* I’ve also heard about this Senate Democratic poll. Here’s Pearson at the Trib…
“The other side is using crime as a bludgeon for the next election,” said a longtime Democrat who was not authorized to speak for the House majority, “and there’s a political reality that people want to address crime.”
The issue provides inroads to swing suburban districts that had once been reliable Republican territory but have changed demographically and ideologically in favor of Democrats in recent years.
But an internal poll conducted for Senate Democrats indicated that crime falls below taxes and other concerns among suburban voters, according to a senator who was not authorized to speak about internal caucus discussions. Only in Chicago was crime a top issue, the legislator said, in part because random gun violence being seen in parts of the city that have long been relatively unscathed by violence.
To counter Republican attacks, Democratic legislators are looking to take up issues in Springfield this spring that include carjacking, smash-and-grab retail theft and ghost guns, which can be manufactured from home kits without serial numbers or other ways to trace them.
There’s also an effort to provide increased funding for state and local police to both attract and retain officers after retirements of police hired with an influx of federal dollars in the mid-1990s.
* From my own conversation with a Democratic Senator…
Some of the negatives that they’re polling are polling like 55 percent. And when you get 55 percent on a negative message, that’s huge. […]
As soon as you cross into the suburbs [from the city], [crime] goes from the number one issue down to like number four. So, I mean, it’s still a strong four. It’s not like people don’t give a [crud] about it. They care. But there are a lot of other things. It’s taxes, corruption and inflation. […]
You can tell people are paying attention because they’re talking about supply chain issues and what China’s doing and [etc.] So they’re not just mad that prices are high. They feel like the government screwed up during the pandemic and that’s why prices are high.
And they’d be right about the government. That the feds have allowed meat and poultry monopolies to jack up prices so high is beyond messed up.
Now, it’s just one poll, and from everything I’ve heard from people who track this stuff, the Democrats are doing really, really bad in the suburbs right now. Like blowout bad. But it’s fascinating that the crime issue drops in the suburbs. And I’m betting there are a lot of very thankful Chicago Democrats that relatively few of their incumbents are facing primaries this year.
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Valencia goes after Giannoulias on ethics
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Earlier today…
* Press release…
Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for Secretary of State candidate Anna Valencia, released the following statement today after Alexi Giannoulias released a video claiming he’ll clean up Illinois politics and saying that “Illinoisians are sick and tired of the corruption & scandals that have become all too common in our state”:
“Alexi Giannoulias was senior loan officer for a bank that loaned money to convicted mobsters, he engaged in reckless lending practices that led authorities to seize his family bank, and he lost millions of dollars in college savings for thousands of Illinois families. Now he thinks he’s qualified to clean up Illinois politics? Illinoisans already rejected Alexi when he lost Barack Obama’s Senate seat to an opponent plagued by scandal. Now, Alexi on the ballot risks losing Jesse White’s Secretary of State office, too. We’ve already seen what happens when Alexi’s in charge – it’s not reform; it’s a disaster for middle class Illinois families.”
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Madigan indictment fallout roundup
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is a given…
“It reinforces southern Illinois views and prejudices against Chicago and against Madigan, which are now five decades old,” said John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale. “Republicans are going to try to hang Madigan around the neck of every Democrat who runs for office.”
* On that very same note, the House Republicans sent out a press release yesterday morning blasting freshman Rep. Suzanne Ness (D-Crystal Lake) for not issuing a statement on former Speaker Madigan’s indictment. She issued one last night…
“When I first heard the news about the indictments against Mike Madigan, it reaffirmed that I had made the right decision to vote no alongside 19 other Democrats as the former-Speaker sought to remain in his position.” Ness said.
Ness was elected in the fall of 2020 and was officially sworn-in as State Representative to Illinois’ House District 66 on January 13th, 2021. Being that Ness had not been sworn in as an elected official, she could not be recognized as a member of the 19 Democrats who voted for new leadership, though her no vote was recorded.
That second part is just not true. Rep.-elect Margaret Croke joined what eventually became the 19 House Democrats in November of 2020. She wasn’t sworn in until January.
* WBEZ…
“There were some pretty dark moments,” [Rep. Kelly Cassidy] said. “I remember at the beginning just talking about being frustrated and wanting to say something and people just recoiling, like I had something contagious.”
Similar sentiments came from Alaina Hampton, a former Madigan aide who left the organization after another operative sexually harassed her. In 2019, she settled a lawsuit against two Madigan-controlled political funds, his 13th Ward Democrats and the state party he still led at the time.
“I certainly feel vindicated,” Hampton said of the indictment. “I feel like I’ve received more justice than I did when my lawsuit settled.”
She said her career in politics clearly suffered as long as Madigan kept his power.
“When Madigan lost the speakership last year, I could kind of feel things in politics in Chicago starting to change,” she said. “Politicians and politicos are kind to me again, and I think people could see the ways things were going and that they kind of felt that they went in the wrong direction initially…This has been a long time coming.”
* Press release from yesterday…
It’s been a full day since Mike Madigan’s indictment was announced, and yet we are still waiting to hear from his protégé and hand-picked Comptroller, Susana Mendoza. Mendoza got her start as a career politician in Danny Solis’s Ward Organization, was married in Ed Burke’s home, and has been closely allied with Madigan for years, calling Madigan her “mentor” and nominating him for speaker.
Comptroller candidate Shannon Teresi released the following statement on Susanna Mendoza’s continued silence:
“Susana Mendoza’s silence is telling. The career politician, state Comptroller, and former member of Madigan’s caucus has nothing to say about the largest corruption scandal since Rod Blagojevich? This delay is disappointing though unsurprising, as the Madigan-controlled Democratic Party of Illinois remains Mendoza’s top donor.”
I reached out and was told that the Mendoza campaign had actually sent a statement to the Associated Press upon request. I asked for it as well…
“The allegations in the indictment are very serious and, if true, former House Speaker Michael Madigan should be held accountable and face the consequences.”
* Also yesterday…
24 hours ago, Mike Madigan was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on 22 counts of public corruption, and the state’s chief law enforcement officer remains silent.
“Kwame Raoul’s silence just goes to show you what money can buy,” said Attorney General candidate Steve Kim. “After taking $2.5 million in Madigan money for his 2018 campaign, our state’s Attorney General would rather announce an investigation into Tik Tok than comment on the corruption indictment of the man who ran this state for nearly half a century. It’s well past time for Kwame Raoul to be accountable to the people of Illinois.”
From AG Raoul’s spokesperson today…
We do not and will not comment on any pending investigation or prosecution being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s office or any of our law enforcement partners.
* Press release…
State Representative Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) has filed HB 5718, legislation requiring the state to remove the name and likeness of the disgraced Michael J. Madigan from the Capitol building and other state properties.
