October 27, 2021 • 25 mins
One of the biggest public corruption investigations in Illinois history continues. Madigan says he did nothing wrong, but he is out of politics and his political machine destroyed. We dive into the investigation, the resignations and the end of the Madigan era. Has the game changed, or do Springfield’s new power players still follow the Madigan Rule?
Featuring exclusive interviews with former governor Jim Edgar, along with state Representative La Shawn Ford, former state Senator Heather Steans, as well as journalists Tony Arnold, Mick Dumke, Ray Long, and Hanna Meisel all of whom covered Madigan. Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady is also a guest in the final episode.
Also featured is BGA editor David Kidwell, who co-led reporting for a Chicago Tribune series “The Madigan Rules,” beginning in 2010. The name of the BGA podcast was inspired by the Tribune series title.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When Chicago representative La Shawn Ford
served under Mike Madigan andthe Democratic House Caucus, he
picked up some tips.
You don't,
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Uh, rush with your decisions.
You don't go off the cuff withyour answers.
You simply allow yourself toevaluate what's happening.
Um, and what's being asked ofyou.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
When BGA board member Heather Steans was in the state
Senate, she also learned alesson or two.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I think he very clearly understands how to wield
power and get people tounderstand how aligning
themselves with his interests orgoing to be in their long-term
interests.
And, in the rare occasion whensomebody was bucking that, you
see the consequences thathappened to that person, and it
(00:48):
also helps others stay alignedwith his interests,
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Madigan's skill as a politician and a legislator are
the stuff of legend.
Everyone seems to have a MikeMadigan story.
For much of his career, he wasarguably the most powerful
politician in Illinois.
As speaker of the Illinois Houseof Representatives, he
controlled which bills moved toa vote and which died on the
vine.
For years, he even controlledthe process that drew Illinois
(01:15):
legislative districts and aschair of the Illinois Democratic
Party, he decided whichcandidates received campaign
resources from the party andwhich didn't.
ProPublica's Mick Dumke saysMike Madigan had a simple
formula for maintaining his gripon power: I help you.
You help me.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
He can find a way, a representative in a safe
district that has a lot of, uh,affluent supporters, they can
raise a lot of money.
They can kick it over to one ofMadigan's campaign committees,
he can kick it to anothercampaign committee, they can
give it to another, uh,legislator in another district
that is struggling to hold on tohis or her seat.
(01:52):
This guy over the years hasmastered the art of
understanding what people wantand what they need and trying to
deliver for them.
Maybe they don't like how hedoes business on the big picture
thing, but a lot of them owetheir seats to him.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Then in a flash, the entire dynamic changed.
In January 2021, Mike Madiganstunned the political world when
he lost his bid for a 19th termas the speaker of the Illinois
House.
Those Democratic politicians whoowed everything to Madigan, they
decided they'd had enough.
Within days, he was no longerspeaker of the House.
(02:29):
Soon thereafter, he lost hisposition as a chairman of the
Illinois Democratic Party.
He even resigned his statelegislative seat, a seat he was
first elected to in 1970.
And here's the thing (02:39):
Mike Madigan didn't retire
triumphantly.
He retired under a cloud ofscandal.
And the big question now, oneveryone's mind, is whether or
not he will be indicted.
Hi, I'm Justin Kaufmann.
And this is final episode of"TheMadigan Rule," a podcast
(03:02):
produced by the BetterGovernment Association.
This is Episode Five (03:04):
Patterns and Practices.
If the story of Mike Madigan'suse of power is the stuff of
legend, then the story of MikeMadigan's political demise is
the stuff of Shakespeare (03:24):
An all powerful titan dethroned by
those closest to him, a masterdeal-maker undone by the very
game he dominated over decades.
The beginning of the end mayhave started with the sexual
harassment allegations involvingmembers of his political
organization, but his problemsreally began due to his
interactions with another kindof power player-- the electric
utility company, ComEd.
(03:44):
Madigan has been named as"PublicOfficial A" in a sprawling
federal corruption case.
Federal prosecutors alleged thatIllinois' major electric
utility, ComEd, bribed keyofficials to obtain favorable
legislation and utility ratesfrom the state of Illinois.
ComEd has already acknowledgedwrongdoing and many of Madigan's
closest associates have alreadybeen indicted.
(04:06):
The bottom line question in thisinvestigation seems pretty easy
to understand (04:09):
Did ComEd give jobs and favors to Mike Madigan
and his friends in exchange forfavorable legislation?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I mean, we're talking about people's utility bills.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
BGA's David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
I mean, it's the state's job to control these
utilities, major utilities.
I mean, everybody gets theirelectric bills, everybody knows
how expensive it is, and we'retalking about rate increases
that ComEd won.
So the allegation is that he wastrading controversial rate
increases in exchange forgetting his people jobs, which
is building his patronage armyand building his base of loyalty
(04:44):
and taking care of his, all thepeople who helped bring him
power.
I mean, they are supposed to bewatching the store for us.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Tony Arnold covers state government for Chicago's
public radio station, WBEZ.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
The claims about ComEd's bribery's scheme
wouldn't really exist withoutPublic Official A and it's clear
that Public Official A isMichael Madigan.
There's no doubt about that.
Without ComEd's own admission,that it engaged in a years-long
bribery scheme to influence thestate house, to get the
legislation that it wanted bygiving out contracts and jobs
(05:18):
with basically little to no workin exchange for that
legislation, that is all aboutMichael Madigan with the caveat
that Madigan faces no charges asI speak to you right now and has
not been accused of anywrongdoing and, in fact, denies
wrongdoing all together.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Mike Madigan says he never used his position to
influence any bill.
