“Implicated but not charged.”
That’s how Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan was described in news story after news story since federal prosecutors and Commonwealth Edison entered into a plea deal Friday.
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“Implicated but not charged.”
That’s how Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan was described in news story after news story since federal prosecutors and Commonwealth Edison entered into a plea deal Friday.
In a nutshell, ComEd, the humungous utility serving Chicago and much of northern Illinois, has admitted to bribing Madigan, and has agreed to pay $200 million and to cooperate with federal investigators for at least the next three years.
But no Commonwealth Edison executives are going to prison.
When I see a prosecutor choose not to nail a guilty executive’s pelt to the wall there’s a reason and its usually because they are aiming higher.
And by now, it should be obvious U.S. Attorney John Lausch wants to take down Madigan, the longest-serving state House speaker in U.S. history.
Madigan, through a spokesperson, said he is innocent.
For decades, Madigan has been the most powerful person in the state. But assertions of wrongdoing have swirled around the speaker like flies buzzing around a carcass.
Despite this, he’s always been able to claim the two words synonymous with the Illinois version of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval: Never Indicted.
“Mike Madigan is the glue that holds the Illinois Democratic Party together. If we lose him, we, are in big, big trouble. But I think Mike Madigan is whole lot smarter than those going after him. When this is over, he’s going to stick it right up their fannies,” said Denny Jacobs, a Democrat and former state lawmaker from East Moline.