Paranoia, the destroyer
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
In the July 2018 call played Monday, Mapes and McClain were critical of then-private attorney Heather Wier Vaught, whom they blamed for recommending Hickey’s appointment to the sexual harassment inquiry.
“It was all Heather,” Mapes told McClain. Wier Vaught said in an interview that she reached out to Hickey, at Madigan’s request, to see if she would be interested in doing the review. “Ultimately,” Wier Vaught said, “the women’s caucus recommended her, and Madigan hired her to conduct the full review of the office.”
McClain mused that “we may be saved” if Hickey was distracted enough by another appointment aimed at protecting students from sexual violence, though he suspected Rauner had something up his sleeve [to force Madigan’s resignation].
“But if Rauner slips her 50 or 100 grand … that’ll be her recommendation November 15th,” McClain said. “Well, it would be all, a huge thing, right? It’ll be national news. It’ll be all the women’s groups. It’ll (be state Rep.) Kelly Cassidy. It’ll be a huge tsunami goin’ after him.”
Under criticism for how he handled sexual harassment complaints, Madigan hired Hickey in 2018 to review his office and the Democratic caucus following a series of #MeToo scandals alleging misbehavior of political aides and allies, including the accusations against Mapes, who has denied improper conduct.
So, according to Mike McClain, Heather Wier Vaught was the mastermind working to get more “skirts” in government. She was also the person who wouldn’t tell McClain the names of women making allegations against members. And she was the person McClain blamed for Maggie Hickey’s appointment, which, coupled with a fat bribe from Bruce Rauner, would result in Kelly Cassidy being the next House Speaker and the ushering in of a new feminist tsunami utopia… or something.
Man, McClain really nailed HWV’s secret plan. /s
* Meanwhile, from the Sun-Times…
Jurors also heard a discussion between the two men about Joe Dominguez, who became CEO of ComEd in 2018 following the promotion of outgoing CEO Anne Pramaggiore. During the May 2018 call, McClain seems to reference Madigan.
“He told me Monday night that, um, uh, ‘Don’t you wanna bring to a head before he comes into the office, uh, this Joe Dominguez is really not trusted in Springfield?’ That’s the guy who’s taking Anne’s place,” McClain said.
McClain goes on to say “that’s the third time he’s brought it up.” McClain then said he “had a real serious conversation with Anne Pramaggiore,” who said she was trying to figure out how to broach the issue internally.
Mapes is also accused of testifying falsely about knowing Madigan’s impressions of Dominguez. Before the grand jury, a prosecutor asked Mapes, “You didn’t get any information from any source about what Mr. Madigan thought about Joe Dominguez at all?”
Mapes answered, “No, no, I haven’t. I don’t have any idea.”
Oopsie.
* More Mapes…
* Ex-top aide to Madigan gets chance to tell his side of story to jurors in his perjury trial: Mapes’ defense attorneys have argued he either didn’t know the answers to the questions he was asked before the grand jury, or he didn’t remember them. In opening statements, they compared Mapes’ testimony to a pop quiz ahead of a high school prom — in which a wrong answer could result in a felony. They’ve also suggested that Mapes, who had direct access to Madigan, didn’t necessarily buy into the accepted narrative in Springfield that McClain carried messages and performed other tasks for Madigan — a narrative McClain had a financial interest in pushing as a lobbyist.
(Headline explained here.)
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 9:55 am:
To the kids: Google the post title and prepare to rock out.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 9:58 am:
The amount of credit they gave Raunner for being Machiavelli is something.
Kind of surprised they let him live rent-free in their heads like that. Imagining those sorts of shenanigans were going on makes me wonder if they were secretly grass-roots Republicans.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:02 am:
=== Imagining those sorts of shenanigans were going on===
The most paranoid bunch you’ll ever meet. Really started manifesting itself during Blagojevich.
- Walker - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:05 am:
Amazing how many people in the political world just assume others must have some nefarious hidden agenda.
Heather WV wasn’t just doing her job ethically? Kelly Cassidy wasn’t just expressing her long held legitimate concerns?
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:05 am:
It is always surprising to me how little people in power actually know.