He just says that the ComEd'ssmart grid bill passed in 2011
was good legislation, bipartisaneven.
But it's hard not to sense apattern.
Again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Madigan's influence here within ComEd, a giant power
company in the country, itranged from all the way from the
board all the way down to theguys who come out and read your
meters.
It's literally called an oldfashioned patronage network in
the document.
It sounds like it's somethingfrom a different era.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's because Madigan himself comes from a
different era.
He came of age politicallyduring a time when politics
involved taking care of yoursupporters and voters, ensuring
your folks receive jobs in stateagencies, political campaigns
and other places.
It was just good politics.
It's how the Democratic machinehas built and maintained an iron
grip on Cook County politics fordecades.
(06:34):
Over time, the game's evolved,however.
It now includes lobbyists,consulting contracts and
campaign contributions.
Illinois State Representative LaShawn Ford.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Uh, you know, people became rich and wealthy off of
Mike Madigan's power.
He empowered people, thereforethey empowered him.
And so even though you havepeople that might think
negatively about his process,even Republicans supported him,
(07:04):
whether we know it or not,because there were Republicans
that became rich under MikeMadigan's tenure.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Major corporations also benefitted.
WBEZ's Tony A rnold s ays, ComEdlearned how to play the game, as
well as anyone.
They hired lobbyists in Illinoiswho had close connections to
Mike Madigan, many who wereformer members of his inner
circle.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
ComEd had one of the biggest, if not the biggest
lobbying enterprises inSpringfield among any big
company.
Take, take your pick of bigcompanies, uh, AT& T, Comcast.
Giants in their industries.
And ComEd had a bigger lobbyingforce than them to make sure
that they got what they wanted.
(07:44):
And when you look at thatlobbying force, vast majority of
them came from Madigan's networkof people.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
What some call good politics and effective lobbying
the feds see as a briberyscheme.
Plain and simple.
ComEd provided jobs in thecompany for friends and
political supporters of Madigan.
Madigan and his allies ensuredComEd received the utility
rates, regulation andlegislation that it wanted.
Madigan, again, denies anywrongdoing.
(08:10):
But what should we make of abribery scandal and a federal
investigation?
Will the patterns and practicesthat propelled Madigan to the
pinnacle of power proved to bethe source of his undoing or
will those same patterns andpractices shield him from a
federal indictment andconviction.
Speaker 7 (08:25):
It's a story about the power that friendship and
get-along-go-along politicsreally can produce in
Springfield.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That's Chicago Tribune's Ray Long.
To understand the story aroundMike Madigan and ComEd.
You have to go way back to hisearly days in the state house to
one of Madigan's contemporaries,the state representative from
Quincy, Illinois, his name (08:47):
Mike McClain.
Speaker 7 (08:51):
Really the the core of this goes back to the 1970s
when a guy named Mike McClainfrom Quincy, Illinois was a
state rep and he was, uh, afriend of Madigan's.
Madigan put him on hisleadership team when Madigan
first rose to the, uh, minorityleadership in 1981.
(09:14):
And Mike McClain then ran, um,in the next election, a
redistricting year on a map thathe helped put together and he
lost.
And then, uh, he went back anddid some law stuff.
And then eventually he movedback to Springfield to lobby and
he had this great connectionwith Mike Madigan.
(09:37):
They'd go out to eat.
They'd stay in touch over theyears and they'd really hit it
off.
And then people and corporationsrealized that McClain had this
great relationship with MikeMadigan and they wanted McClain
to be their, their pitch man,their lobbyist, their hired gun.
(09:57):
And so he became more powerfuland he would be seen a lot of
times just sitting outside of,of Madigan's office and he'd be
holding court.
And there'd be a lot of, uh,young, former staffers turned
lobbyists out there, chatting upMcClain to learn the wisdom of
the day.
And, and McClain also was theone who, who, uh, had so much
(10:19):
access to, to Madigan that hecould, uh, explain what was
going on in the grander pictureof things.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And for decades, this was the practice until the
middle of May 2019.
In the months before the FBI hadpublicly rated the offices of
powerful Chicago Alderman EdBurke.
But in May, 2019, the federalgovernment raided the office of
Mike McClain and other Madiganassociates without much notice.
The Tribune didn't report on theraid until two months later.
(10:46):
Again, R ay Long.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
They were quiet raids.
Unlike Ed Burke, where they puta butcher paper on the windows
and were running in and out withboxes at City Hall.
People didn't know about this.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
The feds revealed that lobbyists were using ComEd
to funnel payments to KevinQuinn.
Quinn was the brother oflongtime 13th Ward Alderman
Marty Quinn, and the man who wasaccused of sexually harassing
Alaina Hampton, which we talkedabout last episode.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
McClain had orchestrated, uh, having other
lobbyists who had ties withComEd or ties with Madigan gave,
you know, checks monthly checksto Kevin Quinn to help him to
get by.
This started the same month thatthat Madigan said I've got to do
better, I, I didn't do enough onsexual harassment, put a letter
(11:36):
in the paper saying I shouldhave done more.
The Madigan folks said, thespeaker didn't know this was
going on, but the reason itlooked bad, it was because all
of his tight circle of friendswere also giving checks to Kevin
Quinn, the guy that he cutloose.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
The federal raids revealed more than just evidence
of under the table payments.
Again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
McClain, unlike Madigan, likes to use email.