Madigan, the former longtime Speaker of the House, was indicted on 22 counts of federal racketeering charges and running a criminal enterprise for more than a decade. Chesney is unwavering in his belief that the state not honor Madigan’s legacy of corruption with portraits, plaques and other accolades, especially in the “people’s house.”
“If Democrats are serious about ridding the state of corruption then they will support efforts to remove the honors typically reserved for those who we revere, not those who perpetuated the corruption,” said Chesney. “Ending this era marked by corrupt politicians starts with removing the tenure of Mike Madigan.”
Chesney was one of the three original petitioners to begin the process of investigating the corruption of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, a move that eventually led to his resignation last year.
OK, first of all, the Republicans are claiming that the special investigation committee started by Chesney’s petition and chaired by now-Speaker Chris Welch was a sham. Can’t have it both ways.
Secondly, I asked Rep. Chesney what there is to remove. He sent me a photo of this plaque of the list of all Illinois House Speakers…
I pointed out that George Ryan’s name is also on that very plaque. His response…
I had the understanding everything was removed in the Capitol on Ryan. In any event, I’d happily support it such a bill. Public corruption is public corruption.
Um, no. Ryan’s photo is still hanging on the second floor…
* More…
* No perp walk for ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan: Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s arraignment next week will be by telephone, despite objections from prosecutors who wanted an in person court hearing. Although this will be a lengthy legal war, the first skirmish is won by Madigan, who won’t have to walk the media plank into court.
* Will Madigan indictment change Illinois politics? ‘We’ve got a long way to go,’ expert says
* Only 19 Democrats broke from Madigan. Will his shadow change course of midterm elections?
* Legislators React to Former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Indictment
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Campaign notebook
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
State Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago, is jumping into the crowded Democratic primary to replace Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., announcing her bid Friday with a powerhouse group of backers, including Rev. Michael Pfleger.
Collins, a state senator since 2003, is one of 17 Democrats registered with the Federal Election Commission for the 1st Congressional District seat Rush will be vacating next year after 15 terms. The window to file petitions to run in the June Illinois primary opens on Monday and closes on March 14.
In the past weeks, Collins, an assistant majority leader, had been weighing running for another Senate term or making a bid for Congress.
She told the Sun-Times she decided on the House race because, “I feel there is only so much you can do on the state level, and for the issues that I have been campaigning, working, advocating for over the last 20 years — whether it was the proliferation of guns in our community, as well as how do we close the wealth gap between Black, Brown and white communities, those are issues I have to take on to the federal level.
* Shia made a good point today…
An interesting name in the indictment of Michel Madigan is Victor Reyes, an attorney hired by ComEd with a nod from Madigan. He’s also the attorney representing the Coalition Map, which is supported by the Latino Caucus and others who want to increase the number of Latinos on the City Council. On the other side of the map debate is Michael Kasper, the former legislative attorney for Madigan (who is not mentioned in the indictment). For months, Coalition Map supporters have grumbled about Kasper being part of the process. Now, you could say, they’re even.
For example, I posted this press release on indictment day…
The following is a statement from The People’s Coalition Map on the indictment of Michael Madigan and its implications for Chicago’s redistricting referendum:
“Today’s federal indictment of Michael Madigan is a clear reminder that the days of his iron grip on our state and on this city are over. That’s why it’s appalling that the City and the Rules Committee continue to support a faulty map, drawn in a backroom deal by Madigan’s top lawyer, Mike Kasper.”
Glass houses, stones, etc.
* Back to Politico…
Former state Rep. Jeanne Ives, the most powerful Illinois Republican who doesn’t hold an elected office, announced yesterday she’s backing Darren Bailey in his run for governor.
Um.
* More on the Ives story…
Bailey is also hoping for the endorsement of another notable Republican who’s out of public office: Donald Trump.
The Illinois Republican said he spoke to the former president in December. “I was with him for several hours and I asked for his endorsement. I’m still waiting,” Bailey told Playbook. “He doesn’t like to lose. He knows Illinois is a tough state, and he’s still exploring that option.”
Bailey was at a Trump book publishing event. He got an autograph.
* Sun-Times…
Ives, who ran against former Gov. Bruce Rauner in the Republican primary in 2018, only mentioned one of Bailey’s four GOP rivals by name in her remarks at the news conference at an American Legion post in northwest suburban Palatine.
“Republican voters need to be warned. The same people who ran Rauner’s campaign backed by a billion-dollar checkbook are now running the Irvin-Bourne race backed by the same billion-dollar checkbook,” she said.
As we’ve already discussed, Gov. Rauner’s top campaign consultant in that Ives primary is now being paid by Bailey’s campaign.
Back to the Sun-Times…
“The truth is Richard Irvin and Avery Bourne just may be both Madigan and Pritzker’s favorite Republicans,” Ives said. “The Irvin-Bourne campaign cannot be trusted.” […]
“It’s surprising she would endorse someone who raised property taxes 81 percent, voted for Obama and picked a Never Trumper as his running mate,” said Eleni Demertzis, an Irvin-Bourne campaign spokeswoman, referring to votes Bailey took as a local school board member and a 2008 Democratic Primary vote his campaign said he took to stop Hillary Clinton.
Remember how Rauner’s campaign used the “Madigan’s favorite legislator” attack against Ives in the 2018 primary? Well, the same consultant is now trying to use the line against Irvin. Clever. And I don’t know about Madigan, but I’m thinking that Pritzker would much rather run against Bailey, despite this DGA press release…
“Extremist Darren Bailey is barreling his way towards frontrunner status and is more than willing to take down Richard Irvin and anyone else in the Illinois GOP primary field who stands in his way,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “As the Republican candidates battle for support from party insiders and conservative megadonors, they’ll be too busy echoing out-of-touch talking points to deliver real solutions for Illinois families.”
* Richard Irvin was on WGN Radio with Lisa Dent and Steve Bertrand yesterday…
Q: You mentioned JB Pritzker being in the pocket of Madigan and the $10 million. But obviously, Ken Griffin, the richest man in the state of Illinois, is supporting your campaign and has already contributed 20 million and there are people saying that he’s going to contribute more. How do you differentiate one person being in the pocket of somebody when people might say you’re in the pocket of this rich guy in Illinois?
A: Well, first of all, let’s be clear, there is no comparison. Mike Madigan participated in a criminal enterprise. And he got money from JB Pritzker, $10 million, to continue that criminal enterprise. So there is no comparison. As far as Ken Griffin is concerned, you know, he’s, I think everybody will agree that he’s done great things for the state of Illinois, just his businesses, business assets, and, and everything he’s done for the community, his philanthropic support for the state of Illinois. But he is one vote, he’s one person. I didn’t bind to his vision. He bought into and believes in my vision. And that’s why he’s supporting me. And that’s why I’ll be getting support from a lot of folks that will be contributing to the campaign throughout the state of Illinois.
