Madigan's 'bandits' comment barred from trial again
A second jury may be barred from hearing a provocative secret recording in which then-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan was caught saying certain ComEd contractors had “made out like bandits” — even though prosecutors say it helps prove their case against him.
Defense attorneys have argued furiously that prosecutors mischaracterize the recording. U.S. District Judge John Blakey agreed Monday to tentatively bar it from Madigan’s trial, but he left open the possibility that he could reconsider once testimony is underway.
The judge made his ruling during a hearing that lasted more than six hours Monday. Blakey, prosecutors and defense attorneys reviewed logistics and evidence for the Oct. 8 trial of Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain.
Blakey said he expects jury selection in the case to last four days, and opening statements to begin Oct. 15.
They discussed the testimony of government mole Danny Solis, with a prosecutor predicting the former 25th Ward City Council member is “going to get raked over the coals” by defense attorneys. They also addressed questions from Blakey about whether Madigan and McClain helped get a job for the person being discussed on the “bandits” recording, a lobbyist named Dennis Gannon.
“You guys have investigated the case from here to the end of time,” Blakey said while pressing prosecutors Monday. “Did they get him a job, or did they not?”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz told the judge they “will not be presenting evidence” that Gannon was hired by ComEd at Madigan’s request.
The recording at issue was also barred from last year’s trial of McClain and three other political power players with ties to ComEd. In it, the feds say they caught Madigan and McClain discussing a labor agreement involving ComEd on Aug. 4, 2018.
McClain told Madigan that Gannon, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, had been enlisted to drive it around to various people to be signed, records show.
“How did Gannon get involved?” Madigan asked of the former Chicago Federation of Labor president.
McClain told him, “Dennis hasn’t done anything for a while” and “we’re just asking him to do the, uh, the traveling.”
Madigan asked, “B-but Mike, he’s involved with ComEd?”
McClain said, “Yeah, remember we got him that contract, um, maybe five years ago now, whenever it was? For a buck fifty a year.”
Prosecutors say McClain meant $150,000.
That’s when Madigan laughed and said, “Some of these guys have made out like bandits, Mike.”
McClain said, “Oh, my God.” He coughed, and then he added, “For very little work, too.”
On Monday, Madigan defense attorney Daniel Collins argued that Gannon’s hiring had nothing to do with Madigan — and he said prosecutors know it.
“The idea that they’re going to take this position when they know the evidence suggests they’re wrong about it is problematic, to say the least,” Collins told the judge.
Schwartz said the recording suggests otherwise. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu also argued that Madigan, in the recording, was “referring to a collective of individuals who make out like bandits.”
“They don’t do any work even though they’ve been hired by the company,” Bhachu said.
Blakey sided with Madigan’s lawyer, noting that the indictment does not point to Gannon as one of the individuals who received money as part of a conspiracy.
The judge did not rule Monday on whether evidence can be admitted that shows McClain’s role in the response to 2018 sexual harassment allegations in Springfield. Prosecutors in McClain’s earlier trial used it to show that McClain acted as an agent of Madigan’s at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Blakey has yet to rule on how a U.S. Supreme Court decision this year, which delayed Madigan’s trial by six months, will affect the trial, if at all.