in Chicago on federal charges of perjury and attempted obstruction of justice for an alleged bid to block prosecutors’ investigation of Madigan, who forced Mapes to resign in 2018, and Michael McClain, another Springfield insider. […]

Madigan and McClain also loom large in Mapes’ case. Key witnesses from McClain’s first trial are set to return to the stand. Among them: state Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita, who has testified in two corruption trials this year, and former Madigan aide Will Cousineau.

The backdrop this time will be a series of #MeToo scandals in 2018 that rocked Springfield and forced key figures, including Mapes, out of office.

The FBI was listening at the time, and prosecutors are ready to play recordings that were secretly made amid the fallout.

* Here is Jon’s thread on today’s trial proceedings…

Tim Mapes' attorney wants to have until the weekend to respond to the feds' motion about Bhachu. Feds say that's fine, as long as the defense doesn't mention Bhachu in opening statements.

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) August 7, 2023

Also, Judge Kness has agreed to a defense request that opening statements in the trial of Tim Mapes won't begin until Tuesday, at the earliest.

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) August 7, 2023

Follow along today by clicking here.

* Capitol News Illinois…

And in this trial, federal prosecutors will attempt to show that Mapes was well aware of McClain’s role as Madigan’s other right-hand man, a label often used for Mapes himself in the decades he served the speaker.

In the weeks following Mapes’ ouster in early June 2018, he and McClain spoke about a dozen times, according to federal court records.

“You’re the only person’s made me cry today,” McClain told Mapes on the day he was forced to resign, according to court records. “Anything I can do, ya know, I’m willing to do, you know that, don’t ya?”

That afternoon, McClain also told Mapes, “I never thought you would be the one to leave the fox hole.”

* Click here for the witness list …

The witness list is rather interesting in this trial https://t.co/DVFiH6t8gD

— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2023

* More…

* NBC Chicago | Jury selection expected to begin in trial for former Madigan chief of staff: The obstruction charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, while the false declaration charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

* CBS Chicago | Perjury trial to begin for former Madigan chief of staff Timothy Mapes: Madigan is scheduled to go on trial next April on racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud charges. McClain is also a co-defendant in that case.