* Background is here if you need it. From Aaron DeGroot at the Rodney Davis campaign…
Hey Rich.
TGIF. Saw that you posted Mary Miller’s bizarre State of the Union tweet yesterday. In the context of that, wanted to flag something for you:
On August 2, 2019, Chris and Mary Miller invited Gov. Pritzker to visit and tour their farm. Here’s a screenshot of an email from Chris Miller to the Governor’s Office.
If you decide to use in a post, here’s a quote from me:
“Very fitting that the Millers would invite Pritzker to their farm, which is incorporated in Delaware, a state considered to be a domestic tax shelter. Perhaps the Millers were going to exchange tax-avoidance strategies with our billionaire governor, who is an expert on that topic himself.”
Have a great weekend!
Aaron
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The COVID-19 trend remains a friend, but…
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hospitalizations are down 26 percent from a week ago, ICU usage is down 27 percent, the test positivity rate is down 22 percent, cases are down 20 percent and deaths are down 23 percent…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 10,462 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 272 deaths since February 25, 2022.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,037,199 cases, including 32,926 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since February 25, 2022, laboratories have reported 750,521 specimens for a total of 55,089,500. As of last night, 843 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 153 patients were in the ICU and 77 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 25 - March 3, 2022 is 1.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 25 - March 3, 2022 is 1.6%.
A total of 21,157,960 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 12,488 doses. Since February 25, 2022, 87,414 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, 76% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 67% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and more than 49% boosted according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Beginning this weekend, daily deaths reported on weekends and at the beginning of the week may be low as IDPH and local health departments move away from reviewing and processing COVID-19 death records over the weekend. Those deaths will be captured in subsequent days.
All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.
* From the Atlantic…
The rush in the rich countries to declare the pandemic “over” while it continues to ravage the global South is completely predictable—in fact, the same trend has played out again and again. Infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV that are now seen as “Third World diseases” were once serious threats in rich countries, but when incidence of these diseases began to decline there, the global North moved on and reduced investments in new tools and programs. Now, with COVID-19, the developing world has once again been left to fend for itself against an extremely transmissible virus without the necessary vaccine doses, tests, and treatment tools. Some pandemics never truly end—they just become invisible to people in the global North.
You may know malaria as an infectious disease that affects poor “tropical” countries. But for several thousands of years, malaria was a global menace. During the 20th century alone, the disease is estimated to have accounted for up to 5 percent of all human deaths. It was eradicated from the global North by the 1970s, but the rest of the world was left behind. In 2020, there were an estimated 240 million malaria cases, and nearly all of the 627,000 deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. For a disease that affected even our neolithic ancestors, the world had to wait until 2021 for the first-ever malaria vaccine. Though the World Health Organization recently endorsed this partially effective malaria vaccine, expanded manufacturing and scale-up plans remain undetermined.
The same phenomenon has unfolded with tuberculosis, a disease so old that DNA of TB bacteria have been identified in Egyptian mummies. “Consumption,” as TB was once called, was highly prevalent in Europe and North America. From the 1600s to the 1800s, TB caused 25 percent of all deaths in Europe. By the 1980s, TB case numbers had decreased significantly in the West, largely thanks to drug treatments and reductions in poverty. But again, TB remains a problem in developing countries (and among marginalized populations within the global North). In 2020, TB killed 1.5 million people, more than 80 percent of whom lived in low- and middle-income countries. Investments and innovations to make the disease less devastating have been scarce: For example, the TB vaccine we use today is more than 100 years old, and it has limited efficacy in adults. […]
For now, the biggest problem with the global North proclaiming that the coronavirus pandemic is “over” is that it manifests the opposite outcome. Eventually, even rich countries will bear the brunt of tuning out COVID-19. Allowing infectious diseases to circulate in any part of the world within large populations of unvaccinated people will almost surely result in the emergence of new variants that will affect all nations.
* Related…
* Illinois’ top doctor Ngozi Ezike is being wooed to lead a Chicago health system
* ‘I’m humbled that it made a significant difference’: Dr. Ezike reflects on her time as Illinois’ top doc
* The long, strange history of anti-vaccination movements
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Today’s must-read
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is a fascinating story…
In a stunning conclusion to a process that has been marked by frustration and confusion, Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard is now the Supervisor of Thornton Township after being appointed to the position roughly ten minutes before the legal deadline.
Henyard, who said she did not expect the appointment but greeted the news with a pageant-style scream of delight, will fill the shoes of the late Frank Zuccarelli, who passed away in January after nearly thirty years as the supervisor of Illinois’ largest township.
“I’m overjoyed,” said Henyard after taking the oath. “I didn’t see it coming.”
Go read the rest. And watch the videos. There’s even a timeline of all the votes that were taken. It’s a great example of the advantages of online reporting.
Also, as the new township supervisor said, I don’t think anybody saw this coming, particularly with the problems Ms. Henyard has had…
“The people elected us to be the dream team, so we said, and now it’s a nightmare,” Henyard said Tuesday. […]
A special meeting in August was canceled at the last minute. Trustees held a meeting outside of Village Hall without the mayor. Some trustees have not shown up for meetings Henyard called, preventing a needed quorum to take action.
Questions arose about Henyard hiring Dorothy Brown as village administrator and comments she made and later apologized for regarding a Dolton police officer fatally shooting 19-year-old Alexis Wilson.
Residents have been angry and fearful after learning Henyard hired Lavelle Redmond, a registered sex offender, as an inspector, and have voiced their protests outside Village Hall.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Henyard said reports that Redmond was going into people’s houses was not true. She said he works on outdoor violations and has been a “stellar employee.”
Speaker Welch attended her inauguration.
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About those two draft talking points
Friday, Mar 4, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As subscribers were told earlier, this story is based on a false premise…
Publicly and privately on Thursday, top Illinois Democrats grappled with how to put a positive, election-year spin on federal prosecutors’ newly unsealed corruption case against their longtime leader, the former state House Speaker and party boss Michael Madigan.
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker even appeared to celebrate the federal case, saying he thought Madigan’s indictment should help the state finally clean up its act.
But behind the scenes – in a memo titled “indictment talking points” – a dozen Illinois House Democrats got a starkly different, eye-opening missive urging them to express “misgivings” about the federal charges against Madigan and his close friend, former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist Michael McClain.
Democratic aides quickly said they had never approved – and in fact strongly disapproved of – the memo’s contents.
