(The Center Square) – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants a judge to toss out 14 of the 23 corruption charges he’s facing, including the racketeering charge.
Madigan, 80, claimed in a series of pre-trial legal filings that federal prosecutors failed to make their case against him.
"After years of investigation, thousands of hours of wiretaps and consensual recordings, wide-ranging searches of homes and offices, and countless witness interviews, the government’s case against Michael J. Madigan comes down principally to this: He recommended people for jobs with ComEd and AT&T while legislation of interest to those utilities was pending before the Illinois House of Representatives," according to a motion to dismiss filed by his attorneys.
Madigan was initially charged along with co-defendant Michael McClain, in March 2022 with 22-counts of racketeering and bribery for what prosecutors called a nearly "decade-long a criminal enterprise" for his alleged improper dealings with the state’s largest utility, ComEd. Prosecutors further alleged that he used his political power to unlawfully steer business to his private law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. In October 2022, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment that added another charge: conspiracy against Madigan and McClain related to an alleged corruption scheme involving AT&T Illinois.
"It alleges that he had the capacity to and did promote or defeat legislation consistent with the interests of ComEd and AT&T; and that – after more than a decade of investigation, during which time Madigan made countless job recommendations for innumerable candidates to ComEd, AT&T, and elsewhere – four of those candidates (which do not reflect all, most, or even many of Madigan’s recommendations) did ‘little or no’ work once hired," according to the motion.
Madigan’s attorneys further argued that prosecutors failed to make a criminal case against him.
"These allegations do not state a federal crime," they wrote in the motion. "Instead, what they describe is a commonplace practice in which public officials and party leaders make job recommendations for constituents and associates to employers within their jurisdictions."
Madigan has long maintained that he did nothing wrong and that job recommendations were part of his job. Madigan served as both Speaker of the House and chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. The dual positions made him among the most powerful politicians in the state for decades.
"In short, this far-flung superseding indictment impermissibly treats lawful ingratiation as illegal bribery, and stitches together unrelated allegations of purported misconduct into a single scheme," Madigan’s attorneys wrote. "The mismatch between the conduct alleged and the statutes invoked is a fatal defect that precludes this prosecution."
Federal prosecutors have yet to respond to the motion to dismiss.
Madigan’s case is tentatively set for trial in April 2024.