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* Background is here if you need it. Crain’s…
The filing also reveals [former ComEd board member Juan Ochoa] is expected to testify as to how he enlisted the help of a member of Congress in 2017 to help fix his political relationship with Madigan and win that board seat at ComEd. The Chicago Tribune reports, citing unnamed sources, that the congressman is believed to be then-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
But this bit from the federal government’s proffer is causing a bit of a stir…
In 2017, [Ochoa] asked the same member of Congress to set up meetings with Madigan and another public official to request that they both recommend Individual BM-1 for an open position on ComEd’s board.
The Tribune has the answer…
Ochoa also asked Gutierrez to set up a meeting with “another public official” to discuss the ComEd board appointment at about the same time, according to the filing. Prosecutors do not name that official, either, but sources told the Tribune he is then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Mayoral calendars obtained by the Tribune via an open records request show that Emanuel and two of his aides met with Ochoa and Gutierrez at City Hall on Nov. 17, 2017, though the topic of the meeting was not included.
Interesting.
* So, why did Ochoa ask Gutierrez for help? Back to the proffer…
[Ochoa] asked the member of Congress to make the request because the member of Congress had endorsed Madigan in the prior election cycle, and Individual [Ochoa] felt Madigan owed the member of Congress a political favor.
That election would’ve likely been the infamous Jason Gonzales race in 2016.
* What’s Rahm Emanuel’s connection to Ochoa? This Crain’s story is from February of 2017, several months before the Madigan sitdown…
The former head of the agency that runs McCormick Place who left in 2010 amid an apparent political feud with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has returned as a board member.
Juan Ochoa, who ran the agency known as McPier from 2007 to 2010, replaced Olga Camargo on the agency’s board this month after being appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. […]
It’s a return to McCormick Place for Ochoa nearly seven years after he resigned. While he said at the time that he was leaving McPier to focus on immigration reform, a 2011 Crain’s investigation found that he was politically handcuffed by the longtime speaker as retribution for Ochoa firing a Madigan ally at the convention center. […]
Ochoa, who had been appointed CEO of McPier by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, insisted that there is “no tension” between he and Madigan.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 12:36 pm
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That proffer is a nuclear bomb on statehouse culture. The thus-far anonymous witnesses are making my head spin.
Comment by St. Nick Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 12:43 pm
No cash just favors and vendettas ?
Comment by Rabid Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 12:50 pm
Who is the Madigan ally Ochoa fired?
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 1:31 pm
Looks like the Ambassador to Japan will be making a trip back to the states
Comment by This Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 1:38 pm
Everything is connected. Always in Illinois politics everything is connected.
Comment by Responsa Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 1:39 pm
==That proffer is a nuclear bomb on statehouse culture. The thus-far anonymous witnesses are making my head spin. ==
How is it a nuclear bomb on statehouse culture? How is any of this different from what happens in the corporate world?
You’d be hard pressed to find a single person in or around government or the business community that hasn’t asked a friend of someone influential to help them get a job, promotion, or raise.
Comment by Thoughts Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 1:51 pm
Ochoa Is a great example of pinstripe patronage and is why I never minded guys like the Moodys or other men and women at the bottom getting govt jobs and the like.
Comment by low level Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 1:53 pm
@St. Nick - Completely agree. I’m glad news outlets are covering this including Capitol Fax, but it’s clear reading the proffer that this goes beyond Madigan and is an indictment on the culture in Springfield.
Comment by Chicagonk Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 2:48 pm
“How is any of this different than what happens in the corporate world?”
Thinking you don’t spend a lot of time in the “corporate world”.
In fact Illinois government seems to be in a “world ” by itself in ranking generally at the top or near the top in government corruption every year.
Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 2:54 pm
Also completely agree with @St. Nick.
Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 3:05 pm
- Anon -
Who is the Madigan ally Ochoa fired?
That was Jack A. Johnson.
Comment by Chicago 20 Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 3:31 pm
Who was the Representative Madigan had McClain contact to try to get him/her to retire in August 2018?
Comment by low level Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 3:36 pm
Are all prominent democrats of the last 20 years criminals? Yeesh.
Comment by Lurker Thursday, Jan 12, 23 @ 4:43 pm