And those emails of McClain'shave shown everything from
editing an inaugural speech thatMadigan gave-- a lobbyist edited
a speech that the house speakergave-- to a different email
where McClain is going to batfor a state employee from
(12:20):
downstate Illinois who has kepthis mouth shut about a rape in
Champaign.
And we still don't have anyinformation about what that's
about, but the fact is that oneof Madigan's, you know,
Madigan's closest aide knowsabout something here.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
The behavior of Mike McClain is kind of like the
antithesis of what Mike Madiganwould do.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Illinois Public Radio reporter Hannah Meisel.
Speaker 8 (12:44):
And I am certain that when he got wind of very
explicit ways in which McClainwas trying to throw around his
influence, vis-a-vis thespeaker, he was probably pretty
damn upset.
Because it's like the oppositeof the kind of like operating in
the shadows playbook that hasgiven the speaker all of his
(13:06):
strength.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Soon thereafter, a federal grand jury brought
indictments against Mike McClainand other lobbyists, including
John Hooker, who once served asa ComEd executive
vice-president, and Jay Doherty,who was also the president of
the City Club of Chicago.
They also issued a slew ofindictments against top ComEd
executives, including CEO AnnePramaggiore.
Madigan denied knowing anythingabout the ComEd checks, the
(13:27):
ghost payrolling or thelobbyists.
He said, if that was happening,quote, it was never made known
to me.
Former Illinois Republican PartyChair Pat Brady finds that hard
to believe.
Speaker 9 (13:38):
When you're under a potential criminal indictment
and you're trying to act likeyou didn't know anything was
going on when you are asdisciplined as everybody knows
he was.
And you try and say, oh, Ididn't know that happened.
And no, that conversation didn'thappen.
And I wasn't aware of thatlegislation when you've prided
yourself for decades on beingthe guy that read everything and
everything's going on.
It's kind of the the Ken Lay,Enron defense..
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Again, Hannah Meisel.
Speaker 8 (14:01):
That's so Springfield.
That's how the operation works.
It is the steady stable kind ofbenign things like utilities
that have so much power.
And it's very reflective ofMadigan too.
Madigan's not flashy.
He is very quiet, fastidious.
And so, of course, he knows thepower he pedals and I mean, he
(14:22):
built it.
He knows what he's doing.
Does he necessarily know aboutevery single thing that goes on?
No, you know, when you're at thetop of an organization, you
don't know what all goes on.
And you know, you also buildmechanisms in where you are
shielded from a directknowledge.
(14:40):
In ComEd's deferred prosecution agreement, the
federal government lays out thecharges.
Some of the allegations rangefrom no-work jobs for Madigan
insiders paid as quote, ComEdconsultants, to lobbyist Mike
McClain continuing to refer toMadigan in emails as"my friend"
when allegedly leaning on ComEdfor jobs and contracts so as to
conceal the identity of thespeaker.
(15:00):
The feds also have indicted long-time Madigan Chief of Staff Tim
Mapes for perjury based onstatements he made to
investigators.
That's an apparent effort topressure Mapes to provide
information on Madigan.
Mike Madigan did not respond tointerview requests for this
podcast series.
Now this is a great time toremind you that while some of
those interviewed in thispodcast state these allegations
(15:23):
as fact, the federal chargeshave not yet gone to court.
Chicago Tribune's Ray Long.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
What the prosecution's going to have to
try to say in exchange ComEd gotfavorable treatment from the
speaker.
Now ComEd has already admittedto putting people on the payroll
and doing things for Madigan inhopes of, of him looking
favorably upon them.
(15:50):
Um, and they paid a$200 millionfine, the biggest in the
Northern District, ever.
And so the company has admittedthis, but they have a deferred
prosecution agreement basicallythat says, uh, uh, you're on the
hook for one count of briberyunless you cooperate with us for
(16:13):
the next three years.
And if you do cooperate, thatcount goes away, but you still
have to pay that big fine.
And so we have the question ofwhether ComEd and the U.S.
Attorney's office and all of thecooperation that's going on with
regard to this case can pull inSpeaker Madigan, ex-speaker
Madigan now.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The arrests and the indictments in 2019 may have
gotten attention, but thisfederal case actually goes back
many years to 2014.
Here's BGA's investigativereporter, David Kidwell, who was
writing about this back in 2014for the Tribune.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
They ran a wire on Mike Madigan toward the end of
our series.
They had a former alderman bythe name of Daniel Solis.
He's he was involved in the inthe Ed Burke corruption trial.
What's so interesting about thisthere are parallel cases.
Ed Burke, who's the dean of CityCouncil who came up in the same
sort of patronage system, themost powerful alderman in the
city of Chicago while MikeMadigan is the most powerful
(17:16):
politician in the state ofIllinois.
They both have these propertytax appeal businesses, uh, and
they ran this former alderman,Daniel Solis, they strapped a
wire.
He was wearing a wire for twoyears and they got Ed Burke to
make the deal out loud.
There's a tape recording of EdBurke saying,"hey, you know, you
hire me and I'll do this for youat City Hall." He said it out
(17:37):
loud.
He got indicted.
They did the same thing withMike Madigan.
This former alderman, DanielSolis, went in with a potential
client and was trying to talk,talk this deal through and Mike
Madigan, wasn't having any ofit.
He would tout his firm he'd say,hey, yeah, we do good work.
He would never commit to thedeal.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
So without Madigan on tape admitting to any
wrongdoing, how will the fedsbuild a case?
Again, David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
In my experience in covering federal corruption
cases, the feds typically have,they have a playbook and there
are typically two ways that theymake these cases.
One of them is to strap a wireon somebody and send them in and
try to get them to getpoliticians to incriminate
themselves.
