* Sun-Times…

Prosecutors ended 10 hours of arguments that spanned three days Friday morning, explaining how they’d proven Madigan guilty of a racketeering conspiracy.

“For Madigan and McClain, the corrupt way was the way it was,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said.

The prosecutor told the jury Madigan and McClain operated “as an ongoing unit.”

“They talked constantly,” she said. “They met regularly. They supported each other. They performed their own roles … One gave the orders, and one executed them.”

* Tribune…

Attorneys for Michael Madigan opened their final bid to persuade jurors of his innocence by harking back to a memorable nickname for the former House speaker: the Sphinx.

“The Sphinx is, of course, a mythical creature,” attorney Dan Collins said Friday as his closing argument finally got underway in a packed federal courtroom. “Quiet, mysterious. A myth. In this case, ladies and gentlemen, the government sees the myth. They do not see the man.”

The defense throughout Madigan’s marathon public corruption trial has tried to portray the longtime political heavyweight as a hardworking and humble Southwest Sider who only ever sought to help people through his role at the top of the Illinois political power structure.

To reinforce the regular-guy image, Collins on Friday repeatedly referred to his client not as “the speaker,” not as “Mr. Madigan,” but as “Mike.”

* WTTW…

Collins, in his own closing arguments, said the prosecution failed to meet its burden in proving any of the charges against Madigan.

He claimed the government’s case was “misguided” and relies on the public’s cynicism surrounding public officials and asked the jury to “see the man,” not “the myth.”

“When people ask for help, if possible, I try to help them,” Collins said, reciting Madigan’s own testimony at trial. “That’s Mike Madigan. It’s that simple. … Mike is not corrupt. Mike is not about power. Mike is not about profit. Mike will help, if possible, when asked.”

The racketeering conspiracy charge is an “umbrella count,” MacArthur said, which ties together all the “bribes, benefits (and) the use of influence to gain legislation” that are alleged in the various other charges.

* Courthouse News Service…

Addressing the specific charges Madigan faces, Collins focused on only one: a conspiracy charge for purportedly backing AT&T Illinois’ legislative agenda in 2017 in exchange for the company arranging a $22,500 do-nothing consulting gig for ex-Democratic state Representative Eddie Acevedo. Jurors have seen evidence the company didn’t pay Acevedo directly but through the firm of lobbyist and Madigan associate Tom Cullen. […]

In the meantime, Collins pointed out, Madigan’s office fought to include a 9-1-1 service reform bill with the legislation, which he said went against AT&T’s interests. […]

Collins also pointed out that Acevedo initially — and, per witness testimony, angrily — turned down the company’s offer for $22,500. AT&T in turn resisted Acevedo’s efforts for a better-paying contract. Collins argued this showed Madigan didn’t control the nature of Acevedo’s arrangement with AT&T.

Jurors have also seen evidence that Acevedo did little to no work in exchange for his $22,500 — or, per the testimony of Tom Cullen, only “busy work” — but Collins laid the blame for that at Acevedo’s feet, not Madigan’s.

“That’s not on Mike,” Collins said.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Before trial broke for the weekend, Collins left the jury with a parting thought on Solis, whom MacArthur had characterized as a “walking microphone” during her presentation – a reference to the hundreds of hours of secretly recorded conversations he gave feds access to during his 2 ½ years as an FBI mole. Solis began cooperating with the government in June 2016 after he was caught accepting bribes and abusing his campaign funds.

After an out-of-the-blue call to Solis the following summer, the FBI’s attention turned to Madigan, and the alderman began acting on agents’ orders when interacting with Madigan, Collins pointed out, acknowledging the government is allowed to use deceptive techniques as part of an investigation.

“He’s not a walking microphone,” Collins said. “He’s an actor in a stage production. And he’s getting direction from the government so he can, in turn, direct others.”

In that way, Collins said, Solis was a “walking crime wave,” and asked the jury to picture the alderman-turned-FBI mole as “that small little crack in your windshield that just keeps spreading and spreading and spreading and won’t go away.”

* More…

* Tribune | Closing arguments in Madigan trial to continue Monday with more from his defense: A lawyer for former House Speaker Michael Madigan is scheduled to continue his final pitch to the jury Monday by attacking allegations of a ComEd bribery scheme as well as the FBI mole at the center of the landmark case: ex-Ald. Daniel Solis. Attorney Dan Collins began his closing argument Friday and foreshadowed what was to come, calling Solis that “small little crack in your windshield that just won’t go away and keeps spreading and spreading.”