Closing arguments in ComEd bribery trial set for Monday
By HANNAH MEISEL
Capitol News Illinois
hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com
CHICAGO – After nearly six weeks, a federal jury has heard almost all the evidence in the bribery trial of three ex-lobbyists for electric utility Commonwealth Edison and its former CEO who are accused of bribing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Prosecutors allege the four arranged for Madigan allies to get jobs and contracts with ComEd in exchange for the powerful speaker’s help with their legislation in Springfield. Defendants contend they were merely engaging in above-board lobbying.
Attorneys for three of the four defendants rested their case Wednesday afternoon, while the marquee defendant in the case, Madigan confidant and longtime ComEd lobbyist Mike McClain, indicated he would not be calling any witnesses. The jury will begin hearing closing arguments on Monday.
On Thursday, prosecutors and defense lawyers will negotiate over jury instructions, which could be key to the outcome of the case.
“I am optimistic, perhaps more so than you guys, that it will be a smooth instruction conference,” Judge Harry Leinenweber quipped to the parties after the jury had been sent home Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, longtime ComEd lobbyist John Hooker finished hours of testimony that had the jury laughing when he underwent questioning from his own attorney, followed by a withering cross-examination from the government.
At one point during questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz, Hooker contradicted the testimony of codefendant Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd’s former CEO. At issue was a wiretapped call featuring Hooker and former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, recorded in the third month of Marquez’s cooperation with the government in April 2019.
In the call, Hooker related to Marquez that he’d spoken with Pramaggiore about hiring Madigan’s former chief of staff, who the speaker had been forced to fire the previous year after sexual harassment allegations. At the time, Pramaggiore had already been in her new role at ComEd’s parent company, Exelon, for nearly a year.
“I was talking with Anne and she told me that she’s looking at…bringing Mapes on,” Hooker told Marquez. “Now Mapes would work with her, cause she says, ‘I wanted to kinda, well let’s pay him but hide his contract in someone else’s.’”
On Tuesday, Pramaggiore confirmed that she had been considering hiring Mapes for a national project she was working on, although she ultimately never did. However, she claimed she never told Hooker she wanted to “hide” Mapes’ contract in a subcontracting arrangement. Subcontracting is not illegal.
“No, I have no recollection of having a conversation like that with Mr. Hooker,” Pramaggiore said.
But one day later, Hooker was confronted with that same call.
“Did you hear Ms. Pramaggiore testify yesterday that that conversation didn’t happen?” Schwartz asked Hooker. “Was Ms. Pramaggiore telling the truth about that?”
Hooker replied that “to the best of my recollection,” he and Pramaggiore did talk about putting Mapes on a consulting contract with McClain, as he’d said in the recorded phone call.
“You wouldn’t have lied to Mr. Marquez about what Ms. Pramaggiore told you, would you?” Schwartz asked.
“No, I would not lie,” Hooker said.
The jury has at this point heard from nearly 50 witnesses, dozens of recordings from wiretapped phone calls, four videos secretly recorded by Marquez, and hundreds of emails and texts. Both the government and defense have used them to educate the jury on the nature of lobbying and the reality of political work in Illinois. And, as McClain attorney Patrick Cotter warned them in his opening arguments, “some of it is not pretty.”
“Why?” Cotter said in mid-March when the trial began. “Because politics…can be raw, politics can be ugly.”
But in addition, the defense has also emphasized the monotony, hard work and frustration that goes into lobbying for the sorts of big-ticket legislation at issue in the case. Numerous witnesses testified that it took two to three years for two of the biggest bills supported by ComEd in the last decade or so to evolve from ideas on paper into law.
And sometimes, Cotter emphasized Wednesday, the brass tacks of politics and strategy in Springfield can be rather boring, if not simplistic: The thing Madigan valued most in politics was remaining speaker of the Illinois House.
“Mr. Hooker, after all those decades [of lobbying in Springfield]…did you ever, at any point, believe it was possible that Speaker Madigan would agree to trade his support for ComEd legislation in exchange for some jobs for some people he recommended?” Cotter asked. “Did you ever believe that was possible?”
Hooker said he did not.
“Did you ever believe for one minute that Speaker Madigan would risk his speakership and his power to get a few more people hired at ComEd…on a bill that the whole state was watching?” Cotter asked, his voice rising.
Again, Hooker said he did not.
Cotter asked if Hooker would’ve ever advised ComEd to bribe Madigan – “did you think that was a good idea?”
No, Hooker said.
“It was crazy, wasn’t it?” Cotter said.
“It’s a bad idea,” Hooker said.
The fourth defendant in the case, ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty, only called one witness in his case: The Rev. Monsignor Kenneth Velo, who testified he wouldn’t be in the courtroom as Doherty’s sole character witness “if I didn’t think of John as a man of complete integrity.”
The two knew each other from Chicago’s philanthropic scene, overlapping on missions such as Misericordia and the Big Shoulders Fund. Velo, an ordained Catholic priest, is also an administrator at DePaul University.
The jury will return for closing arguments in the trial at 10 a.m. Monday.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations 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.