(18:24):
They tried that on, on MikeMadigan as early as 2014.
It didn't work.
He didn't say the words, u h,because he doesn't have to.
The second way they do it isthey start picking off the
people around him, the peoplewho were in the room and
threatening them and theirfamilies and cajoling them into
entering cooperation agreements.
(18:45):
Commonwealth Edison has enteredinto a cooperation agreement.
It has not led to chargesagainst Mike Madigan yet, the
implication is there that anyone of these people could help
to implicate Mike Madigan, eventhough the charges have not come
yet.
(18:59):
Kidwell says it's all about patterns and practices.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
The property tax appeal business was a way for
him to gain his personal wealth,what he would typically do.
And we found case after case,after case after case.
It was an incredible coincidencethat they would hire Madigan and
Getzendanner at a time when theywere seeking something from the
state that they got.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Mike Madigan stepped down from his 22nd district seat
earlier this year.
And he has retired from publicoffice, from public life.
Determined to wait it out, tofade away from scrutiny.
And that might be a winningstrategy.
The U.S.
Attorney, John Lausch, theprosecutor in charge of the
ComED bribery scandal, is on ashort leash.
WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I mean the top prosecutor in Chicago got an
extended leave to continue onhis role when the new president
was pretty upfront in sayingthat he didn't want him around
anymore.
And he got this leave to stickaround, to continue his work on
essentially a very sprawlingcorruption probe that seems to
be looking at, if not targeting,Madigan.
(20:04):
And here we are almost a yearinto his, his extended term and
there's still no charge againstMadigan.
I think it's a valid question toask is Lausch facing some
pressure here to show someresults and bring a charge
against Madigan, given that hewas allowed to stick around by
(20:24):
Senator Durbin asking Biden to,to let him stick around.
(20:28):
BGA's David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
He has left.
Has left the public sphere.
Um, and, and the speculation ishe did that to weaken them.
What, what the hope is is thatthey're less likely to come
after a guy who's no longer inpublic office, thinking, hey,
the job's done, he's gone.
Um, and so, uh, we'll see how itplays out.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Many others involved in the scandal don't have that
option.
So far, the federalinvestigation has led to several
charges against lobbyists andComEd officials.
But the indictments also referto former aldermen, precinct
captains, other politicalconsultants, and a ComEd
executive, Fidel Marquez, whopled guilty to bribery charges.
It cost ComEd$200 million infines, as well as several top
(21:16):
ComEd executives their jobs.
Others are awaiting trial.
And the ComEd scandal cost MikeMadigan the political power he
built and maintained for nearly50 years.
But ask veteran politicianswhether Madigan will be indicted
and the answer isn't clear.
Here's former governor JimEdgar.
(21:32):
I will be more surprised than not if he gets indicted.
Mike Madigan always worriedabout the law and not stepping
over it.
I mean, he, he, he took a lot ofmeasures to make sure that he
did not do something that wasillegal.
Now that's not to say that hedidn't maybe make a mistake or
if he goes to a jury trial, hecould be innocent, but they'll
(21:54):
find him guilty.
Politician doesn't win with ajury trial.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
And again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
(22:00):
I don't think we have the full picture yet on the downfall of
Michael Madigan.
And we might not until we seewhat the charges are if there
are charges at all.
So right now I think Madigan'slegacy is his longevity and his
ability to build an enterprisewith a wide-ranging power that
hasn't been matched and probablywon't be matched in my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Chicago Tribune's Ray long is actually writing a book
on Mike Madigan.
It's coming out in 2022.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
Look, I don't think they're going to get him.
We know that he is humiliated bythe, by the situation that took
him down in Springfield.
But the reality is that until,or unless there is some kind of
indictment, he's not going to goout as a totally corrupt guy.
(22:51):
He's, he's going to be seen forthe long winning streak, the 36
years that he served as speaker.
It's hard to just say, Hey,Madigan's a corrupt guy, but
there are a lot of fingerspointing in his, in the
direction.
And the ComEd case, the casewhere ComEd admitted to doing
(23:12):
things that were wrong to winMike Madigan's favor is probably
the biggest thing that's hangingover his head right now.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Michael J.
Madigan is the longest servingstatehouse speaker in U.S.
History.
And after all we learned abouthis career through this
five-part series, it's safe tosay that he's truly the most
powerful politician the state ofIllinois has ever seen.
But while his accomplishmentsare plenty, he's also been at
the center of somedisappointments.
His fiscal record on pensions,his ethical conflicts, his
(23:49):
indifference to racial inequityand the powerful patronage army
make it hard to call him a hero.
But on the flip side his hugewins for Democrats in the state
of Illinois and legislative winslike keeping the White Sox in
Chicago, m ake him far morecomplex than the cartoon
villain.
Politics is not black and white.
It's not a clear line.
It's an art form using shades ofgray, crafting narrative,
(24:11):
twisting arms w hile putting ona public face.
It's about following the rulesand sometimes making your own.
And it turns out in Illinoisthat Mike Madigan made his own
rules, but he didn't have thelast say.
The feds were watching andlistening.
And before long we'll find outtheir verdict on the Madigan
rule.
(24:41):
Well, that does it for the"Madigan Rule".
Podcast produced by me, JustinKaufmann, the executive
producer, David Greising, theBetter Government Association.
Special thanks to Steve Edwardsfor story editing and to Alex
Sugiura for the music.
A quick shout out to the"MadiganRules" series a nd t he Chicago
Tribune that both BGA reporters,David Kidwell and J ohn Chase
worked on 2010 to 2014.
