* Tribune…

There is a parking lot in Chinatown tucked under the Red Line tracks, flat, narrow and nondescript except for a big sign advertising cheap rates.

To look at it, you’d never know the tiny, state-owned parcel would become ground zero in a petty but bitter political war — and a key factor in one of the biggest corruption cases in Illinois history.

But wiretapped phone calls played Thursday in the ongoing trial of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan gave jurors a detailed picture of the behind-the-scenes machinations, power plays and bruised egos in the battle over the 2½-acre lot, which a group of deep-pocketed developers wanted to turn into a mixed-use high-rise.

The dispute was fueled by many classic Illinois factors, including the icy rivalry between Madigan and then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, a falling out between then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval and Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis over Solis’ political backing of an opponent of Sandoval’s daughter, and a renegade freshman legislator irritated by developments being pushed in her district, according to testimony.

* Sun-Times…

When veteran Springfield lobbyist Nancy Kimme agreed to usher a bill through the Legislature that would hand a state-owned Chinatown parking lot to the city of Chicago in the days of Gov. Bruce Rauner, the longtime Republican thought she had an easy task ahead of her.

Instead, Kimme would be confounded by infighting among Democratic politicians, including then-state Sens. Martin Sandoval and Tony Munoz, and then-Ald. Danny Solis (25th). She repeatedly turned to the man who brought her into the mess, fellow lobbyist Michael McClain, to help her solve the “Rubik’s Cube.”

But the two were stumped. Eventually, McClain told Kimme, “There’s something fishy here.”

McClain wasn’t far off. That May 31, 2018, call between Kimme and McClain was being secretly recorded by the FBI. And the two powerhouse Springfield lobbyists were right in the middle of a scheme that would one day lead to the indictment of McClain and former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

* WTTW…

Kimme testified for much of the day Thursday about her work alongside McClain to get the Chinatown land deal finalized. That land — which was owned by the state of Illinois and was leased to a nonprofit that ran a parking lot on the parcel — needed to be transferred to the city of Chicago so it could then be sold to developers. [….]

On Thursday, jurors heard numerous secretly recorded phone calls between McClain and Kimme as they discussed their increasingly fraught plans to transfer the land.

Madigan and McClain wanted to ensure it was voted on at that point because with a gubernatorial election in fall 2018 between Rauner and Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker, they were concerned it could be delayed even more extensively no matter who won.

Instead of a simple transfer deal, McClain and Kimme learned other state legislators including Martin Sandoval and Tony Munoz were seeking to jam up the transfer, and a plan to move the transfer through on a bill from Senate President Don Harmon had fallen through.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Under questioning by Madigan attorney Tom Breen, Kimme said figuring out what she’d referred to in one wiretapped call as a “crazy parking lot disaster” had become “my Rubik’s cube.”

“Did you find it undoable?” Breen asked.

“I did,” Kimme replied.

“And that was because of miscommunication and bad information and petty politics?” Breen asked.

Prosecutors objected to Breen’s question, along with his insinuation a minute later that the situation was impossible as she’d been trying to follow “a script written by” the FBI.

The comment harkened back to cross-examination of FBI Special Agent Ryan McDonald last month when Madigan attorney Dan Collins accused the FBI of creating a trap just to see if the speaker would fall into it.

* The Sun-Times this morning…

The federal judge presiding over former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s corruption trial agreed Friday to compel the testimony of former state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo after Acevedo’s attorney told prosecutors he planned to assert his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid potentially incriminating himself.

Prosecutors filed a two-page petition late Thursday night, signed by Acting U.S. Attorney Morris “Sonny” Pasqual, asking U.S. District Judge John Blakey to grant Acevedo immunity from prosecution as a result of his testimony, unless he commits perjury or otherwise fails to comply.

Attached to the petition was a letter from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Hodge dated June 1, 2022 — and addressed to then-U.S. Attorney John Lausch — approving the request.

Blakey followed up with an order Friday morning, declaring that Acevedo “shall not be excused from testifying or producing evidence … on the ground that the testimony or evidence required of him may tend to incriminate him.”

* More…

* WBEZ | Timeline: Key moments in the Michael Madigan federal corruption trial: Madigan is the longest-serving speaker of any legislative chamber in the country, having led the Illinois House of Representatives as its speaker from 1983 to 2021, except for a two-year window in the 1990s when Republicans controlled the chamber. For years, McClain was one of the best-known lobbyists under the Capitol dome, with a lengthy list of clients that included Commonwealth Edison, the power provider for Chicago residents that also has been at the center of the federal investigation into Madigan. McClain was also a longtime confidante of Madigan’s, having served together as legislators during the 1970s.