* WTTW…

Madigan’s team officially rested Thursday morning, nearly three months after opening statements and testimony began in the landmark case. Government prosecutors then concluded a brief rebuttal case as the evidence portion of the trial officially came to a close. […]

Closing statements are expected to begin next Wednesday, followed by jury deliberations the following week.

Madigan, who is charged alongside his longtime right-hand man Michael McClain, is alleged to have orchestrated multiple corruption schemes, wielding his political power to reward loyal allies and enrich himself.

He and McClain are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

* Tribune…

The jury was told to return Thursday morning so lawyers could argue over outstanding issues, but in what has become routine in the complicated case, those arguments went overtime.

Attorneys sparred for nearly two hours about loose ends including jury instructions and proposed evidence in the prosecution’s rebuttal case. A further delay was incurred after the FBI, at the request of Madigan’s attorneys, sent out for a box of investigative notes at its headquarters on West Roosevelt Road for possible use during cross-examination of an agent.

The judge at one point proposed sending the jury to an early lunch, but that plan was scrapped. Madigan’s co-defendant, Michael McClain, whose presence was waived, arrived in the middle of the discussions, and his lawyer asked for the record to reflect he was in court.

“Yes, the record should reflect he’s barely missed anything at all,” U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey said.

* Wednesday marked the final witness testimony from Springfield lobbyist Heather Wier Vaught. Capitol News Illinois…

Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard from the defense’s final witness: Springfield lobbyist Heather Wier Vaught, who’d served a dozen years as an attorney in Madigan’s office, including as chief counsel.

Wier Vaught gave roughly the same testimony as two other former top speaker’s office lawyers the defense had previously called as witnesses. She said Madigan followed staff recommendations about key legislation at issue in trial and never interfered with negotiations of those bills. […]

Several times during an hour of questioning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur tried to undermine Wier Vaught’s credibility, claiming she had represented Madigan in “every facet” of his personal and professional life.

Wier Vaught clarified that she never represented him on anything having to do with his law firm but acknowledged that outside her role as chief counsel in the speaker’s office, she’d served as one of several attorneys representing Madigan’s various political fundraising committees and the Democratic Party of Illinois.

* Sun-Times Federal Courts Reporter Jon Seidel…

* Also from Wesnesday. The Tribune…

On Wednesday, however, the jury learned that if he were called to testify, Pritzker would say he has no recollection of the meeting — or any discussion of Daniel Solis, the alderman-turned-FBI mole, getting a lucrative board seat.

“If called as a witness, Gov. JB Pritzker would testify that he does not recall meeting with Michael Madigan on Dec. 4, 2018, and he does not recall Madigan ever discussing or recommending Daniel Solis or Maya Solis, either orally or in writing, for any position on a state board or commission,” stated a defense stipulation read into the record.

That echoes a statement put out by Pritzker’s camp on the day Madigan was indicted nearly three years ago, saying he’d agreed to an interview with the feds, but “does not recall” Madigan ever asking him to consider Solis “for any position,” and that the administration has no record of the alleged recommendation.