- on point - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:05 am:
== The amount of credit they gave Raunner for being Machiavelli is something.==
He did spend something like $50M on anti-Madigan ads and movies. That might cause some to get a bit paranoid.
- Loyal Virus - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:10 am:
Had Give the People What They Want on vinyl- thanks for the rememory, Rich.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:11 am:
Hickey getting mentions regularly with the Northwestern athletics mess. speculation that the report did not have all needed to understand the situation.
- Mapes, McClain & Madigan - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:16 am:
I’ll never be clear on why they disliked women and Hispanics so much.
- Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:19 am:
“In opening statements, they compared Mapes’ testimony to a pop quiz ahead of a high school prom — in which a wrong answer could result in a felony”
Wow, seem like a huge stretch. Lying to or obstructing the proceedings of a Federal Grand Jury is a far cry from a high school prom. Mapes was a smart and respected leader who for sure knew the consequences of his false declarations. In the words of the Hawk - “He Gone”
- Ringo Starlight - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:25 am:
Behold the incredible contrast between the reputation of McClain (ultimate insider with access to the best intelligence, keen political tactician) and the man behind the curtain (bluster, misogyny and deflection).
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:26 am:
=Kind of surprised they let him live rent-free in their heads like that.=
The amount of rent NOT being paid across all parties at that time was something.
- Homebody - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:29 am:
It is always projection, all the time. Slimeballs see the world through a different lens than everyone else. They are constantly scheming themselves, so they just assume everyone else is also. It never dawns on them that not everyone is cut from the same cloth they are.
- Ringo Starlight - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:36 am:
Pardon me if I’ve missed this, but can anybody illuminate why the Trump WH would turn to Mike McClain for recommendations on the U.S. attorney appointment? Was there some pre-existing relationship or line of communication that has not been reported?
- Lincoln Lad - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:37 am:
As the reputations of genius and strength for McClain and Mapes get obliterated by their own recorded words and musings; I have to wonder if the MJM rep for genius doesn’t also fade away in his own trial. After all, he put his faith in these two… that was no genius move.
- low level - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:38 am:
==Behold the incredible contrast between the reputation of McClain (ultimate insider with access to the best intelligence, keen political tactician) and the man behind the curtain (bluster, misogyny and deflection).==
This is what I have come away with as well about McClain. That despite his reputation, he was in reality just a other hack.
- MOON - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:39 am:
Based upon all these taped conversation I firmly believe McClain often said and did things not representing Madigan’s position.
In other words McClain was often freelancing but giving the impression he was speaking on behalf of Madigan
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:40 am:
===often freelancing but giving the impression he was speaking on behalf of Madigan===
Often, yes. But he had better access to MJM than just about anyone else.
- Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:43 am:
“Those witnesses …Bronwyn Rains, Mapes’ wife;… The defense attorney also said no decision had yet been made about whether Mapes will testify — though such a move seems unlikely”
Mapes looks more and more despicable; the dude is afraid to testify but he will put his wife through questioning from the Assistant U.S. Attorney.
- Henry - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:45 am:
There doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number of people McClain will throw under the bus. Basham, Brown, Wier Vaught and those are recent. Anyone that has been around for a while knows the list is a lot longer.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 10:45 am:
The paranoia starts with not trusting anyone or anything they couldn’t control or make be they way they saw things.
the trust that women were the alleged enemy to their plans and existence is quite the admission
Rauner paranoia we’ve both ways as Raunerites were constantly paranoid about “because Madigan”
The lesson is… live and believe Occam’s Razor… doing right and expecting the obvious and not the paranoia is the way political acumen can be keen.
Trusting no one to the extent these folks specifically did/do… it allowed a criminality “for the greater good”?
- This - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:26 am:
The habit of wasting time in small circles of “powerful insiders” has been going on forever. I would bet every administration’s top folks, from Walker to Pritzker and all in between, have wasted hours imagining false enemies.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:26 am:
==they compared Mapes’ testimony to a pop quiz ahead of a high school prom==
I’m looking forward to the ‘Fast Times’ remake with Tim Mapes playing the role of Jeff Spicoli and a federal prosecutor playing the role of Mr. Hand./S
- northsider (the original) - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:28 am:
I don’t know either of these guys but it sounds like McClain was kind of a big blowhard & Mapes was kind of quiet on all these tapes.