(25:02):
For more information on BGAinvestigations or to listen to
all the episodes of thispodcast, you can go to
bettergov.org.
(25:07):
Clarification
prosecution agreement withfederal prosecutors, in which it
pledged not to contest the factsin a future bribery case against
the company.
An earlier version of thepodcast and transcript stated
Commonwealth Edison had pledguilty to bribery."
When Chicago representative La Shawn Ford
served under Mike Madigan andthe Democratic House Caucus, he
picked up some tips.
You don't,
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Uh, rush with your decisions.
You don't go off the cuff withyour answers.
You simply allow yourself toevaluate what's happening.
Um, and what's being asked ofyou.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
When BGA board member Heather Steans was in the state
Senate, she also learned alesson or two.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I think he very clearly understands how to wield
power and get people tounderstand how aligning
themselves with his interests orgoing to be in their long-term
interests.
And, in the rare occasion whensomebody was bucking that, you
see the consequences thathappened to that person, and it
(00:48):
also helps others stay alignedwith his interests,
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Madigan's skill as a politician and a legislator are
the stuff of legend.
Everyone seems to have a MikeMadigan story.
For much of his career, he wasarguably the most powerful
politician in Illinois.
As speaker of the Illinois Houseof Representatives, he
controlled which bills moved toa vote and which died on the
vine.
For years, he even controlledthe process that drew Illinois
(01:15):
legislative districts and aschair of the Illinois Democratic
Party, he decided whichcandidates received campaign
resources from the party andwhich didn't.
ProPublica's Mick Dumke saysMike Madigan had a simple
formula for maintaining his gripon power: I help you.
You help me.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
He can find a way, a representative in a safe
district that has a lot of, uh,affluent supporters, they can
raise a lot of money.
They can kick it over to one ofMadigan's campaign committees,
he can kick it to anothercampaign committee, they can
give it to another, uh,legislator in another district
that is struggling to hold on tohis or her seat.
(01:52):
This guy over the years hasmastered the art of
understanding what people wantand what they need and trying to
deliver for them.
Maybe they don't like how hedoes business on the big picture
thing, but a lot of them owetheir seats to him.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Then in a flash, the entire dynamic changed.
In January 2021, Mike Madiganstunned the political world when
he lost his bid for a 19th termas the speaker of the Illinois
House.
Those Democratic politicians whoowed everything to Madigan, they
decided they'd had enough.
Within days, he was no longerspeaker of the House.
(02:29):
Soon thereafter, he lost hisposition as a chairman of the
Illinois Democratic Party.
He even resigned his statelegislative seat, a seat he was
first elected to in 1970.
And here's the thing (02:39):
Mike Madigan didn't retire
triumphantly.
He retired under a cloud ofscandal.
And the big question now, oneveryone's mind, is whether or
not he will be indicted.
Hi, I'm Justin Kaufmann.
And this is final episode of"TheMadigan Rule," a podcast
(03:02):
produced by the BetterGovernment Association.
This is Episode Five (03:04):
Patterns and Practices.
If the story of Mike Madigan'suse of power is the stuff of
legend, then the story of MikeMadigan's political demise is
the stuff of Shakespeare (03:24):
An all powerful titan dethroned by
those closest to him, a masterdeal-maker undone by the very
game he dominated over decades.
The beginning of the end mayhave started with the sexual
harassment allegations involvingmembers of his political
organization, but his problemsreally began due to his
interactions with another kindof power player-- the electric
utility company, ComEd.
(03:44):
Madigan has been named as"PublicOfficial A" in a sprawling
federal corruption case.
Federal prosecutors alleged thatIllinois' major electric
utility, ComEd, bribed keyofficials to obtain favorable
legislation and utility ratesfrom the state of Illinois.
ComEd has already acknowledgedwrongdoing and many of Madigan's
closest associates have alreadybeen indicted.
(04:06):
The bottom line question in thisinvestigation seems pretty easy
to understand (04:09):
Did ComEd give jobs and favors to Mike Madigan
and his friends in exchange forfavorable legislation?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I mean, we're talking about people's utility bills.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
BGA's David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
I mean, it's the state's job to control these
utilities, major utilities.
I mean, everybody gets theirelectric bills, everybody knows
how expensive it is, and we'retalking about rate increases
that ComEd won.
So the allegation is that he wastrading controversial rate
increases in exchange forgetting his people jobs, which
is building his patronage armyand building his base of loyalty
(04:44):
and taking care of his, all thepeople who helped bring him
power.
I mean, they are supposed to bewatching the store for us.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Tony Arnold covers state government for Chicago's
public radio station, WBEZ.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
The claims about ComEd's bribery's scheme
wouldn't really exist withoutPublic Official A and it's clear
that Public Official A isMichael Madigan.
There's no doubt about that.
Without ComEd's own admission,that it engaged in a years-long
bribery scheme to influence thestate house, to get the
legislation that it wanted bygiving out contracts and jobs
(05:18):
with basically little to no workin exchange for that
legislation, that is all aboutMichael Madigan with the caveat
that Madigan faces no charges asI speak to you right now and has
not been accused of anywrongdoing and, in fact, denies
wrongdoing all together.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Mike Madigan says he never used his position to
influence any bill.
He just says that the ComEd'ssmart grid bill passed in 2011
was good legislation, bipartisaneven.
But it's hard not to sense apattern.
Again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Madigan's influence here within ComEd, a giant power
company in the country, itranged from all the way from the
board all the way down to theguys who come out and read your
meters.
It's literally called an oldfashioned patronage network in
the document.