* This looks to me like a comedy of errors. First of all, a young former intern who’s been on comms staff for less than three weeks mistakenly sent two (not one) very different versions of draft talking points. As you can clearly see in the email forwarded to me yesterday by someone who was quite angry, nobody was urged to use the “misgivings” version. Redactions are by me because this appears to be an honest mistake by someone who was hired last month…
That went out to about a dozen House Democrats, some of whom were members of the ferociously anti-Madigan 19. With that in mind, you can definitely understand why some House Democrats were upset yesterday. Like, really mad.
Oops.
To be clear, I was told in no uncertain terms that nobody in upper management had tasked anyone with writing talking points defending the former House Speaker. These were unapproved drafts.
* The junior staffer who sent the drafts was not the same person who wrote them. She sent out a retraction a half an hour later…
* Word of the retraction apparently didn’t get back to the comms director, so he sent out another email about 15 minutes later…
* Here are the two versions that were originally sent to members…
Indictment Talking Points
• Today’s announcement, while an unfortunate confirmation of many concerns I have held, is another sign that our state is on a new track to a more ethical and transparent way of conducting the business of government.
• Tackling the challenges our state faces requires a clean slate and clear approach. We cannot progress further without addressing past issues. In this case, the conduct of Speaker Madigan.
• Following the election of a new Speaker, we have had a fresh start in Illinois. Major legislation, from a Medicaid reform omnibus to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signify the impact this changing of the guard has had, and for how long it has been needed.
• We have cultivated a new, more equal and bipartisan atmosphere in the House, a positive sign of new things to come, with the promise of further legislative victories to better the lives of all Illinoisans.
• I applaud law enforcement for stepping in and holding those who have committed wrongdoing accountable.
Indictment Talking Points-2
• While I always stand with law enforcement, I unfortunately feel I must call into question certain aspects of the investigation process regarding Speaker Madigan’s case. From the start, he has faced unfair, partisan accusations; charges which appear to have influenced the indictments laid out today.
• For years, our opponents across the aisle have focused their ire and prejudicial scrutiny on Speaker Madigan, to little effect. However, their constant accusations have finally had an impact; the federal government has buckled under their pressure.
• Despite my misgivings regarding this case, I want to reiterate that Speaker Welch has my full support. Our legislative accomplishments since he has taken the lead, including a major Medicaid Reform and the landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, are undoubtedly victories to be proud of.
• Regardless of the outcome of these proceedings, it is incumbent on us to focus on the needs of the people of Illinois, and continue the legislative process to best address their needs.
I stopped pursuing the story yesterday when I found out what had actually happened. And none of those items from the second set of talking points appear to have been used by any member.
* Nonetheless, the ILGOP tried to make some hay today…
In the WBEZ report, aides from current House Speaker Chris Welch’s office - where the memo originated from - looked around for the nearest person to throw under the bus and came up with a “brand-new, junior staff” who supposedly wrote an entire set of talking points about the most consequential event in state government in quite some time and sent them out directly to House members without any approval of superiors.
Here are a few questions and pieces of evidence that need produced if this fanciful story is to be believed:
If indeed a phantom junior staff member exists, who in the Speaker’s office directed such a memo to be developed and provided talking points to guide its construction?
If the Speaker’s Office denies any leadership instruction to develop this memo, how do they explain the origins of the talking points - where on earth would a phantom junior staffer come up with such a defense of Mike Madigan?
Will the Speaker’s Office make available all internal email communications and text messages relating to this memo - both before and after its release?
Again, the staffer in question did not write the talking points.
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* Remember this comment by Gov. JB Pritzker yesterday?…
Q: When was the last time you spoke with Mike Madigan?
A: On March 1, I called to let him know that we would be making changes at the Illinois Arts Council.
* I followed up with the governor’s office, but the answer came late in the day, so I set it aside for this morning. CBS 2 apparently noticed the same thing I did and here’s their story…
Gov. JB Pritzker has removed Shirley Madigan from her position as chair of the Illinois Arts Council.
While news of the move broke Thursday — a day after Ms. Madigan’s husband, former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, was indicted — Governor’s office spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said Ms. Madigan was removed from her position before the indictment was announced.
The Governor’s office said Pritzker will appoint a temporary chair while discussions are held to determine who would be the best permanent chair.
Ms. Madigan will remain on the council, because her term runs through 2023, and Pritzker is not allowed to withdraw an appointment in the middle of the term.
Abudayyeh said the reason for Ms. Madigan’s removal was that the governor wanted to take the council in a new direction.
Nobody owns a state board position, and times change. But Shirley Madigan has been a passionate advocate for the arts for generations. I hate to see her go out like this.
*** UPDATE *** Mrs. Madigan’s resignation letter to Gov. and Mrs. Pritzker is dated yesterday. Click here to read it. That graceful statement should’ve been highlighted instead of the governor’s desire to remove her.
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* Some folks asked me yesterday why I wasn’t posting the latest profanity-laden Lori Lightfoot story. Aside from the fact that it’s a local story and not a state issue, I had reason to believe - without speaking to anyone in the mayor’s office or campaign - that the claims about what the mayor said weren’t true, so I let it go, even though I kinda wanted it to be true. Anyway, here’s the mayor’s statement from this morning in which she denies the claims…
“I am aware of the lawsuit that has been filed by a former Chicago Park District employee. While I will continue my practice of not commenting on the specific claims alleged in pending litigation, I feel compelled to state that the deeply offensive and ridiculous claims are wholly lacking in merit, and I welcome the opportunity to prove that fact in court. Furthermore, to be clear, I never have and never will harbor any animus toward Italians or Italian Americans.”
Keep it clean in comments, folks. Thanks.
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* The Chamber? Todd Maisch at the Illinois Chamber?…
* Crain’s op-ed headline…
With his latest budget, the governor points Illinois in the right direction
Civic Committee President Kelly Welsh urges the Legislature to follow the governor’s lead and stay focused on fiscal stability.
That would be the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Not sure what to say.
* Related…
* Illinois spreads widen as risk-shy investors exploit liquidity: While Illinois’s credit outlook has improved, investors increasingly are showing a desire to raise cash and avoid risk in the $4 trillion municipal bond market, traditionally a credit haven, said Dan Solender, director of tax-free fixed income for Lord, Abbett & Co., which holds Illinois securities as part of $35 billion in muni debt.
* Site Selection Magazine: In a pandemic-driven season that saw a surge of e-commerce, our Top Metros feature a strong presence of logistics hubs like Chicago, the Midwest megaregion that returns to its spot at the top of our Tier 1 rankings.
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Pritzker takes Madigan questions
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* News media Q&A in DeKalb today with Gov. Pritzker…
Q: When was the last time you spoke with Mike Madigan?
A: On March 1, I called to let him know that we would be making changes at the Illinois Arts Council.
Madigan’s spouse Shirley chairs the Arts Council, so I asked the governor’s office if that means she’s being pushed out. No response yet.
