Michael Madigan is an influential Democrat from Illinois who served as the state’s house speaker.
He has just been indicted on federal charges of racketeering and bribery.
Corrupt Democrats in Chicago are a dime a dozen, but these charges are downright explosive.
FOX News reports:
Illinois Democrat Michael Madigan indicted on federal racketeering, bribery charges
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was indicted Wednesday on racketeering and bribery charges by a federal grand jury.
Madigan, 79, a Democrat who held the speaker position for nearly 40 years until he resigned last year amid the investigation, is accused of using his position for personal financial gain, according to FOX 32 of Chicago.
The 22-count indictment alleges Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain ran a criminal enterprise between 2011 and 2019, soliciting bribes and financial awards for him, his associates and his law practice, with McClain carrying out illegal activities at Madigan’s behest.
“Madigan and McClain allegedly caused various businesses, including the utility company Commonwealth Edison, to make monetary payments to Madigan’s associates as a reward for their loyalty to Madigan, at times in return for performing little or no legitimate work for the businesses,” The U.S. Justice Department said.
He is also accused of illegally steering private legal work to his law firm, including from those with business before the state and Chicago.
He is charged with racketeering, conspiracy and individual counts of using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, wire fraud, and attempted extortion, according to the DOJ.
You probably won’t hear about this story on CNN.
Mike Madigan indicted.
Giant Chicago sorry.
Outside of IL, few know of him. He liked it that way as he quietly ran the state almost unilaterally — and for decades.
Madigan built a massive corrupt patronage machine, and turned Illinois into a debt-ridden basket case. https://t.co/xvc8TCx3RA
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) March 3, 2022
Whoa. This is like hooking Moby Dick. Madigan was the undisputed political boss of the state for decades, his daughter was AG, his cronies are/have been deeply embedded within the corrupt system. We'll see if they can reel him in. https://t.co/YvJtpTBqow
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) March 2, 2022
Will he face any real consequences?
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