It sounds like it's somethingfrom a different era.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's because Madigan himself comes from a
different era.
He came of age politicallyduring a time when politics
involved taking care of yoursupporters and voters, ensuring
your folks receive jobs in stateagencies, political campaigns
and other places.
It was just good politics.
It's how the Democratic machinehas built and maintained an iron
grip on Cook County politics fordecades.
(06:34):
Over time, the game's evolved,however.
It now includes lobbyists,consulting contracts and
campaign contributions.
Illinois State Representative LaShawn Ford.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Uh, you know, people became rich and wealthy off of
Mike Madigan's power.
He empowered people, thereforethey empowered him.
And so even though you havepeople that might think
negatively about his process,even Republicans supported him,
(07:04):
whether we know it or not,because there were Republicans
that became rich under MikeMadigan's tenure.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Major corporations also benefitted.
WBEZ's Tony A rnold s ays, ComEdlearned how to play the game, as
well as anyone.
They hired lobbyists in Illinoiswho had close connections to
Mike Madigan, many who wereformer members of his inner
circle.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
ComEd had one of the biggest, if not the biggest
lobbying enterprises inSpringfield among any big
company.
Take, take your pick of bigcompanies, uh, AT& T, Comcast.
Giants in their industries.
And ComEd had a bigger lobbyingforce than them to make sure
that they got what they wanted.
(07:44):
And when you look at thatlobbying force, vast majority of
them came from Madigan's networkof people.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
What some call good politics and effective lobbying
the feds see as a briberyscheme.
Plain and simple.
ComEd provided jobs in thecompany for friends and
political supporters of Madigan.
Madigan and his allies ensuredComEd received the utility
rates, regulation andlegislation that it wanted.
Madigan, again, denies anywrongdoing.
(08:10):
But what should we make of abribery scandal and a federal
investigation?
Will the patterns and practicesthat propelled Madigan to the
pinnacle of power proved to bethe source of his undoing or
will those same patterns andpractices shield him from a
federal indictment andconviction.
Speaker 7 (08:25):
It's a story about the power that friendship and
get-along-go-along politicsreally can produce in
Springfield.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That's Chicago Tribune's Ray Long.
To understand the story aroundMike Madigan and ComEd.
You have to go way back to hisearly days in the state house to
one of Madigan's contemporaries,the state representative from
Quincy, Illinois, his name (08:47):
Mike McClain.
Speaker 7 (08:51):
Really the the core of this goes back to the 1970s
when a guy named Mike McClainfrom Quincy, Illinois was a
state rep and he was, uh, afriend of Madigan's.
Madigan put him on hisleadership team when Madigan
first rose to the, uh, minorityleadership in 1981.
(09:14):
And Mike McClain then ran, um,in the next election, a
redistricting year on a map thathe helped put together and he
lost.
And then, uh, he went back anddid some law stuff.
And then eventually he movedback to Springfield to lobby and
he had this great connectionwith Mike Madigan.
(09:37):
They'd go out to eat.
They'd stay in touch over theyears and they'd really hit it
off.
And then people and corporationsrealized that McClain had this
great relationship with MikeMadigan and they wanted McClain
to be their, their pitch man,their lobbyist, their hired gun.
(09:57):
And so he became more powerfuland he would be seen a lot of
times just sitting outside of,of Madigan's office and he'd be
holding court.
And there'd be a lot of, uh,young, former staffers turned
lobbyists out there, chatting upMcClain to learn the wisdom of
the day.
And, and McClain also was theone who, who, uh, had so much
(10:19):
access to, to Madigan that hecould, uh, explain what was
going on in the grander pictureof things.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And for decades, this was the practice until the
middle of May 2019.
In the months before the FBI hadpublicly rated the offices of
powerful Chicago Alderman EdBurke.
But in May, 2019, the federalgovernment raided the office of
Mike McClain and other Madiganassociates without much notice.
The Tribune didn't report on theraid until two months later.
(10:46):
Again, R ay Long.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
They were quiet raids.
Unlike Ed Burke, where they puta butcher paper on the windows
and were running in and out withboxes at City Hall.
People didn't know about this.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
The feds revealed that lobbyists were using ComEd
to funnel payments to KevinQuinn.
Quinn was the brother oflongtime 13th Ward Alderman
Marty Quinn, and the man who wasaccused of sexually harassing
Alaina Hampton, which we talkedabout last episode.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
McClain had orchestrated, uh, having other
lobbyists who had ties withComEd or ties with Madigan gave,
you know, checks monthly checksto Kevin Quinn to help him to
get by.
This started the same month thatthat Madigan said I've got to do
better, I, I didn't do enough onsexual harassment, put a letter
(11:36):
in the paper saying I shouldhave done more.
The Madigan folks said, thespeaker didn't know this was
going on, but the reason itlooked bad, it was because all
of his tight circle of friendswere also giving checks to Kevin
Quinn, the guy that he cutloose.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
The federal raids revealed more than just evidence
of under the table payments.
Again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
McClain, unlike Madigan, likes to use email.
And those emails of McClain'shave shown everything from
editing an inaugural speech thatMadigan gave-- a lobbyist edited
a speech that the house speakergave-- to a different email
where McClain is going to batfor a state employee from
(12:20):
downstate Illinois who has kepthis mouth shut about a rape in
Champaign.
And we still don't have anyinformation about what that's
about, but the fact is that oneof Madigan's, you know,
Madigan's closest aide knowsabout something here.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
The behavior of Mike McClain is kind of like the
antithesis of what Mike Madiganwould do.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Illinois Public Radio reporter Hannah Meisel.