Also, as always, please pardon any transcription errors.
* Back to Q&A…
Q: You spoke voluntarily with federal investigators about the investigation. What do you think that people are going to need to know about the conversation you had?
A: Only that I was asked to be a witness and that they wanted to talk about any interactions. And I was happy to cooperate and answer any and all of their questions. I answered all of them, in fact, and if you want more detail about what those questions were, I’d refer you to the US Attorney’s Office for any additional information about them.
Q: Was it clear to you when you talked to the feds in February that they were poised to indict him?
A: It was not clear to me. I mean, they had questions that were obviously around some wrongdoing, but it was not clear to me that they were prepared to indict.
Q: In your dealings with Madigan, during your time in office, did you ever suspect in hindsight now that anything he was doing was not above board and that there was anything more than what he called routine constituent services?
A: Not from any of the interactions that I had with him. Remember, I was governor. He was Speaker of the House, there was a Senate President, there were leaders across the General Assembly, I needed to work with all of them. And so none of the interactions that I had were anything other than about, you know, things to do with doing the right thing in government for the people.
Q: The special investigative committee that closed the books on the Madigan investigation after ComEd came out. It was chaired by then State Representative Chris Welch. They closed that found and found nothing wrong. Was it a mistake in hindsight not to have Madigan called before and testified based on what we now know that there clearly was wrongdoing?
A: In a way I’d say it’s the reverse of that. That is, I think that they were deferring to the US attorney and to the federal authorities to allow them to make a case, and they clearly did.
* While we’re on that topic, here’s Capitol News Illinois…
On Wednesday after the indictment, Welch began his public remarks by addressing his role as the chair of that committee.
“Let me begin by first saying that, as the former chair of the Special Investigating Committee, I said all along, during the course of that process, that I thought that there was a more appropriate forum to deal with the things that we had been hearing in the public domain,” he said in a news conference outside his Capitol office. “And I thought that forum was the United States Attorney’s Office. The United States Attorney’s Office has all the resources that it needs to properly and thoroughly investigate allegations of corruption. I knew that all along.”
Welch said the House has passed ethics reforms since he became speaker and hired a new legislative inspector general. He said he believed he led the investigating committee “openly, honestly and fairly.”
“And we’re going to continue to do that,” he said. “And I think here in the last 13 months, you can speak to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I’ve done it my way. The Chris Welch way. The only way I know how. And it’s a new day in Springfield.”
* Back to Pritzker…
Q: Do you ever remember a conversation where you were asked to find a position for Danny Solis?
A: No.
Q: Since Mike Madigan has had a piece in legislation for the past 50 years, he helped write the modern constitution, what would you say to Illinois, to restore faith in the legislative process?
A: Well remember that the vast majority of the people who serve in the General Assembly and broadly in public office have been doing the right thing and not breaking the law, and doing what they felt was best for the people of the state of Illinois. So I would say that you should look to your local leaders who have been doing the right thing, to your state leaders who are operating above board and trying hard to lift up working families across the state and not line their own pockets. But I have to say just, I’ve said this many times, but it is abhorrent to me when people take public office, either with the purpose of lining their own pockets or stealing from the public or who decided somewhere along the way that that’s okay. That’s abhorrent. We’ve got to root that out. And at every turn, I think it’s all up to all of us who, if we run into situations where we think something’s being done that is improper, please call it out, please let people know. And of course, vote those people out if they are caught doing something wrong, they need to go.
Q: Should Madigan resign from the state central committee?
A: Yes, of course.
Q: There are a number of Democrats who say there still needs to be more work to be done. Do you agree with them, and if so, what more needs to be done in light of what we’ve seen come out of how Madigan… and return to the public trust?
A: I think we all need to examine what the charges are. I will say that the federal authorities, you know, the fact that there are laws that hold people accountable, and that they’re getting held accountable is evidence that, we at least in part, through the justice system, have ways of catching people and holding them accountable. But there is much more to do. And I’ve said that from the very beginning. I’ve been pushing for ethics legislation, we got some of it done. There is more to do. There’s no doubt about it. We got rid of the revolving door. Could we do more in that regard? Sure. We’ve stopped people from lobbying state government when they’re serving in state government. We’ve done a number of things that I think have made things better, but we’ve got much, much more to do and it’s clear from the an indictment like this, that our work is not done.
Q: [Garbled]
A: This should be a wake up call to everybody in public service that you better toe the line, you better do the right thing, you better stand up for the people that you represent and not try to line your own pockets.
* Rep. Kelly Cassidy was asked last night about the inadequacies of the recent ethics legislation…
I think that we took significant steps. There’s always more that can be done. Illinois, for good or for ill, and for some of us it’s a frustration, is an incremental state. But we take steps, we see if they work, we take more steps.
* And this is why the governor was in DeKalb today…
Gov. JB Pritzker made a stop in DeKalb Thursday to tout a plan for funding more Illinois students in higher education, including at Northern Illinois University.
He presented his plan to budget for an additional $200 million in state education funding for grants which make college more affordable for students to address what he called an “exodus on young people” leaving Illinois.
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Campaign notebook
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hmm…
People who do this politics thing all the time don’t always realize that voters have short memories. Yes, primary voters are higher information voters than general election voters, but the 2018 primary was a long time ago to many people.
* Yikes…
* This is interesting because Rep. Willis, like Villegas, is up against a Chuy Garcia-backed primary opponent…
Today, State Representative Kathleen Willis (IL-77) announced her endorsement of Alderman Gilbert Villegas for Congress in the race for the newly drawn Illinois 3rd Congressional District. Representative Willis is a member of the 19 Illinois State Representatives who opposed Mike Madigan’s re-election to Speaker of the House.
“I am proud to support Gilbert Villegas for Congress because integrity matters when it comes to choosing our elected officials. Not everyone has the courage to do what’s right in politics, but Gilbert has served his country as a Marine, working families as a Teamsters, and his community as a public servant. We can trust him to fight for us,” said Representative Kathleen Willis.
“I am honored to receive the support from a leader like Kathleen Willis. Her bravery under fire demonstrates incredible leadership at a time when people need it most,” said Alderman Gilbert Villegas. “I look forward to working with her to get things done for the people of Illinois.”
State Rep. Kathleen Willis is currently serving in her fifth term representing Illinois’s 77th House District. A full-time legislator with a strong background in education, Willis has worked tirelessly to make sure her constituents’ voices get heard.
Willis marks the twenty second local official who has come out in support of Alderman Villegas.
* Yesterday…
Today, California’s 40th District Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard announced her support for Delia Ramirez in the newly drawn 3rd congressional district.
