Jury hears recordings from ex-Chicago alderman in former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan trial

ByMichelle Gallardo

Monday, November 25, 2024

Jury hears recordings from former Chicago alderman in Madigan trial

The jury heard recordings Monday from ex-Chicago Alderman Danny Solis in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's corruption trial.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A former Chicago alderman was back on the witness stand in the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan Monday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.

Danny Solis wore a wire and made video recordings for federal investigators.

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On Monday, some of the crucial recordings were played for the jury.

Until now, the trial has essentially been a rerun of last year's ComEd Four trial, which resulted in the conviction of four ComEd executives for their parts in a scheme to bribe the former speaker.

As of Monday, however, with former 25th Ward Alderman Solis on the stand, a new chapter begins.

It's one which saw a sitting alderman turn government mole for only the second time in Chicago history.

Returning to court for his first full day of testimony, Solis told jurors how, by June of 2017, he had been wearing a wire for the FBI for over a year, as he recorded his conversations with fellow Alderman Ed Burke, among other public officials.

Madigan, however, was not one of them, until a day when Madigan reached out, asking for an introduction to the developers of Union West, an apartment building project, which eventually went up in the West Loop. Ten days later, with the FBI listening in, an exchange took place.

"I think they understand they've got some issues, that they still have to deal with me, in terms of zoning. And I think they understand how this works, you know, the quid pro quo, the quid pro quo," Solis said.

Madigan said, "OK."

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At the time of the call, then-Speaker Madigan was a partner in one of the city's top tax law firms, Madigan & Getzendanner.

Madigan is accused of illegally using his position in Springfield to steer business to it.

Solis' testimony, which began in earnest Monday, is expected to center around three different instances of this happening, including the West Loop Project, as well as the possible redevelopment of a Chinatown parking lot into a hotel.

And while Madigan later reprimanded Solis for his use of the words "quid pro quo," he did not walk away from the in-person meeting with the Union West developers, one which was also recorded.

"You shouldn't be talking like that," Madigan told Solis shortly before the meeting started. "You're just recommending our law firm because if they don't get a good result on their real estate taxes, the whole project will be in trouble."

"Absolutely, absolutely, yeah," Solis said.

Anticipating the multiple attacks to Solis' credibility defense attorneys will likely make, prosecutors spent a significant portion of the morning going through the two-year investigation the FBI conducted on the former alderman before getting him to turn government informant.

It's an investigation that includes an embarrassing laundry list of crimes, from soliciting bribes to acts of prostitution.

Madigan and Mike McClain face bribery and racketeering charges.