Local News
Park Lawn opens day program in Palos Heights
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Promoting inclusion and individuality, Park Lawn provides services that promote choice and access to community living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The mission behind the organization focuses on encouraging people with disabilities to discover their passion, to take pride in their accomplishments, to live more independently and to…
EPCHS adds Emmy-winning actor Gary Sievers to Hall of Fame
Spread the loveEvergreen Park Community High School has added a name to its list of Hall of Famers. Gary Sievers, a 1968 EPCHS graduate who became well-known for his acting, public speaking, work in radio and television, community service, civic leadership and teaching, was posthumously inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame during the Honors…
Worth vehicle sticker applications ‘lost’ in the mail
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Worth Village Clerk Bonnie Price said that even though application forms for village vehicle stickers were sent out to the post office last month residents were still waiting to receive those applications. “We have been doing this for 15 years,” Price said during the Worth Village Board meeting May 7. “This…
Hunt killer in ‘drifting’ slaying
Spread the love. Police seek witnesses, video of 59/Western . By Tim Hadac Police are appealing to the public to help find those responsible for the slaying of a 20-year-old West Englewood man during a takeover of the intersection at 59th and Western at 3:21 a.m. Sunday, May 5. The victim–identified as Guillermo “Memito” Caballero…
Mom gets 20 years in babies’ murder
Spread the love. Stuffed her newborn twin boys in an alley garbage cart . By Tim Hadac The books closed this month on a double murder that shocked and sickened many in the Garfield Ridge area more than 20 years ago. Antoinette Briley, 44, pled guilty on May 7 to murdering her twin baby boys…
Ladies lead the way to stylish Kentucky Derby fun
Spread the love As a tip of the cap–so to speak–to the Kentucky Derby, acclaimed chef Gloria Hafer (second from right) visited the Garfield Ridge Satellite Senior Center last week to cook a burgoo (a thick stew traditionally popular in the South). For an added bit of fun, the center had a derby contest. Among…
Seek donations for charity at Two Holy Martyrs
Spread the love. By Tim Hadac The Society of St. Vincent de Paul chapter at Two Holy Martyrs Parish will host a bundle weekend on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. Volunteers will staff two trailers at the St. Rene Goupil Church parking lot, 64th and New England, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday…
Palos Park finance director heading to Westmont
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Palos Park was in good hands with Altic. Finance director/treasurer Allen Altic is leaving the village later this month to take a similar position in Westmont, just a few miles from his home in Downers Grove. Altic was an assistant finance director in Bloomingdale from 2012 to 2020, when he…
Orland Township hosting free senior health fair
Spread the loveOrland Township and Supervisor Paul O’Grady are hosting a senior health fair to provide free health services and information to senior citizens on Tuesday, May 21, from 9 a.m. until noon at Orland Township, located at 14807 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park. The Senior Health Fair is an excellent opportunity for seniors to…
Neighbors
Moraine Valley’s Tom Diaz earns All-Conference honors
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Tom Diaz is a freshman at Moraine Valley Community College, and is making big strides with their cross country team. Diaz is also a 2021 graduate of Argo Community High School, and is the first Argonaut to earn All Region honors while pursuing his cross country career. MVCC’s Men’s an&…
Summit native marks decade with the Harlem Globetrotters
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Saul White Jr., better known as Flip White to basketball fans, has been with the famed Harlem Globetrotters for just over 10 years, and has no intention of stopping the entertainment he provides for his fans. White, who grew up in Summit, attended Wharton School and Graves Junior High (now…
A heavenly sound
Spread the love In what is arguably the most ornate and beautiful house of worship on the Southwest Side—St. Joseph Church in Back of the Yards–the Polonijna Orkiestra Chicago played liturgical music selections last Sunday. Founded in 2011, the orchestra is designed to teach young musicians Polish music and culture. St. Joseph parishioner Konrad Pawelek…
Crime images spark outrage in Gage Park
Spread the loveRobbed at gunpoint in his own garage By Tim Hadac Home-security camera images of a 48-year-old Gage Park man being robbed at gunpoint in his own garage outraged a number of Southwest Siders this week. Images showed the man driving his car down the alley in the 5500 block of South Richmond at…
Here’s the skinny: Trimmed-down Lawrence helps Oak Lawn top Evergreen
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Oak Lawn senior basketball player Davion Lawrence is 45 pounds lighter than he was last season, but insists his eating habits are the same. He has, however, changed up his training habits. Heading into football last fall, Lawrence and a few fellow seniors wanted to get in the…
College Report: McAuley grad Swiatek plays hero for St. Francis
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Hannah Swiatek comes off the bench for the University of St. Francis and is averaging 3.1 points per game. But when called on for the biggest shot of her college career, the 5-foot-8 junior guard from Oak Lawn delivered. Swiatek scored the winning basket in a wild 99-97…
Evans, Adams lead Argo past Shepard on Alumni Night
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Corrspondent Argo’s Davonte Evans and Will Adams both knew it was just a matter of time before the Argonauts would find a way to beat Shepard. That time came in the third quarter of a South Suburban Red matchup, when Argo outscored Shepard en rout to a 61-52 on Jan.…
Cruz booted from SD 229 school board in Oak Lawn
Spread the loveBy Dermot Connolly There is a vacancy on the Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 School Board, after members voted 6-1 last week to remove Robert Cruz for allegedly violating his oath of office, school board policy and state statutes. Cruz, a property developer, was elected to the District 229 board in…
Tax exemptions will be automatic, Kaegi says
Spread the loveFrom staff reports In response to the ongoing pandemic, the Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office will continue the automatic renewal of the Senior Freeze, Veterans with Disabilities and Persons with Disabilities Exemptions. The Homeowner and Senior Exemptions will continue to auto-renew every year. If a homeowner received any of these five exemptions…