* Courthouse News Service…

Ed Moody, a former Cook County commissioner, Cook County recorder of deeds and Chicago 13th Ward precinct captain, took the stand Wednesday in the ongoing federal corruption trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. His testimony gave the jury a look into how Madigan’s political network in Chicago operated.

Moody testified that he began working in politics in Chicago in the early 1990s alongside his brother Fred. The brothers met Madigan in 1989 or 1990, Moody said, and they earned a reputation as effective political canvassers during the 1992 elections. Madigan’s political office in Chicago’s 13th Ward — which overlapped with his state legislative district — made them local precinct captains, charged with turning out Democratic votes. By 1994, Moody said he and his brother were training other Democratic political workers, and that Madigan attended their training seminars.

Moody stayed active in Chicago Democratic politics for more than two decades afterward, and said he landed a court coordinator job with the Cook County court system in 1993 with Madigan’s help. He kept that gig for 23 years, and was appointed a Cook County commissioner in October 2016 to fill a recent vacancy. He served in that role for two years before becoming Cook County recorder of deeds, a now-abolished position, from December 2018 to December 2020.

Through it all, he credited Madigan as his patron.

“He’s my political leader,” Moody said of Madigan on Wednesday.

* Capitol News Illinois…

In 2011, after two decades of steady campaign work – which eventually turned from volunteer hours to paid labor – Moody approached Madigan with a request. As he approached his 50th birthday, he realized he needed to save more for his retirement, despite the pension guaranteed to him from his years working for Cook County government. Moody asked the speaker if he could connect him with some political consulting work in order to earn an extra $45,000 a year.

But Moody said the speaker didn’t give him an answer in their initial meeting, and he never heard from Madigan afterward. The lack of response from their political mentor made both him and his brother “hurt and upset.” So, Moody set up another meeting with the speaker, this time with his twin in tow.

On Wednesday, he described the emotional meeting and said the normally taciturn Madigan grew upset too.

“He said, ‘calm down, calm down,’” Moody recalled. “He said ‘you’ll get your contract.’ … As the conversation was settling down a bit, Mr. Madigan said, ‘This is how I reward my good soldiers.’”

* Tribune…

According to his testimony, from 2012 to 2019, Moody was sent some $354,000 from ComEd through Madigan-connected contractors for essentially no work, beyond making a few pointless phone calls.

One person he supposedly worked for, Shaw Decremer, never even talked to him about it in person, Moody testified. When he saw Decremer once on the street downtown, he was on his cellphone and looked busy, and simply gave Moody a “thumbs up” before moving on, Moody said.

Throughout his time on ComEd’s payroll, Moody said, Madigan assured him that everyone was happy with the arrangement. In fact, in 2018, when Moody’s contract was moved again to another lobbyist, John Bradley, the speaker told him in no uncertain terms he had “nothing to worry about.”

At the time, Moody was campaigning on Madigan’s block, working against state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s daughter, Angie, who was running for Cook County commissioner. Moody said Madigan had thrown his political resources behind Jesús “Chuy” García’s favored candidate, Alma Anaya.

* Sun-Times…

As part of his deal with McClain, Moody said he made one round of phone calls to state lawmakers each month — a task that took him an entire hour. Between January and April 2013, he said he also made a canvassing effort on behalf of ComEd.

Then, the arrangement changed. Moody’s money began to flow instead through then-City Club President Jay Doherty, and then through firms belonging to Shaw Decremer and John Bradley, who also have ties to Madigan. Jurors have previously been told that all the money originated with ComEd.

Unlike with McClain, Moody said he did no work at all for the others. He also said that, when the arrangement first began, McClain told him it was “one hell of a plum.

“And I owe the speaker big.”

* Moody is back on the stand this morning…

Moody says it was a little over a month from the FBI raid and his first interview with investigators on June 27, 2019.
Did you talk about the investigation with your brother Fred?
Yes.
Did he tell you to throw Madigan under the bus?
"I didn't throw Madigan under the bus."

— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) November 21, 2024

Breen: "You made the personal decision, early on as commissioner, not to run for that office?"

Moody: "No."

Breen: "And you continued to collect campaign contributions?"

Moody: "I had many fundraisers."

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) November 21, 2024

* More…

* Crain’s | Judge closes book on bribery case against AT&T tied to Madigan: Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso today to dismiss the case, part of a deferred prosecution agreement the telecommunications giant entered into two years ago in the sprawling public corruption investigation, Chicago Sun-Times reports. The judge said he would sign the order. AT&T had admitted paying $22,500 to an associate of Madigan’s to influence legislation in Springfield but did not plead guilty to any crimes. Prosecutors charged former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza with participating in the alleged conspiracy, and his trial ended in a hung jury in September.