“As a non-profit leader and state legislator Delia has kept community and service at the forefront of her work, which has made her effective in passing historic legislation. I enthusiastically support her campaign for Congress because I know Delia is the proven fighter her community needs,” said Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard. “I’m excited to support her candidacy as she fights for working families in Illinois.”
Delia Ramirez is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and the first Guatemalan American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly. Ramirez, a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, has served as the founding executive director of the Center for Changing Lives, former board chair for the Latin United Community Housing Association and Logan Square Neighborhood Association. If elected, Ramirez would be the first Latina to represent a Midwestern state in Congress.
“It is so fitting that we kick off Women’s History Month by earning the endorsement of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who made history by becoming the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress. I am honored to have earned her endorsement and look forward to continuing to fight for immigration reform, an issue close to my heart and which Congresswoman Roybal-Allard has led on in Congress ” said Delia Ramirez.
Congresswoman Roybal-Allard is the latest to endorse Delia Ramirez. Last month, Delia was supported by Congressmen Jesus Chuy Garcia and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, along with EMILY’s List, Pro-Choice PODER PAC, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Cook County College Teachers Union, and the United Working Families and Working Families Party.
* Speaking of Chuy…
During a telephone interview from Washington on Wednesday, Garcia was asked if he’s giving any thought to another mayoral campaign, particularly if his Democratic Party loses control of the House of Representatives in the November election.
“I am not thinking about that whatsoever and I surely haven’t talked with my wife about it. I’ve got to think that she’d be very reluctant for us to do it, and we do everything together. It’s not on my radar right now. … I treasure that [2015] run. But I was a little younger” then, Garcia said.
“If somebody could show me where there’s a significant pot of gold … to usher in a real era of equity in Chicago, that would be really moving and convincing to me. I don’t see that on the horizon right now. The challenges are just so huge for Chicago. … The job is a huge bear and it will continue to be challenging and torturous on a daily basis, especially as [federal] funding dissipates and goes away. It will make it excruciatingly difficult to govern and provide good news to Chicagoans.”
The fact that the mayor’s job is so bad may turn out to be her best political ally.
* Press release…
Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL) announced he has been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters in his re-election campaign. This is LCV’s first endorsement in a member-on-member primary and highlights the urgent need to keep global climate leaders like Rep. Casten in Congress.
“Whether it was as a scientist, a clean energy entrepreneur, or now as a Member of Congress, I have dedicated my entire life to fighting climate change,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “The IPCC report released earlier this week makes it overwhelmingly clear that climate change is the greatest existential crisis we face as a species. Congress must act to address it with the scale and urgency that science has shown is necessary to save our planet. I’m honored to be endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and will continue to work hand-in-hand with them to ensure we provide a livable planet to our children and grandchildren.”
“Congressman Sean Casten is a tireless and determined advocate for climate action, and we are so proud to support his campaign for reelection,” said LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “It has never been more important to have leaders in Congress who will fight for the transformational climate progress we so desperately need, and we know nobody will fight harder than Rep. Casten.”
“As the most recent IPCC report makes clear, there is no time to waste for a just and equitable transition to clean energy. Representative Sean Casten has worked relentlessly to fight the climate crisis since his first day in Congress,” said Illinois Environmental Council Executive Director Jennifer Walling. “We are proud to have him leading for our Illinois communities.”
As a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Rep. Casten has quickly established himself as one of Congress’ indispensable climate leaders. He has represented the United States on the global climate stage multiple times at COP25 and COP26.
Rep. Casten has passed—and President Biden has signed into law—multiple pieces of climate legislation to lower the carbon footprint of the federal government, invest in clean energy battery storage technologies, and expand Illinois’ electric vehicle charging network.
In 2019 and 2020, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund spent over $115 million in support of pro-climate candidates nationwide.
Rep. Casten has previously been endorsed by pro-climate groups like the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition PAC and 314 Action Fund, as well as climate leaders like Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14), the chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
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The 19 talk about doing what’s right
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here if you need it. Mike Miletich…
The 19 House Democrats who called for Madigan to resign during the ComEd investigation also responded to the indictment Wednesday night. This group was frequently criticized by other veterans in the Democratic caucus for stepping forward to call for change in House leadership.
Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard) recalled her experience calling for the corruption to end in the House during the summer of 2020. She said the 19 stood alongside each other, either in person or through encouraging messages between each other.
“This was not easy for any of us,” Costa Howard said. “But at the end of the day, I know that I can look my daughters in the face and tell them doing what’s right isn’t always easy but doing what’s right is the right thing to do.”
Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) said they faced intense pressure to keep the status quo in the chamber, but the 19 couldn’t let that happen.
“This is about Speaker Madigan and what he did, and to what extent he influenced the culture of this building,” Cassidy said. “The first thing you do when you get cancer is you cut out the cancer. Then you treat what happened afterward.”
The 19 said they are still most concerned with how Illinois lawmakers can restore trust in government.
* Hannah Meisel…
“Madigan utilized his position as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois to influence and garner loyalty from legislators by providing or withholding staff and funding to legislators and their campaigns,” the feds alleged.
State Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), who, along with Cassidy was early in calling for Madigan’s resignation after the speaker was named “Public Official A” in ComEd’s deferred prosecution agreement, was one of those members to whom funding was withheld.
Costa Howard still received some support from Madigan’s deep campaign coffers in 2020, but not nearly as much as her colleagues in similar suburban districts that had historically been GOP territory.
On Wednesday, Costa Howard’s voice wavered in a news conference put on by the group of 19 House Democrats who publicly said prior to last year’s lame duck session that they wouldn’t vote for Madigan as speaker again — a decisive number that ended up attracting even more dissidents to block the speaker’s path.
Watch the full press conference here.
* From the Q&A…
Q: The Republicans just a few minutes ago said that Speaker Welch is Madigan’s hand-picked successor.
[Loud and long laughter from the gathered members]
Rep. Ann Williams: I think we had something to do with Speaker Welch being speaker.
While true that Madigan called Welch to tell him about his plan to suspend his reelection campaign, what’s not widely known is Welch wasn’t the only person to get a heads-up from Madigan.
* The members were also asked about the dangers that Illinois Democrats will face in an election year because of Madigan’s indictment. Rep. Cassidy gave the response…
I think I’d rather focus on what our colleagues would be facing if we hadn’t been successful. And what this day would look like if he were still speaker, the chaos that our work would have been plunged into, the complete lack of any forward motion on any of the issues that we’re working on here. I think that that’s what today’s story is about.
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The new ComEd angle
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s from June of 2018…
It’s a rare day when House Speaker Michael Madigan supports a measure in his chamber and it fails. So what kind of issue could create that scenario? A tax increase? Pension overhaul? Try reforming the electric-supplier industry, which should be ripe for a crackdown since it has caused a large percentage of the Chicago-area customers it serves to pay too much for power over the past few years.
