* US Rep. Mike Bost was recently on Will Stephens’ radio show and was asked, “Even with all of these folks wired up and wandering around the Capitol Building, is Mike Madigan insulated enough that he’s going to remain unscathed?” Bost’s response…

That’s a good question. Believe me, Mike Madigan is, if anybody could remain unscathed, it will be Mike Madigan. Because he’s an expert of the Illinois Constitution and an expert of the Illinois law because he wrote most of it. He also knows where the line is going up to the edge of the cliff. And he might not, and he won’t step over the line on the edge of the cliff. He might grab someone else and throw them over to get his [garbled] done. But he won’t do that.

This part is nonsense, however…

Now, let me tell you that there is a precedent, though, that quite often that someone who didn’t do something can still be charged on the fact that they were, there is a presumption that they knew. The best example of that was a guy by the name of George Ryan. They never got George Ryan for doing anything himself.

Yes, they did…

The investigation finally reached the former governor, and in December 2003, Ryan and lobbyist Lawrence Warner were named in a 22-count federal indictment. The charges included racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud. The indictment alleged that Ryan steered several state contracts to Warner and other friends; disbursed campaign funds to relatives and to pay personal expenses; and obstructed justice by attempting to end the state investigation of the license-for-bribes scandal. He was charged with lying to investigators and accepting cash, gifts and loans in return for his official actions as governor. On September 19, 2005, the case went to trial. […]

On April 17, 2006, the jury found Ryan and Warner guilty on all counts. However, when ruling on post-trial motions, the judge dismissed two counts against Ryan for lack of proof.

Also, the judge dismissed one of those counts because, she said, prosecutors had failed to prove that Ryan knew of a particular fraud when he steered a lease to his pal Warner.