Jury in Madigan corruption trial sees speaker's clout list of recommended hires for Illinois Gov. Pritzker administration

Jason Meisner and Megan Crepeau, Chicago Tribune on Dec 4, 2024

Published in News & Features

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CHICAGO — Then-powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan was intimately involved in the process of recommending people to sit on state board and commissions and kept a running list that eventually totaled 91 names after JB Pritzker won the election for governor in 2018, Madigan’s ex-chief of staff testified Wednesday.

Madigan would have his staffers keep close tabs on which seats were coming open and would routinely make recommendations about who should fill them, Jessica Basham, who left the speaker’s office in 2021 and is now a lobbyist, told jurors in her ex-boss’ corruption trial.

Prosecutors allege Madigan planned to recommend then-Ald. Daniel Solis to a lucrative board seat in exchange for Solis’ help getting business for Madigan’s private law firm. Unbeknownst to Madigan, Solis was wearing a wire for the FBI, and his request for the recommendation was part of an FBI ruse.

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces a wide array of racketeering charges alleging he used his significant political and governmental power to execute a number of corrupt schemes.

He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors on Wednesday displayed internal memos about state boards and commissions as well as lists of Madigan’s recommendations to Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat who took office in 2019. Solis did not appear on the lists – likely because in January 2019, his cooperation with federal investigators had become publicly known.

But jurors have previously watched undercover video in which Solis asked Madigan for help getting on a state board that paid at least $100,000, including either the Labor Relations Board or the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Prosecutors have also presented evidence that Madigan sent Solis information about state boards and commissions in response.

The indictment against Madigan alleges he sat down with Pritzker in December 2018 and mentioned Solis as a candidate for a board. Prosecutors said Wednesday that they intend to call U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield) to the stand, who is expected to testify about that meeting. Budzinski was a key Pritzker aide before being seated in Congress.

Among the names on Madigan’s recommendation list was Madigan’s wife Shirley, who served on the Illinois Arts Council, and Carrie Zalewski, the wife of state Rep. Michael Zalewski, who was appointed to head the Illinois Commerce Commission, which determines rates that can be charged by utilities like Commonwealth Edison.

Madigan and McClain are charged with getting utility giant ComEd to hire Zalewski’s father, former Ald. Michael Zalewski Sr., as a no-work subcontractor, which prosecutors allege ComEd did to sway Madigan’s support for utility-friendly legislation.

Also on Madigan’s list was Carol Sente, a former Democratic state representative who was recommended for a “position at DCEO (not Director).”

Sente testified for the prosecution earlier in Madigan’s trial about the workings of the General Assembly and the power Madigan wielded there.

On cross-examination, Basham was shown notes she made in 2019 that tracked which of Madigan’s 91 recommendations for state boards and other positions in Pritzker’s administration were successful. Only about 47 percent of the people Madigan suggested actually were named to state boards, according to Basham’s notes.

Defense attorneys also took the chance to boost Madigan’s image for jurors, eliciting testimony from Basham about his work ethic and values.

“I don’t think anybody works harder than Mike Madigan,” she said.

The trial, which began Oct. 8, might be coming to a speedier end than anticipated. Prosecutors said Wednesday they plan to wrap up their case in chief next week, though attorneys have discussed the potential for last-minute scheduling changes that could alter that estimate.

Solis, meanwhile, left the stand Tuesday after lengthy testimony about his undercover recordings.

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