Speaker 8 (12:44):
And I am certain that when he got wind of very
explicit ways in which McClainwas trying to throw around his
influence, vis-a-vis thespeaker, he was probably pretty
damn upset.
Because it's like the oppositeof the kind of like operating in
the shadows playbook that hasgiven the speaker all of his
(13:06):
strength.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Soon thereafter, a federal grand jury brought
indictments against Mike McClainand other lobbyists, including
John Hooker, who once served asa ComEd executive
vice-president, and Jay Doherty,who was also the president of
the City Club of Chicago.
They also issued a slew ofindictments against top ComEd
executives, including CEO AnnePramaggiore.
Madigan denied knowing anythingabout the ComEd checks, the
(13:27):
ghost payrolling or thelobbyists.
He said, if that was happening,quote, it was never made known
to me.
Former Illinois Republican PartyChair Pat Brady finds that hard
to believe.
Speaker 9 (13:38):
When you're under a potential criminal indictment
and you're trying to act likeyou didn't know anything was
going on when you are asdisciplined as everybody knows
he was.
And you try and say, oh, Ididn't know that happened.
And no, that conversation didn'thappen.
And I wasn't aware of thatlegislation when you've prided
yourself for decades on beingthe guy that read everything and
everything's going on.
It's kind of the the Ken Lay,Enron defense..
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Again, Hannah Meisel.
Speaker 8 (14:01):
That's so Springfield.
That's how the operation works.
It is the steady stable kind ofbenign things like utilities
that have so much power.
And it's very reflective ofMadigan too.
Madigan's not flashy.
He is very quiet, fastidious.
And so, of course, he knows thepower he pedals and I mean, he
(14:22):
built it.
He knows what he's doing.
Does he necessarily know aboutevery single thing that goes on?
No, you know, when you're at thetop of an organization, you
don't know what all goes on.
And you know, you also buildmechanisms in where you are
shielded from a directknowledge.
(14:40):
In ComEd's deferred prosecution agreement, the
federal government lays out thecharges.
Some of the allegations rangefrom no-work jobs for Madigan
insiders paid as quote, ComEdconsultants, to lobbyist Mike
McClain continuing to refer toMadigan in emails as"my friend"
when allegedly leaning on ComEdfor jobs and contracts so as to
conceal the identity of thespeaker.
(15:00):
The feds also have indicted long-time Madigan Chief of Staff Tim
Mapes for perjury based onstatements he made to
investigators.
That's an apparent effort topressure Mapes to provide
information on Madigan.
Mike Madigan did not respond tointerview requests for this
podcast series.
Now this is a great time toremind you that while some of
those interviewed in thispodcast state these allegations
(15:23):
as fact, the federal chargeshave not yet gone to court.
Chicago Tribune's Ray Long.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
What the prosecution's going to have to
try to say in exchange ComEd gotfavorable treatment from the
speaker.
Now ComEd has already admittedto putting people on the payroll
and doing things for Madigan inhopes of, of him looking
favorably upon them.
(15:50):
Um, and they paid a$200 millionfine, the biggest in the
Northern District, ever.
And so the company has admittedthis, but they have a deferred
prosecution agreement basicallythat says, uh, uh, you're on the
hook for one count of briberyunless you cooperate with us for
(16:13):
the next three years.
And if you do cooperate, thatcount goes away, but you still
have to pay that big fine.
And so we have the question ofwhether ComEd and the U.S.
Attorney's office and all of thecooperation that's going on with
regard to this case can pull inSpeaker Madigan, ex-speaker
Madigan now.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The arrests and the indictments in 2019 may have
gotten attention, but thisfederal case actually goes back
many years to 2014.
Here's BGA's investigativereporter, David Kidwell, who was
writing about this back in 2014for the Tribune.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
They ran a wire on Mike Madigan toward the end of
our series.
They had a former alderman bythe name of Daniel Solis.
He's he was involved in the inthe Ed Burke corruption trial.
What's so interesting about thisthere are parallel cases.
Ed Burke, who's the dean of CityCouncil who came up in the same
sort of patronage system, themost powerful alderman in the
city of Chicago while MikeMadigan is the most powerful
(17:16):
politician in the state ofIllinois.
They both have these propertytax appeal businesses, uh, and
they ran this former alderman,Daniel Solis, they strapped a
wire.
He was wearing a wire for twoyears and they got Ed Burke to
make the deal out loud.
There's a tape recording of EdBurke saying,"hey, you know, you
hire me and I'll do this for youat City Hall." He said it out
(17:37):
loud.
He got indicted.
They did the same thing withMike Madigan.
This former alderman, DanielSolis, went in with a potential
client and was trying to talk,talk this deal through and Mike
Madigan, wasn't having any ofit.
He would tout his firm he'd say,hey, yeah, we do good work.
He would never commit to thedeal.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
So without Madigan on tape admitting to any
wrongdoing, how will the fedsbuild a case?
Again, David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
In my experience in covering federal corruption
cases, the feds typically have,they have a playbook and there
are typically two ways that theymake these cases.
One of them is to strap a wireon somebody and send them in and
try to get them to getpoliticians to incriminate
themselves.
(18:24):
They tried that on, on MikeMadigan as early as 2014.
It didn't work.
He didn't say the words, u h,because he doesn't have to.
The second way they do it isthey start picking off the
people around him, the peoplewho were in the room and
threatening them and theirfamilies and cajoling them into
entering cooperation agreements.
(18:45):
Commonwealth Edison has enteredinto a cooperation agreement.
