Evidence concludes in Mike Madigan federal corruption trial

CHICAGO (CN) — Defense attorneys for ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan rested their case in the once-powerful politician’s federal corruption trial on Thursday.

Less than an hour later, federal prosecutors had concluded their own single-witness rebuttal.

The developments marked the end of the evidence phase of Madigan’s trial, which has included more than 60 witnesses and dozens of secretly recorded phone and video conversations. The jury will return next week for closing arguments, after which they will begin deliberations.

Madigan faces 23 counts for fraud, bribery, racketeering and conspiracy; Mike McClain, Madigan’s longtime ally and now co-defendant, joins him on six of those counts. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Wrapping Madigan’s defense, his attorney Lari Dierks read several brief stipulations for the jury.

The government’s singular rebuttal witness was FBI Special Agent Ryan McDonald, who in February 2021 helped conduct an interview with Vincent “Bud” Getzendanner, Madigan’s former partner at the Madigan & Getzendanner law firm.

McDonald testified earlier in trial as part of the prosecution’s case — but prosecutors recalled him over Getzendanner’s own testimony for the defense case this past Tuesday. Federal prosecutor Sarah Streicker attempted to address whether Getzendanner, in the 2021 interview, recalled ex-Chicago alderperson-turned-FBI informant Danny Solis attending pitch meetings for prospective Madigan & Getzendanner clients. Solis began recording conversations with Madigan and others for the FBI starting in 2016.

Getzendanner testified that he remembered Solis being present for pitch meetings in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Streicker pressed him on that issue during cross-examination last Tuesday, asking if he told federal investigators in 2021 that he only remembered Solis attending one pitch meeting in 2014. Getzendanner maintained that he didn’t recall exactly what he said in 2021.

On the stand Thursday, McDonald told Streicker that Getzendanner only remembered Solis attending one pitch meeting in 2014.

After McDonald left the stand, federal prosecutor Amarjeet Bhachu concluded the rebuttal case by showing jurors a bank record related to Solis’ company Solis Enterprises.

The short day capped off nearly three months of evidence and testimony since opening arguments in October, including testimony from Madigan himself.

Prosecutors’ case was the longest; they presented evidence and witnesses to the jury from mid-October to mid-December, during which jurors took a two-week holiday break. Meanwhile, attorneys for Mike McClain brought only one witness to the stand, concluding their own defense case before Christmas. Madigan’s case has occupied January, with the ex-speaker on the stand for four days.

Both men moved for acquittal after jurors left the courtroom Thursday, a routine defense play.

Those motions were denied by U.S. District Judge Robert Blakey, a Barack Obama appointee. The judge also shot down a renewed motion from McClain to sever his case from Madigan’s.

McClain unsuccessfully tried to sever his case before trial began, and again in a renewed his motion earlier this week. He argued in his filing that Madigan’s own testimony fingered him for some of the government’s charges and risked prejudicing the jury.

Blakey nevertheless denied McClain’s motion from the bench.

Prosecutors have painted Madigan, who spent 36 years as Illinois House Speaker and more than two decades as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, as a political kingpin in Springfield and Chicago and head of the so-called “Madigan Enterprise.”

Working through this enterprise, they claim he pressured companies like ComEd and AT&T Illinois into providing jobs and contracts for his allies between 2011 and 2019, in exchange for his office’s political support in the state legislature.

Prosecutors further claim he sought to funnel property developers’ legal work to Madigan & Getzendanner with Solis’ help. Until 2019, Solis was the alderperson of a development-heavy city ward. He also served as the city’s zoning chair.

In the same vein, prosecutors say Madigan and McClain unsuccessfully tried to have a state-owned parking lot in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood transferred to city ownership, with the hope that Madigan would receive legal work from the site’s eventual private developers.

A final episode of charges deal with Madigan’s purported 2018 attempt to help Solis attain a state board position under the then-incoming administration of Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Solis testified that he feigned interest in a state board seat as part of his undercover work.

In the event the jury returns a guilty verdict, Blakey has told attorneys that he wants to begin forfeiture proceedings right away.

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