* Here’s one I missed the other day. From Jon Seidel at the Sun-Times…

Federal prosecutors want a judge to send a longtime Dorothy Brown worker to prison for more than two years after they said she lied to a grand jury, “threw a wrench in the wheels of justice and ground them to a halt.”

They also said the lies Beena Patel told the grand jury investigating job-selling allegations in the office of Brown, the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, “directly impacted the government’s ability to charge those most culpable in the illegal activity.” […]

The feds’ investigation centered in part around a $15,000 payment by Sivasubramani Rajaram allegedly to land a job at the clerk’s office. The feds say Rajaram made a $5,000 cash payment at a meeting at the Corner Bakery across from the Daley Center. But when prosecutors asked Patel about that meeting in front of the grand jury, they said Patel gave misleading answers.

“She attempted to minimize her own involvement by stating that Rajaram slid the envelope containing $5,000 in cash directly to the Clerk,” McShain wrote in Tuesday’s memo.

Prosecutors said it was Patel who accepted the cash.

I just don’t know enough about this to say one way or another, but this piece does bring up questions about whether the feds might have possibly chased the wrong person because of Patel’s testimony.

* Tony Arnold and Dave McKinney at WBEZ…

The federal criminal probe into Commonwealth Edison is one of the most aggressive anti-corruption efforts to permeate Illinois politics in a generation.

Exhibit No. 1 is the middle-of-the-day FBI and IRS raid of Democratic state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s office in the Illinois Capitol in late September. Investigators sought information about four unidentified officials at Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, and documents pertaining to utility rate hikes.

The federal scrutiny even has extended all the way up to the state’s most powerful politician, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, though the veteran lawmaker has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.

No one has been charged with a crime. But the investigation is broad, complex — and moving fast. Here’s what you need to know to catch up.

I know I’ve been saying this a lot today, but go read the rest.

* ILGOP…

Today, the Illinois Republican Party is launching DemCorruption.com, a website to expose the Illinois Democrat Crime Ring as a wide-ranging network of lawmakers, lobbyists, and party bosses whose sole purpose is the personal financial benefit of those within the ring. Whether the public benefits from their government service is of no concern to them.

The individuals atop this network of criminals and cronies are in the most powerful positions within state government and our state’s largest city:

INDICTED on federal charges

Tom Cullerton, State Senator

Ed Burke, Chicago Alderman

Luis Arroyo, State Representative (former)

Under federal investigation

Mike Madigan, Speaker of the House & Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois

JB Pritzker, Governor

Martin Sandoval, State Senator

Carrie Austin, Chicago alderman

Daniel Solis, Chicago alderman

Jeff Tobolski, Cook County Board

Only in Illinois would so many elected officials be indicted or under federal investigation. Some are tied up in the same scheme; others are being investigated for their own personal insider dealings. The thing that binds them together is that they serve in high-ranking leadership roles in the Democratic Party of Illinois.

The ILGOP has created DemCorruption.com to expose the misdealings of each politician and to help keep all the ongoing scandals straight. We even created helpful nicknames to make it easier to remember all the corruption, grift, and greed. Some of the infamous members of the Illinois Democrat Crime Ring include The Velvet Hammer, Junior Blagojevich, and the Red-light Baron. Information about the rest of the crime ring can be found at the website.

“DemCorruption.com will serve as a central clearinghouse for information on Democrat corruption in Illinois,” explained ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider. “Voters can stay up to date, learn how to fight back, and get involved in exposing the Illinois Democrat power structure for what it is: a criminal enterprise.”

…Adding… Missed this one…

* Diminished and preoccupied, indicted Ald. Edward Burke no longer a dominating presence at City Council meetings

*** UPDATE *** From Eileen F. Boyce at the Democratic Party of Illinois…

As we watch the parade of Trump administration officials who are convicted of a variety of crimes, Illinois Democrats are continuing our work to protect workers’ rights, access to affordable health care, and a woman’s right to choose from attacks by dangerous politicians in Illinois and Washington. Democrats are working to strengthen ethics laws while Illinois Republicans are simply trying to distract from their own poor record and a failed President