The prosecution’s best testimony has come from the defendants’ own mouths, captured in the dozens of wiretapped phone calls and secretly recorded videos.
The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore.The prosecution’s best testimony hasn’t come from the cooperators who lined up to testify about ComEd’s efforts to stay in Democrat Michael Madigan’s good graces.
But to prove their case, prosecutors have to show that the defendants, through Madigan, somehow intended to corrupt that process. Another problematic recording for the defense came weeks later, when ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who was secretly cooperating with investigators, asked defendant Jay Doherty, a ComEd contract lobbyist, what he had his Madigan-backed subcontractors doing for the utility.“Well, not much, to answer the question,” Doherty said. “They keep their mouth shut, and you know. But do they do anything for me on a day-to-day basis? No.
Historically, defendants in corruption cases charged in Chicago’s federal court have faced long odds of winning acquittal, and the ComEd Four case is likely no different. Jurors will also have to weigh Pramaggiore’s statements on the witness stand against what she said in the covert recordings, when she repeatedly pushed for things that Madigan wanted, sometimes even against the wishes of other top executives at ComEd or its parent company, Exelon Utilities.
“OK, got it,” Pramaggiore said without pause on a recording played for the jury. “I will keep pressing.” Another challenge for the defendants will be to explain to the jury why Pramaggiore and other top ComEd executives, including Marquez, spent so much time dealing with job recommendations being funneled from Madigan through McClain, often for unqualified candidates seeking low-ranking ComEd positions.
McClain’s defense, led by attorney Patrick Cotter, has tried to play down Madigan’s lengthy list of job candidates, saying they were nothing more than recommendations that every politician in the state makes, which companies are free to reject. Another issue the defendants will have to explain is how so many Madigan-backed political pals ended up with subcontracts paid by ComEd and funneled under the radar through friendly lobbyists.
Over the years, Doherty’s contract with ComEd ballooned to $400,000 a year, with much of it going to cover the subcontracts that paid Madigan political friends, according to trial testimony. Prosecutors have said Doherty also got a “little bonus” with each contract for his troubles.Among the Madigan acolytes on Doherty’s payroll was former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo, longtime Madigan precinct captains Ed Moody and Ray Nice, and ex-23rd Ward Ald. Michael Zalewski, according to testimony.
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