It has not led to chargesagainst Mike Madigan yet, the
implication is there that anyone of these people could help
to implicate Mike Madigan, eventhough the charges have not come
yet.
(18:59):
Kidwell says it's all about patterns and practices.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
The property tax appeal business was a way for
him to gain his personal wealth,what he would typically do.
And we found case after case,after case after case.
It was an incredible coincidencethat they would hire Madigan and
Getzendanner at a time when theywere seeking something from the
state that they got.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Mike Madigan stepped down from his 22nd district seat
earlier this year.
And he has retired from publicoffice, from public life.
Determined to wait it out, tofade away from scrutiny.
And that might be a winningstrategy.
The U.S.
Attorney, John Lausch, theprosecutor in charge of the
ComED bribery scandal, is on ashort leash.
WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I mean the top prosecutor in Chicago got an
extended leave to continue onhis role when the new president
was pretty upfront in sayingthat he didn't want him around
anymore.
And he got this leave to stickaround, to continue his work on
essentially a very sprawlingcorruption probe that seems to
be looking at, if not targeting,Madigan.
(20:04):
And here we are almost a yearinto his, his extended term and
there's still no charge againstMadigan.
I think it's a valid question toask is Lausch facing some
pressure here to show someresults and bring a charge
against Madigan, given that hewas allowed to stick around by
(20:24):
Senator Durbin asking Biden to,to let him stick around.
(20:28):
BGA's David Kidwell.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
He has left.
Has left the public sphere.
Um, and, and the speculation ishe did that to weaken them.
What, what the hope is is thatthey're less likely to come
after a guy who's no longer inpublic office, thinking, hey,
the job's done, he's gone.
Um, and so, uh, we'll see how itplays out.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Many others involved in the scandal don't have that
option.
So far, the federalinvestigation has led to several
charges against lobbyists andComEd officials.
But the indictments also referto former aldermen, precinct
captains, other politicalconsultants, and a ComEd
executive, Fidel Marquez, whopled guilty to bribery charges.
It cost ComEd$200 million infines, as well as several top
(21:16):
ComEd executives their jobs.
Others are awaiting trial.
And the ComEd scandal cost MikeMadigan the political power he
built and maintained for nearly50 years.
But ask veteran politicianswhether Madigan will be indicted
and the answer isn't clear.
Here's former governor JimEdgar.
(21:32):
I will be more surprised than not if he gets indicted.
Mike Madigan always worriedabout the law and not stepping
over it.
I mean, he, he, he took a lot ofmeasures to make sure that he
did not do something that wasillegal.
Now that's not to say that hedidn't maybe make a mistake or
if he goes to a jury trial, hecould be innocent, but they'll
(21:54):
find him guilty.
Politician doesn't win with ajury trial.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
And again, WBEZ's Tony Arnold.
(22:00):
I don't think we have the full picture yet on the downfall of
Michael Madigan.
And we might not until we seewhat the charges are if there
are charges at all.
So right now I think Madigan'slegacy is his longevity and his
ability to build an enterprisewith a wide-ranging power that
hasn't been matched and probablywon't be matched in my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Chicago Tribune's Ray long is actually writing a book
on Mike Madigan.
It's coming out in 2022.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
Look, I don't think they're going to get him.
We know that he is humiliated bythe, by the situation that took
him down in Springfield.
But the reality is that until,or unless there is some kind of
indictment, he's not going to goout as a totally corrupt guy.
(22:51):
He's, he's going to be seen forthe long winning streak, the 36
years that he served as speaker.
It's hard to just say, Hey,Madigan's a corrupt guy, but
there are a lot of fingerspointing in his, in the
direction.
And the ComEd case, the casewhere ComEd admitted to doing
(23:12):
things that were wrong to winMike Madigan's favor is probably
the biggest thing that's hangingover his head right now.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Michael J.
Madigan is the longest servingstatehouse speaker in U.S.
History.
And after all we learned abouthis career through this
five-part series, it's safe tosay that he's truly the most
powerful politician the state ofIllinois has ever seen.
But while his accomplishmentsare plenty, he's also been at
the center of somedisappointments.
His fiscal record on pensions,his ethical conflicts, his
(23:49):
indifference to racial inequityand the powerful patronage army
make it hard to call him a hero.
But on the flip side his hugewins for Democrats in the state
of Illinois and legislative winslike keeping the White Sox in
Chicago, m ake him far morecomplex than the cartoon
villain.
Politics is not black and white.
It's not a clear line.
It's an art form using shades ofgray, crafting narrative,
(24:11):
twisting arms w hile putting ona public face.
It's about following the rulesand sometimes making your own.
And it turns out in Illinoisthat Mike Madigan made his own
rules, but he didn't have thelast say.
The feds were watching andlistening.
And before long we'll find outtheir verdict on the Madigan
rule.
(24:41):
Well, that does it for the"Madigan Rule".
Podcast produced by me, JustinKaufmann, the executive
producer, David Greising, theBetter Government Association.
Special thanks to Steve Edwardsfor story editing and to Alex
Sugiura for the music.
A quick shout out to the"MadiganRules" series a nd t he Chicago
Tribune that both BGA reporters,David Kidwell and J ohn Chase
worked on 2010 to 2014.
(25:02):
For more information on BGAinvestigations or to listen to
all the episodes of thispodcast, you can go to
bettergov.org.
(25:07):
Clarification
prosecution agreement withfederal prosecutors, in which it
pledged not to contest the factsin a future bribery case against
the company.
An earlier version of thepodcast and transcript stated
Commonwealth Edison had pledguilty to bribery."
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