Prairie State Wire

Arguments in the ComEd corruption trial came to a close earlier this week and the jury in the case has been deliberating since Tuesday.

"They weren't amateurs. They weren't playing checkers. They were playing chess," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said as the case came to close, The Center Square reported. "When it came to chess, Mr. McClain and the others were grandmasters of corruption."

Former lawmaker, lobbyist, and close confidant of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and former City Club of Chicago president Jay Doherty are the main defendants in the 24-day-long trial. The four are charged with taking part in a $150 million bribery scandal intended to gain the previous House speaker's favor. 

“The defendants sought to bribe Mike Madigan in order to influence his actions in the General Assembly, to ensure that he didn’t take action to hurt the company in the General Assembly and to reward past beneficial conduct to ComEd in the general assembly with legislation that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said in opening statements nearly a month ago.

ComEd, the state's largest electricity company, is accused of paying contractors connected to Madigan $1.3 million for so-called "ghost subcontractors" who never completed any work for the firm. 

The prosecution has been referred to by the defense as "overzealous." 

“It’s not a conspiracy, and you know what? It’s not even suspicious. It’s a profession,” Patrick Cotter, the attorney for Michael McClain, said. 

The trial is expected to last two months.

The 81-year-old Madigan will go on trial in April 2024 on 22 counts of corruption involving ComEd and one charge regarding a different bribery scheme involving AT&T. In the charge related to AT&T, prosecutors allege that Madigan and McClain in 2017 conspired with AT&T Illinois’s then-president to corruptly arrange for $22,500 to be paid at the direction of the company to the Madigan ally, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.