It wouldn’t be implausible that after 20 years of listening to McClain bluster & pontificate, Mapes might have just tuned him out once he ‘retired’.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:38 am:
“… Mapes might have just tuned him out once he ‘retired’.”
He was thinking “Noted” …
- Joseph Heller - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:42 am:
It’s a Catch-22 of warfare. Insulate decision making within a small handful of insiders to maintain secrecy from your opposition. It leads to in-group culture, paranoia, and ultimately on occasion catastrophic choices.
Look at Vietnam.
On the otherhand, it looks like Mapes and McClain were behaving like most C-suite executives in most corporations around the world. Cozying up to the boss, exaggerating their own importance. trying to cut others out of access, more worried about credit and blame than outcomes, and frankly wasting a lot of time.
If Mapes never uttered the words “I cannot recall” it may because he spent decades convincing others and himself of his infallibility, and he no longer has those words in his vocabulary. Maybe he saw it as a necessity of the job to believe he could never be second-guessed, and maybe he was half-right and it just worked until it didn’t, but none of us is perfect.
- Always something - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:46 am:
Curly, Moe and Larry
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:49 am:
Kind of surprised they let him (Rauner) live rent-free in their heads like that.
He’s Still living rent free in a few heads right here.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 11:53 am:
===why the Trump WH would turn to Mike McClain for recommendations===
Corey Lewandowski had some sort of prior connection to McClain.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:02 pm:
- The most paranoid bunch you’ll ever meet. -
You wouldn’t know it by what they put in emails and said on the phone.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:02 pm:
===living rent free===
… and yet not a single Raunerite has made a greater political leap, nor has the ILGOP been able to recover post-Rauner… all the while the severe damage of Rauner’s first two years is still being felt in some social circles.
It’s like saying living through the damage of a natural disaster should be forgotten once the sun rises again. Illinois is still doing the cleanup.
- Boone's is Back - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:03 pm:
Man were they an insular bunch. Groupthink to the extreme.
- Joe - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:10 pm:
So Heather Vaught was promoting Hickey for IL GA sexual harassment work while Adam Vaught was undermining Hickey for US Attorney. That is so weird.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:11 pm:
===while Adam Vaught was undermining Hickey===
LOL
No. Another McClainism. Don’t trust it.
- Louis Wheel - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:35 pm:
Great Kinks reference in the post title.
- Agora - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:41 pm:
I hope tomorrow they’ll find better things.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
Hot take - the Kinks won the British invasion…and it wasn’t really even close
- Keyrock - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 1:03 pm:
Agora, I was about to say that. But I think Mapes, McClain, and Madigan may not be finding better things ahead.
As to Maggie’s position as a finalist for US Attorney, it’s also possible that Durbin and Duckworth had veto power over the eventual selection.
- Spencer - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 2:14 pm:
===Another McClainism. Don’t trust it.===
I don’t know. If it wasn’t true I don’t think the feds would have brought it in when other calls mentioning non-defendants was kept out. They probably didn’t like that a guy like McClain can have a role in picking who their boss might be and may want to discourage that.
- Gravitas - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 3:43 pm:
What a difference a few years and a few indictments can make! I can recall commenters in the days gone by who consistently praised the Madigan team constantly.
- low level - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 3:45 pm:
This thing about them distrusting and disrespecting women is weird considering the number of women that occupied high level positions in the organization both in the Capitol and in Chicago.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 3:57 pm:
===I can recall commenters===
They got sloppy, technology caught up with them, and…
“…can you believe it, McClain sunk the world”
It’s like watching “Goodfellas” and when Henry is talking about witness protection, all the shiny glitter is off… but no one ever thought Henry was a hero, or the hero.
- Barbie - Tuesday, Aug 22, 23 @ 4:51 pm:
Rock on Heather WV. This patriarchal nonsense that you clearly had to swim upstream against is really not a revelation but it makes my heart hurt for all you surely endured.