Mike Madigan trial updates: Testimony continues in former Illinois speaker's trial

Former Madigan aide Will Cousineau took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

He also testified in the ComEd Four trial about how Madigan wielded power.

Ex-ComEd attorney Tom O'Neill returned to the stand Tuesday in former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's federal corruption trial.

Former ComEd attorney Tom O'Neill returned to the stand Tuesday.

He resumed his testimony just after 9 a.m.

He spoke of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's influence in the naming of Juan Ochoa to the ComEd Board.

An email was brought into evidence from Madigan's administrative assistant April Burgos.

It was sent to ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, and included Ochoa's resume.

It said, "Hi Anne, Speaker Madigan asked me to send this to you. Please confirm. Thanks, April."

At the time, Jesse Ruiz was stepping down from the ComEd Board. The board was mainly an advisory board, and the role came with a $78,000 a year paycheck.

O'Neill, who was in his new role at Exelon at the time, said he was forwarded Ochoa's resume, and a background check began.

O'Neill said he spoke with Pramaggiore about his concerns over having someone connected to the speaker on the board, but Pramaggiore said it was important he be selected.

Ochoa was the only candidate considered for the job, and, despite it taking over a year, he was named to the board in April of 2019.

O'Neill said he later learned others, including Rahm Emanuel, supported him, as well.

O'Neill was also asked if he thought lobbying was legal and necessary. He said "yes."

Madigan's attorney Daniel Collins tried to raise doubt on the Reyes Kurson legal contract, saying it's possible Mike McClain could have just used Madigan's name instead of working at Madigan's request.

His attorneys appeared to be working Tuesday to convince the jury what McClain did was legal lobbying.

No one else has been mentioned as an additional witness Tuesday.

The former lead attorney of ComEd will be back on the stand today for cross examination in Mike Madigan's federal corruption trial.

Monday, Tom O'Neill described ComEd as being in desperate need of a new way to set customer rates in July of 2010.

He was tasked with making that happen and drafted three major pieces of legislation that were critical for turning around the company's fortunes.

O'Neill testified "I got asked frequently, if not constantly, does the Speaker support this or where is the Speaker on this?"

In his day-long testimony, ComEd's former General Counsel Tom O'Neill got to the heart of the corruption charges against Madigan and his co-defendant, Mike McClain.

O'Neill described the utility giant as one which, in July of 2010, was in a "precarious financial position": a company in desperate need of a new way to set customer rates.

Former ComEd General Counsel Thomas O'Neill got to the heart of the corruption charges in ex-IL Speaker Mike Madigan's trial Monday.

Tasked with helping to make that happen, O'Neill spent the next six and a half years going back and forth to Springfield, negotiating and drafting three major pieces of legislation that were critical to turning around ComEd's fortunes.

"I got asked frequently, if not constantly: Does the speaker support this? Or, where is the speaker on this?" O'Neill testified.

He said the company relied in large measure on contract lobbyist McClain for access to Madigan.

"Mr. McClain had free access in the speaker's suite," said O'Neill, who went on to connect the dots for prosecutors.

They drew a direct line between the legislation pushes and a contract entered into by ComEd, in October 2011, with Reyes Kurson, a law firm headed up by Victor Reyes, a political ally of Madigan's.

The contract was agreed to just as the General Assembly voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn's veto of ComEd's first big legislative push. When some years later O'Neill attempted to cut the law firm's hours, as yet another ComEd bill was getting ready to be voted on, ComEd's CEO Anne Pramaggiore received an email from McClain.

"I'm sure you know how valuable Victor is to our Friend," McClain said. "I know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involved and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend. Our Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?"

Prosecutors said the "Friend" was Madigan.

Ultimately, the contract was renewed several months later, right around the same time ComEd's third major legislative push ended successfully in Springfield. O'Neill returns to the witness stand Tuesday, when he is expected to be extensively cross-examined by defense lawyers.