CHICAGO — After nearly three months, more than 60 witnesses and a surprising turn on the stand from the defendant himself, the evidence phase of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption trial has drawn to a close.

Madigan’s attorneys formally rested Thursday morning, followed by a brief rebuttal case from prosecutors, who then also rested. Jurors were set to return Wednesday to begin hearing instructions and closing arguments, which will stretch over at least three days.

The trial of Madigan, the former leader of the state Democratic Party, and his co-defendant, longtime confidant Michael McClain, represents the apex of a yearslong federal corruption investigation that has already resulted in convictions for several other Madigan-adjacent figures over the past few years.

But Madigan, who for decades was considered the most powerful person in Illinois politics, is inarguably the biggest fish.

The prosecution featured nearly 150 wiretapped phone calls and undercover videos as well as testimony from two now-legendary FBI moles: former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez and, most memorably, ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, who began cooperating with the government after being confronted with evidence of his own salacious misdeeds.

The defense put on a dozen witnesses, including Madigan himself, who regaled the jury with tales from his strict, Southwest Side Irish Catholic upbringing and flatly denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors, however, were able to confront him on cross-examination about his many statements on the government’s wiretaps, including one where he allegedly laughed that some of his associates had “made out like bandits.”

The landmark trial, which began with jury selection on Oct. 8, has been a fascinating dive into the inner workings of state politics as well as Madigan’s vaunted political machine.

It has also been a slog at times, with multiple interruptions for extended attorney arguments, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and a day of mourning for President Jimmy Carter. The sluggish pace was particularly evident during the defense case: Madigan’s attorneys started calling witnesses nearly a month ago — Dec. 19 — but there have been only six days of testimony since.

After Madigan left the stand Tuesday, the evidence continued to lurch to a conclusion. The jury was told to return later than usual on Thursday morning so lawyers had time to argue over outstanding issues, but in what has become routine in the complicated case, those arguments went overtime.

Attorneys sparred for nearly two hours about loose ends including jury instructions and proposed evidence in the prosecution’s rebuttal case. A further delay was incurred after the FBI, at the request of Madigan’s attorneys, sent out for a box of investigative notes at its headquarters on West Roosevelt Road for use during cross-examination of an agent.

The judge at one point proposed sending the jury to an early lunch, but that plan was scrapped. McClain, whose presence was waived, arrived in the middle of the discussions, and his lawyer asked for the record to reflect he was in court.

“Yes, the record should reflect he’s barely missed anything at all,” U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey said.

Jury deliberations would likely begin in earnest the week of Jan. 27. The jury will have to consider three months’ worth of evidence and sort through more than 100 pages of complex jury instructions before rendering a verdict.

Madigan, 82, a Southwest Side Democrat, and McClain, 77, of downstate Quincy, are charged in a 23-count indictment alleging that Madigan’s vaunted state and political operations were run like a criminal enterprise to increase his power and enrich himself and his associates.

In addition to alleging bribery schemes involving ComEd and AT&T Illinois, the indictment accuses Madigan of pressuring developers to hire the speaker’s law firm and trying to win business by secretly supporting legislation to transfer state-owned land in Chinatown to the city so developers could build a high-rise.

Before jurors returned to the box Thursday, Blakey rejected a renewed attempt by McClain to split the two cases from each other. Among other things, McClain’s attorneys argued Madigan’s turn on the witness stand opened the door to show jurors evidence harmful to McClain that otherwise would not have been introduced.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, noted that many of Madigan’s claims of innocence on the stand actually bolstered parts of McClain’s case.

Motions for severance are rarely granted, particularly at the late stage of a case, and as expected Blakey kept the two co-defendants tied together.

The final in-court witness for the defense was Heather Wier Vaught, Madigan’s onetime top legal counsel, who testified Wednesday that key legislation being pushed by ComEd and AT&T came amid a “political war” with then-Gov. Bruce Rauner and only passed after months of negotiations and compromise.

But Wier Vaught, who worked for the speaker’s office for more than a decade and rose to be the office’s top lawyer, was also cross-examined about her loyalty to Madigan and efforts to circle the wagons after the investigation into the speaker’s operation went public with a series of FBI raids in 2019.

Also Wednesday, the jury learned that if he were called to testify, Gov. JB Pritzker would say he has no recollection of a purported meeting with Madigan shortly after Pritzker’s election in 2018, or any discussion of Solis, the alderman-turned-FBI mole, getting a lucrative state board seat or his daughter getting other work.

“If called as a witness, Gov. JB Pritzker would testify that he does not recall meeting with Michael Madigan on Dec. 4, 2018, and he does not recall Madigan ever discussing or recommending Daniel Solis or Maya Solis, either orally or in writing, for any position on a state board or commission,” stated a defense stipulation read into the record.

That echoes a statement put out by Pritzker’s camp on the day Madigan was indicted nearly three years ago, saying he’d agreed to an interview with the feds, but “does not recall” Madigan ever asking him to consider Solis “for any position,” and that the administration has no record of the alleged recommendation.

Over the course of their case, Madigan’s team also called several other staffers, including David Ellis, Justin Cox and Craig Willert, as well as his former law partner, Vincent “Bud" Getzendanner.

But by far the most pivotal defense witness was Madigan himself, who, in a move that shocked Illinois political circles, as well as most court watchers and experts, took the witness stand last week to testify in his own defense.

Madigan painted a portrait of himself as a hardworking man of integrity, and a consensus-builder who encourages input from multiple channels before making a decision. He also told the jury repeatedly and emphatically under oath he is innocent of allegations that he betrayed his public office and traded official action for legal work and lucrative contracts for his associates.

But his testimony also opened the door to evidence that the judge had previously barred prosecutors from raising, including a potentially damaging wiretapped call where Madigan and McClain shared a laugh over how much money some of their associates had made for very little work.

“Some of these guys made out like bandits, Mike,” Madigan told McClain on the call, which was played for the jury during Madigan’s cross-examination earlier this week.

“That’s you laughing, sir, isn’t it?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu asked the former speaker, who acknowledged it was.

After the jury left on Thursday, everyone seemed relieved to have the evidence phase over.

Blakey chatted with the attorneys about last-minute jury instruction submissions and exhibits that would be put on a laptop for deliberations. When the judge asked if there were any physical exhibits going back to the jury, Madigan attorney Tom Breen held up a rolled-up poster he’d been carrying around during the day.

“That’s the defense playbook,” Bhachu joked. “The scheme.”

It actually was a printed map of Chicago’s 13th Ward, Madigan’s power base.

Before they recessed for the day, the lawyers asked Blakey, who like Madigan is a Notre Dame alum, if he had any thoughts on Monday’s college football championship, where the Fighting Irish are squaring off with Ohio State.

Blakey said he was taught “you should never bet on the Irish because God will punish me.”

“I’ll keep my thoughts to myself, although I’m sure everyone knows exactly how I want it to turn out,” the judge said.

The judge was also asked if he was going to the game, but he said tickets were hard to come by.

“Would you like some 50-yard-line tickets?” Breen joked.

Blakey laughed, saying, “I don’t know if that was a bribe or a gratuity, but I’m neither soliciting it nor accepting it.”

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