The reform measure, a signature issue for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, fell short by just a few votes late last month thanks to staunch opposition from Exelon, which owns Constellation, the largest alternative electricity supplier in Illinois.
Also helping to defeat the bill was the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC, which regulates utilities and suppliers, had advocated for stronger laws but opposed this proposal because of objections to giving greater enforcement responsibilities to the attorney general’s office.
Contributing, too, to the bill’s demise was the neutral position taken by Exelon-owned Commonwealth Edison despite the fact that most consumers buying from alternative suppliers pay more for power than they would with ComEd. ComEd’s downstate counterpart, Ameren Illinois, was a full-throated supporter of the legislation.
* OK, let’s back up. From the indictment…
In or around April 2018, MADIGAN called Individual BM-1 [Juan Ochoa] and advised Individual BM-1 about the expected timing of Individual BM-1’s appointment to the ComEd board of directors.
In or around April 2018, MADIGAN gave McClain permission to work to kill HB 5626 on behalf of ComEd, and ComEd thereafter worked to defeat HB 5626.
On or about May 2, 2018, MADIGAN placed a call to McClain, and after McClain advised MADIGAN that Pramaggiore was experiencing push-back to the appointment of Individual BM-1 to the ComEd board of directors, and had proposed finding a job that would pay Individual BM-1 the same amount of money as a board member, MADIGAN instructed McClain, “Yeah, Mike, I would suggest that we continue to support [Individual BM-1].”
On or about May 16, 2018, McClain placed a telephone call to Pramaggiore during which they discussed preventing HB 5626 from being passed in the Illinois General Assembly.
On or about May 16, 2018, at approximately 10:20 a.m., MADIGAN placed a call to McClain, during which MADIGAN instructed McClain (i) to discuss Individual 23W-1 with Pramaggiore; and (ii) to “go forward with” the appointment of Individual BM-1.
On or about May 16, 2018, McClain placed a telephone call to Pramaggiore, during which call (i) Pramaggiore advised McClain that she had instructed Marquez to “hire” Individual 23W-1 after checking with Doherty; and (ii) McClain informed Pramaggiore that MADIGAN wanted to “keep pressing” for the appointment of Individual BM-1 to the ComEd board of directors, and Pramaggiore agreed to do so.
On or about May 16, 2018, McClain placed a telephone call to Marquez, during which McClain explained why certain individuals were being paid indirectly through JDDA, by making reference to their utility to MADIGAN’s political operation, and advised Marquez that Individual 23W-1 should be paid $5,000 a month. […]
On or about May 18, 2018, McClain caused an email to be sent to Pramaggiore, Hooker, and other ComEd employees referencing HB 5626 that noted “a friend of ours” had authorized McClain to “go ahead and kill it.”
On or about June 20, 2018, McClain placed a telephone call to Hooker, during which McClain stated that MADIGAN was the person who first “warned” them about HB 5626 and that MADIGAN had given ComEd permission to work to “kill” the legislation.
On or about June 29, 2018, Doherty caused an email to be sent to a ComEd employee, which made it falsely appear that the justification for an additional $5,000 a month sought under JDDA’s revised contract was because JDDA would assume an “expanded role with Cook County Board President’s office and Cook County Commissioners and Department Heads,” when in fact the additional $5,000 a month in compensation sought was intended for payment to Individual 23W-1, who performed little or no work for JDDA or ComEd. […]
On or about July 17, 2018, McClain placed a telephone call to Pramaggiore during which Pramaggiore told McClain that “we’re moving forward with [Individual BM-1]” and that McClain could tell MADIGAN. […]
On or about December 5, 2018, Marquez placed a call to McClain, during which call McClain authorized Marquez to “get rid” of Individual FR-1, meaning ComEd could discontinue making payments to Individual FR-1.
On or about December 6, 2018, McClain sent an email to Marquez and others at ComEd, in which McClain advised, in reference to the ComEd Internship Program, “I am pretty sure the ‘ask’ will be to ‘put aside’ or ‘save’ ten summer jobs for the 13th Ward.”
On or about December 7, 2018, MADIGAN placed a call to McClain, during which call MADIGAN instructed McClain to have ComEd discontinue its indirect payments to Individual 13W-3. […]
On or about February 11, 2019, McClain placed a telephone call to Hooker and the two men discussed that MADIGAN was informed of the plan to have ComEd pay Individual 13W-1 indirectly through Doherty’s lobbying firm and MADIGAN “thought it was great.”[…]
On or about February 18, 2019, Pramaggiore participated in a telephone call with Marquez, during which call, after she was told that the subcontractors associated with Doherty just “collect a check” and that Marquez needed to brief the chief executive officer of ComEd concerning the JDDA contract, Pramaggiore advised Marquez not to make any changes to the contract, because “we do not want to get caught up in a, you know, disruptive battle where, you know, somebody gets their nose out of joint and we’re trying to move somebody off, and then we get forced to give ’em a five- year contract because we’re in the middle of needing to get something done in Springfield.”
* Crain’s yesterday…
As it turned out, a bill very much like that—known now as the HEAT Act—passed the following year with the support of ComEd parent Exelon. But the circumstances, like most energy legislation in Springfield, were complicated.
ComEd, along with downstate utility Ameren Illinois, tried to tie passage of the supplier reforms to an extension of their formula rate-setting authority, which was (and still is) set to expire at the end of 2022. The new system essentially eliminated the Illinois Commerce Commission’s authority to set electricity delivery rates, instead changing them via an annual formula that the utilities wanted extended for another 10 years.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who took the lead in 2019 on the supplier crackdown, refused to allow his bill to be tied to the formula rate extension. To the surprise of veteran observers of Illinois energy politics, ComEd’s priority stalled while Raoul’s bill passed.
Later, it became clear why. In May 2019, the FBI raided the home of McClain, as well as other close associates of Madigan’s. That news became public in the summer, but no one knew of those actions in May as the spring session wound down. Madigan obviously did.
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The Danny Solis angle
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The [Madigan] indictment was built, in part, on the work of former longtime Chicago City Council member Danny Solis (25th) whose cooperation with federal prosecutors was first exposed by the Chicago Sun-Times in January 2019, and who helped the feds build a similar indictment against Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), the longest-serving member of the council.
The Sun-Times also exclusively reported in January 2019 on an affidavit detailing the investigation that led to Solis’ cooperation. That document revealed that the feds secretly recorded Madigan in his law office at Madigan & Getzendanner in August 2014. Court records filed in connection with Madigan’s indictment Wednesday confirm the investigation goes back to the same year.
In March 2019, the Sun-Times also reported on a potential deal involving Solis and a Chinatown parking lot that is now part of Madigan’s indictment.
