Government Corruption

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was convicted Wednesday of 10 counts of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud. Madigan was speaker for 36 years before he was replaced after the bribery investigation.

The week began with Michael Madigan’s attorneys insisting no one had the right to speak for the speaker — that Madigan was “ignorant” of what people said behind his back. His chief ally, Michael McClain, is on trial with him.

An attorney for Michael Madigan’s longtime friend and confidant Michael McClain, who is on trial with him, told jurors there is no evidence of an intention to exchange a favor for something else.

The opening statements kick off the trial of the longest-serving state House speaker in the country, and one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois history. The FBI has pursued Madigan for more than a decade, and the probe forced him from power in 2021.

When Michael McClain retired from lobbying in 2015, he told then-House Speaker Madigan he was “at the bridge with my musket standing with and for the Madigan family.”

Illinois politics can be difficult to understand. But there is help to be found in the new book, Illinois Politics: A Citizens’ Guide to Power, Politics, and Government.

Prosecutors have no plan to file a revised indictment against the disgraced former Illinois House speaker.

Timothy Mapes was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury as part of an effort to thwart the feds’ probe into former House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Primary meddling, dark money and self-funding loopholes help skew Illinois politics to favor moneyed candidates. But there are also solutions — like fighting big money with public funding of campaigns.

Madigan, the longtime Illinois House Speaker, is charged with bribery and conspiracy. A lawmaker wants to ban his portrait from the House.