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* An important key to the prosecution’s case against Tim Mapes is showing that Mike McClain did House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bidding and that everyone knew it. Megan Crepeau and Ray Long…
Gambling legislation, particularly one that included a new casino in Chicago and elsewhere around the state, was one of the thorniest matters to navigate in Springfield because there are so many different special interests seeking input, including horse racing and established riverboats.
[Rep. Bob Rita] said McClain was made available “so I would be guided in the right direction.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz immediately asked: The “right direction” according to whom?
“The speaker,” Rita replied, an answer that signaled Madigan could have influence over the legislation despite his potential conflict of interest.
* The defense is trying to show jurors that McClain’s word could be untrustworthy. Jon Seidel at the Sun-Times…
Mapes’ defense attorneys told jurors in opening statements that Mapes knew better than to believe everything McClain said. So, when placed under oath before the grand jury, he chose not to guess or speculate about things he didn’t know or couldn’t remember.
Outside the presence of the jury Thursday, Mapes attorney Andrew Porter tried to persuade U.S. District Judge John Kness to let him ask O’Leary about a previous FBI investigation involving McClain around 2013 or 2014.
Porter said McClain had acknowledged lying to a client about Madigan’s involvement in a matter — and Porter hoped to make the point that even the FBI didn’t believe everything McClain said.
Porter told the judge McClain had said some “frankly crazy things” caught on federal wiretaps.
Kness didn’t allow Porter to get into that investigation in front of the jury. But Porter still asked O’Leary about recorded claims by McClain that then-Gov. Bruce Rauner might pay up to $100,000 for a damaging report on Madigan, or that someone had extorted Major League Baseball.
O’Leary acknowledged he was unaware of any FBI investigations that ensued as a result of those allegations.
And in what could be another point for the defense, O’Leary initially testified that he didn’t even remember them.
We talked about memories yesterday, but there was also this bit when Lori Vollmer, a certified short-hand reporter, was on the witness stand…
Defense attorney Katie Hill, on cross examination, confirms that Vollmer reviewed the Mapes transcript before testifying.
"I would always review something before I would get on the stand," Vollmer said.
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) August 10, 2023
* On to Hannah Meisel’s story…
Longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was elevated to that powerful position in 1983 – the same year Motorola launched the first-ever commercially available mobile phone and CompuServe applied to trademark the word “email.”
But Madigan, who held the speaker’s gavel for all but two years until early 2021, never had a cell phone or email address of his own. Madigan, now 81, instead relied on his “tight inner circle” to communicate on his behalf, according to former FBI special agent Brendan O’Leary’s testimony in a Chicago federal courtroom on Thursday.
O’Leary, who retired from the FBI in 2021, spent nearly the last seven years of his law enforcement career overseeing a sprawling investigation into Madigan and his inner circle. The investigation has yielded charges, guilty pleas and convictions from a number of political figures in Illinois – including Madigan himself, who is scheduled for trial on bribery and racketeering charges in April. […]
“He didn’t have a cell phone, he didn’t use emails, didn’t text,” O’Leary said of Madigan. “He used McClain as a go-between…that’s how he communicated – through people he trusted. That’s how his orders went out.”
Does that remind you of anything?…
"Paulie hated phones. He wouldn't have one in his House. He used to get all his calls second-hand, and then you'd have to call people back from an outside phone. There were guys, that's all they did, all day long was take care of Paulie's phone calls" https://t.co/7DUspF9J2R
— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) August 10, 2023
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 11:29 am
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omg that Paulie movie reference is just so spot on, sad, and hilarious all at once. made my morning.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 11:32 am
That “tweet” Rich, it’s chef kiss perfect, and a reminder that the organizing pillars MJM here, and others in the past (Ward organization, as an example), it’s no different than the pillars in organized crime… now “which is copying who” is a different discussion
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 11:41 am
Did Bhachu overtly refuse to let Tim refresh his memory during the grand jury testimony? That seems to be a dispositive point here.
Comment by custard Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 11:47 am
“Does that remind you of anything?…”
Yes, MJM, the godfather of Dem politics in Illinois, is corrupt like Pauie.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 11:57 am
Perhaps Michael Madigan had a penchant for film noir and ran the 13th Ward organization like a version of the gangster movies of the 1930s and 1940s.
At least Madigan didn’t wear a fedora like his buddy Eddie Burke.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 12:20 pm
Anyone catch the mention in testimony early this week that Kerry Lester, who wrote a book on #MeToo, participated in meetings with Madigan where his advisers discussed how to limit the #MeToo fallout? I suppose she would know!
Comment by Ringo Starlight Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 12:31 pm
Rudy’s teeth @12:20 pm….”At least Madigan didn’t wear a fedora like his buddy Eddie Burke.” The reason clearly is that wearing a fedora and high pants would definitely call unwanted attention
Comment by Moi Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 12:32 pm
I have a land line phone…no cell phone…think how much more free I am than you?
My time is mine…alone.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:15 pm
Rudy’s teeth–2:20pm……Madigan actually did wear a green gangster like fedora as Rich Miller clearly pointed out on Capfax in March 2016 as Grand Marshal(great honor) during the 2016 Downtown Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There’s a great image. Most of the time however, and still today….he prefers wearing the flat top, otherwise known as the “paddy top.” This was also sometimes a preference of old time Chicago Aldermen….Hinky Dink Kenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin.
Comment by Ryder Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:29 pm
While his avoidance of phones, emails, texts, etc. is suggestive, it’s not clear what Madigan himself ordered and what his trusted lieutenants assumed he wanted or just did on their own. Allowing a few folks (like Mapes and McLain) to use his backing (actual or implied) to act they way they did, unchecked, is one of the poison pills at the heart of this rotten enterprise.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:58 pm