* Mark Brown…
We know from previous reporting that McClain’s phones were tapped and that former 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis also was caught on wiretaps with Madigan even before he turned FBI mole. The indictment makes clear that after Solis began cooperating he turned his sights on Madigan as well as since-indicted 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke. […]
There are also new schemes involving Solis’ efforts to set up Madigan, offering to help him get private legal business by squeezing businesses that needed the alderman’s help at the City Council to hire Madigan’s firm, which specializes in helping reduce real estate taxes. Solis told Madigan he wanted a state appointment in return, and the speaker allegedly agreed to help.
My favorite part of the indictment involved Solis telling Madigan he’d made it clear to the representatives of one company that this would require a “quid pro quo.” At first Madigan allegedly responded: “Okay . . . very good.”
But later Madigan allegedly advised Solis not to use the phrase “quid pro quo” the next time he spoke to the business people he was shaking down on the speaker’s behalf, instead offering a more elegant pretext.
“You’re just recommending . . . because if they don’t get a good result on their real estate taxes, the whole project will be in trouble . . . Which is not good for your ward. So you want high quality representation.”
* Illinois Public Radio…
To help boost business for his firm, Madigan allegedly agreed to help then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis (25) get appointed to a state board — a job that ideally would pay more than $100,000 annually — in exchange for Solis steering clients to Madigan & Getzendanner.
As part of that agreement, Solis — then the chair of the city council’s zoning committee — floated a complicated plan to transfer a parcel of state-owned land in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood to the city, which the city would then turn around and sell to developers looking to build a hotel. Solis would strongly advise those developers to retain Madigan’s firm.
Both the plan to appoint Solis to a state board and the scheme pass legislation to sell the land in Chinatown hit major snags, never coming to fruition. But what Madigan didn’t know was that Solis was cooperating with the feds and had secretly recorded multiple conversations with the speaker while talking about plans to drive business to Madigan’s law firm.
In one such conversation in 2017, Solis updated Madigan about the progress of an apartment project, telling the speaker that the developer seemed to be open to retaining Madigan & Getzendanner for help.
* Block Club Chicago…
In one case in June 2017, Madigan asked then-Ald. Danny Solis — who was chair of the city’s zoning committee — to introduce him to the representative of a company that needed to get a zoning change through City Council, according to the indictment. Madigan wanted to “seek business” for his law firm, according to the indictment.
Solis told Madigan representatives of the company would meet with the then-speaker so Madigan could try to get business for his law firm — and the company still needed to “deal with” the alderman for its zoning change, according to the indictment. […]
Also in 2017, a group that wanted to develop a hotel in Chinatown needed to get the state to transfer its ownership of a plot of land to the city so the group could then get it and develop it, according to the indictment. Madigan agreed to use his position to support the passage of legislation that would transfer the land to the city; in exchange, work would be steered toward his law firm, according to the indictment.
“In the past, I have been able to steer some work to Mike [Madigan], and these guys will do the same thing,” Solis told McClain in that case, according to the indictment. McClain then agreed that would Madigan would help get the land transferred to the city, according to prosecutors.
Solis also told Madigan that, if Madigan helped transfer the land, the developers would “appreciate it” and would give Madigan’s firm tax work, according to the indictment. “OK, all right, very good,” Madigan said, according to prosecutors.
* Tribune…
Then-Ald. Daniel Solis, who was secretly cooperating with the investigation, recorded numerous conversations with Madigan as part of the Chinatown land probe, including one where the speaker told Solis he was looking for a colleague to sponsor a House bill approving the land sale.
“I have to find out about who would be the proponent in the House,” Madigan allegedly told Solis in the March 2018 conversation. “We gotta find the appropriate person for that. I have to think it through.”
Like the state appointment Solis wanted, that bill went nowhere.
* From the indictment…
It was further part of the scheme that, on or about November 2, 2018, MADIGAN told McCLAIN that “we never settled on a sponsor” for the bill concerning the transfer of the Chinatown parcel, and MADIGAN told McCLAIN that Representative B would be a suitable sponsor for the bill in the House of Representatives because Representative B’s seat was within the Senate district that included the Chinatown parcel. […]
It was further part of the scheme that, on or about November 21, 2018, McCLAIN advised Alderman A that a “major hurdle” to passage of legislation concerning the Chinatown parcel had arisen, in that the Illinois Secretary of State had received petitions from local businesspeople in Chinatown who were opposed to the transfer of the Chinatown parcel, and that the Illinois Secretary of State had reached out to leadership in the Senate to express opposition to the transfer.
It was further part of the scheme that, on or about November 23, 2018, after Alderman A advised MADIGAN that there was opposition to legislation providing for the transfer of the Chinatown parcel and that it was best to wait until after upcoming elections and attempt to pass the legislation in May 2019, MADIGAN agreed to do so.
…Adding… Good point…
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Madigan and his lawyers respond to indictments
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hap tip to Hannah Meisel for the press release…
Statement from Sheldon Zenner and Gil Soffer, Katten attorneys for Michael Madigan
Neither the law nor the facts support these baseless charges, and the evidence will prove it. Mr. Madigan vehemently rejects the notion that he was involved in criminal activity- before, during or after his long career as a public servant. The government’s overreach in charging him with these alleged crimes is groundless, and we intend to prevail in court.
Statement from Mr. Madigan
I was never involved in any criminal activity. The government is attempting to criminalize a routine constituent service: job recommendations. That is not illegal, and these other charges are equally unfounded. Throughout my 50 years as a public servant, I worked to address the needs of my constituents, always keeping in mind the high standards required and the trust the public placed in me. I adamantly deny these accusations and look back proudly on my time as an elected official, serving the people of Illinois.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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McClain responds to new indictment
Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In all the hullaballoo about Madigan, this is kinda getting lost in the shuffle. Via Politico…
STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA REGARDING NEW INDICTMENT AGAINST MIKE McCLAIN; 3-2-22
The Indictment filed today against Mike McClain by the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is noteworthy in that it is based on many of the same acts that were included in a previous Indictment filed against him in November of 2020. The Government simply repackages these allegations under new theories of wrongdoing.
Added to this legal sleight of hand, the Government now, for the first time, seeks more than $2 million dollars in forfeiture from Mike McClain.
For years, the Government has been trying to force Mike McClain to cooperate in its quest against former Speaker Mike Madigan. These latest charges are nothing more than the Government’s continued attempt to pressure Mike McClain to do the Government’s bidding.
Mike McClain was innocent of the charges when they were first filed in November of 2020. He remains innocent of the recycled and new charges in this latest Indictment. He will never testify falsely about himself or anyone, no matter how many indictments are brought against him. We will fight to prove his innocence
The Government should always seek to justice – to carry out its mission reasonably, equitably, and responsibly. Sadly, it failed to do so today.
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