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“For Madigan and McClain, the corrupt way was the way it was,” federal prosecutor Diane MacArthur told jurors before Madigan’s attorney Dan Collins began his closings.
CHICAGO (CN) — Mike Madigan’s federal corruption trial inched closer to its conclusion on Friday as the government wrapped up its closing arguments and Madigan’s defense team began its own.
Prosecutor Julia Schwartz began the government’s closing arguments on Wednesday; she and fellow prosecutor Diane MacArthur methodically explained the elements of all 23 bribery, racketeering, fraud and conspiracy charges Madigan faces. They also made sure to note the six counts on which Madigan is joined by his longtime ally and now co-defendant, Mike McClain.
The basic accusation the government levies on the men is that they worked to leverage Madigan’s power as decadeslong Illinois House speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party for private gain. This included funneling jobs and benefits to Madigan’s allies and working with ex-Chicago alderman-turned-FBI informant Danny Solis to direct legal business to Madigan’s private law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. Prosecutors say Madigan was also willing to help Solis get a job with a state board in exchange for favors from the then-alderman.
“For Madigan and McClain, the corrupt way was the way it was,” MacArthur told the jurors in her final remarks on Friday morning.
Madigan’s defense attorney Dan Collins, when he began his own closing arguments Friday afternoon, rebutted that the government’s case wasn’t as strong as it would like the jurors to believe. He argued it relied on jurors’ cynicism regarding politicians to fill in evidentiary gaps.
Prosecutors showed jurors evidence that Madigan exerted great influence over the flow of legislation in the Illinois House and that the passage of legislation benefitting companies like ComEd and AT&T coincided with those companies arranging lucrative contracts or subcontracts for Madigan’s allies. But Collins claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to show a this-for-that relationship between Madigan’s conduct and the companies getting what they wanted.
Collins referenced Madigan’s nickname, “the sphinx,” to explain how he says the government sees the former speaker — “quiet, mysterious, a myth” — and to urge the jurors not to look at him the same way.
“Do not look at him as some mythical creature. See the man. See your fellow citizen,” Collins said.
The attorney instead painted Madigan as a working-class politician who cared most about working families and consumers and sought to help as many people as possible.
“‘When people ask for help, if possible, I try to help them.’ That’s Mike Madigan,” Collins told jurors.
Addressing the specific charges Madigan faces, Collins focused on only one: a conspiracy charge for purportedly backing AT&T Illinois’ legislative agenda in 2017 in exchange for the company arranging a $22,500 do-nothing consulting gig for ex-Democratic state Representative Eddie Acevedo. Jurors have seen evidence the company didn’t pay Acevedo directly but through the firm of lobbyist and Madigan associate Tom Cullen.
On the stand, Madigan testified that Acevedo approached him for help finding work in early 2017, having stepped down as a state representative that year. The former speaker said he passed Acevedo’s name to McClain, a veteran lobbyist in Springfield, but denied knowing about Acevedo’s arrangement with AT&T until learning about it as part of this case.
A major bill benefitting AT&T — making it easier for the company to suspend landline services in Illinois — passed through the state’s General Assembly at the end of May 2017. Acevedo accepted AT&T’s offer a month earlier. Collins argued the proximity of these events is misleading, saying that even into May, AT&T was still struggling to have the legislation passed.
In the meantime, Collins pointed out, Madigan’s office fought to include a 9-1-1 service reform bill with the legislation, which he said went against AT&T’s interests.
“That’s not good for AT&T. That’s a bad thing for AT&T,” Collins said.
Collins also pointed out that Acevedo initially — and, per witness testimony, angrily — turned down the company’s offer for $22,500. AT&T in turn resisted Acevedo’s efforts for a better-paying contract. Collins argued this showed Madigan didn’t control the nature of Acevedo’s arrangement with AT&T.
Jurors have also seen evidence that Acevedo did little to no work in exchange for his $22,500 — or, per the testimony of Tom Cullen, only “busy work” — but Collins laid the blame for that at Acevedo’s feet, not Madigan’s.
“That’s not on Mike,” Collins said.
Collins will continue closing arguments in Madigan’s defense on Monday. The attorney said he will address the charges involving energy company ComEd and those involving Solis. The ex-Chicago alderman and city zoning chair secretly assisted with the FBI’s investigation of Madigan from 2017 to 2018.
In one final dig at the prosecution, Collins addressed MacArthur’s comment in her closing arguments that Solis acted as a “walking microphone” for federal investigators. He alluded to how Solis agreed to work with the FBI as part of a deferred prosecution agreement on his own corruption allegations.
“He’s not simply a walking microphone; he’s a walking crime wave,” Collins said.
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