Opening statements begin in former IL House Speaker Mike Madigan corruption trial

Lengthy jury selection portends arduous trial for ousted Democratic powerbroker

ByCapitol News Illinois

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Opening statements begin in Mike Madigan trial

Opening statements began Monday in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's corruption trial. Jury selection was slow-going.

CHICAGO -- Opening statements began Monday, in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

The government established its case against Madigan, while his attorneys got their first say, as they try to prove that their client is not guilty of racketeering and bribery conspiracy.

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U.S. District Judge John Blakey Monday afternoon read 30 minutes of instructions to the jury selected to decide Madigan's fate.

With that, the government carefully and methodically laid out its corruption case against the 82-year-old Madigan, along with that of his co-defendant, close friend and former lobbyist Mike McClain. It is a case that took years to build, and covers only a small period of the nearly four decades Madigan spent at the helm of the General Assembly.

"This is a case of corruption at the highest level," Assistant U.S. State's Attorney Sarah Streicker said. "(Madigan did this) to enrich himself and his associates through bribery. These were not the kind of bribes that were carried out by handing over envelopes with cash. The bribes were more sophisticated."

From 2011 to 2019, the bribes were, according to the 23-count indictment, given by both ComEd and AT&T in the form of no-work jobs and contracts for Madigan's political associates.

In exchange, the government said, Madigan helped the utility giants get critical legislation approved. But the speaker, widely known to not use either email or a cell phone, did not, according to Streicker, make these requests directly.

"When Madigan did not want his fingerprints on something, he assigned McClain to handle it. When McClain told you something, you knew it was coming from Madigan," Streicker said.

The bribes were also, according to the government, allegedly given in the form of legal work funneled to the then-speaker's law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. In exchange, Madigan, along with then-25th Ward Alderman Daniel Solis, would help developers to get their zoning permits approved. The construction projects included ones in Chinatown, the West Loop and at the Old Post Office building.

Solis, who has legal troubles of his own, turned government mole, and recorded many of his conversations with Madigan. He's expected to testify during the trial, the government said Monday.

"It's all on tape," Streicker said.

It was then over to Madigan's attorney, Tom Breen, who immediately set out to discredit the government's case.

"You are going to hear some out-and-out lies. The evidence in this case is going to show that at no time did he, Michael Madigan, participate in his own bribery scheme. It did not happen. That is not who he is," Breen said.

Prosecutors said they will play around 250 undercover recordings during the trial, many of which have already been aired at lead-up trials involving ComEd and AT&T.

Opening statements will continue Tuesday, with the jury yet to hear from McClain's attorneys.

Though many specifics from prior trials connected to the former House speaker's will be recycled during Madigan's, prosecutors will call new and highly anticipated witnesses like political consultant Alaina Hampton, who set off a firestorm in 2018 when she accused Madigan of mishandling her sexual harassment complaint against a fellow campaign operative.

Jury selection wraps up

A jury of eight women and four men was selected slowly over the last two weeks.

Two alternate jurors were picked during Monday morning's session at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.

During the over seven-day process, the former speaker took careful notes on each prospective juror on a yellow legal pad and occasionally conferred with his attorneys, displaying the same fastidiousness in the courtroom that garnered him power over his five decades in Springfield.

Jury selection for Madigan's trial was always going to be a slow and deliberate process. Due to the high-profile nature of the case, Judge Blakey this summer agreed to keep prospective jurors' names anonymous and question them individually after completing a lengthy questionnaire.

But selecting the 12-member jury and six alternate jurors from the nearly 200-person jury pool took more than twice as long as originally scheduled. The seven-day process lasted longer than the entire related AT&T trial last month.

The dozens of prospective jurors who made it into the courtroom for questioning were largely white and were also disproportionately older, likely due to the number of those working-age pool members who were immediately eliminated by their inability to commit to an estimated 11 weeks of trial.

After spending on average more than half an hour with each prospective juror during questioning aimed at flagging any unconscious biases, the parties finally found their 12th member on Thursday morning. The jury includes a racially diverse group of eight women and four men ranging from their early 20s to retirees.

Mike Madigan trial LIVE updates: Opening statements expected soon in former Illinois speaker trial

Jury members include a teacher, an Amazon warehouse worker and a Goodwill donation center employee. The jury also has a number of health care workers, including an overnight nurse and two who work in patient scheduling at separate Chicago hospitals.

The final juror works at yet another Chicago hospital and told a Madigan attorney that he'd heard the speaker's name but wasn't sure what position he'd held.

"I know he's been a longtime leader, well-known name in Illinois and the city but I - honestly, I'm a little embarrassed ... I don't follow politics that much," he said.

But most of the jury is in the same boat. Some were vaguely aware of Madigan's case and last year's ComEd trial from headlines and mentions on TV news, though others had never heard the speaker's name before.

One juror confessed that when she told her best friend about her jury summons, the friend predicted that she was being called for the Madigan case - and told her to "vote guilty" for the longtime Democratic powerbroker.

"She's a Trumper," the juror said of her friend, referring to her support for former President Donald Trump. "She really hates all Democrats except me, maybe."

The same juror also elicited a rare moment of laughter from Madigan when she told his attorney Tom Breen that he looked like the actor Eric Roberts.

Even the judge joined in on the reaction shared by the rest of the courtroom.

"Eric Roberts?" Blakey repeated incredulously. "Wow."

The judge and attorneys for both sides have said the trial could last up to three months.

Court will be in session Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off.

ABC7 Chicago's Michelle Gallardo contributed to this report.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.