Mike Madigan did “100% legal favors,” not extortion: lawyers

Chicago’s top attorney for property tax cases was not involved in bribery or corruption, merely doing favors for his associates as one of Illinois’ most powerful elected officials, a lawyer argued in his federal corruption case this week.

Michael Madigan, whose real estate law firm Madigan and Getzendaner ranked first The Real Deal list of last year’s top property tax companies, is on trial, accused of racketeering, the Chicago Tribune reported. As Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1997 to 2021, Madigan allegedly ran his government and political operations as a criminal enterprise. He is charged along with his former confidante Michael McClain, a former ComEd lobbyist accused of bribing Madigan.

McClain’s attorney, John Mitchell, argued that the bribery case against his client and Madigan was an overreach, unfairly criminalizing political lobbying, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Prosecutors allege Madigan used his position to create a network of corruption, rewarding his allies with lucrative contracts and favoring utility giants like ComEd and AT&T.

Evidence in the case includes wiretapped phone conversations and undercover recordings, collected mainly through cooperative agreements with insiders such as former councilman Daniel Solis. But the defense insists there is “no evidence of an exchange that would constitute bribery.”

“You would think that if there was an exchange, something would be going on,” Mitchell said, telling the jury that McClain’s actions were within the bounds of the law.

McClain simply assisted Madigan by providing “100 percent legal favors” to maintain their political relationship, the defense claims.

“There’s an old saying that if you walk around with a hammer all day, you’ll eventually find something that looks like a nail,” Mitchell told the jury. “The administration has wrongly concluded that Mike Madigan is powerful and therefore must be corrupt.”

Testimony from former state representatives Carol Sente and Scott Drury provided insight into Madigan’s influence on the legislative process. Both described times when the former speaker put pressure on them during private meetings.

Defense attorneys tried to argue that Madigan’s behavior was more nuanced, pointing out that not all of his opponents’ bills failed.

Madigan, 82, and McClain, 77, maintain their innocence, with their defense focusing on the idea that prosecutors misinterpreted routine political operations as criminal activity.

Meanwhile, in the broader legal landscape of Chicago’s real estate industry, the real estate industry is experiencing collateral damage from high-profile corruption cases such as Ed Burke’s conviction for abusing political influence in favor of his company, along with Madigan’s ongoing corruption trial.

–Andrew Terrell

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