House Speaker Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Hillside) | Photo Courtesy of Emanuel Chris Welch
House Speaker Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Hillside) | Photo Courtesy of Emanuel Chris Welch
The Illinois Republican Party is criticizing the state’s Democratic lawmakers for not asking former House Speaker Michael Madigan to step down as 13th Ward Democratic committeeperson.
The IL GOP issued a statement after U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) called for Madigan to resign from the post.
“State Democrats should be ashamed that their own Congressman has had to call for this change while they've remained silent on Mike Madigan's corruption and continued influence over their party,” the Illinois Republican Party said in a Facebook post.
Casten said following the ComEd Four convictions Madigan should resign.
“Mr. Madigan will have his day in court, but the corruption has come too close to his office for him to claim ignorance. Public service is a sacred trust. For the good of our democracy and the Democratic Party, he should step down at once,” Casten said in a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The IL GOP has been highly critical of House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero) for killing an investigation into Madigan. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy said Welch and Hernandez were rewarded for their loyalty to Madigan by being given leadership positions.
“Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez, and other Democrats on the Special Investigating Committee failed the people of Illinois, and it is no surprise they continue to cover up the truth. Why did Welch and Hernandez refer to the special investigation committee on Madigan a ‘political show’ and ‘sham investigation’? They had the opportunity to uphold their oaths of office and end the culture of corruption but chose not to,” Tracy said. “This guilty verdict only proved what we already knew – that Illinois Democrat corruption is not a Republican talking point but something that is unfortunately real, pervasive, and a serious threat to honest government.”
IL GOP’s comments come after former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker along with Madigan associate Michael McClain and lobbyist Jay Doherty, who previously ran the City Club of Chicago, were convicted of scheming to pay $1.3 million to Madigan-connected people and companies. As part of the scheme, ComEd provided jobs – some of which were no show – and contracts to those with connections to Madigan who at the time controlled the Democratic Party and had wielded power as the state’s most powerful politician as the longest-serving state House Speaker in the nation. ComEd, the state’s largest utility, engaged in the scheme to influence Madigan to get preferential treatment in the state House. ComEd paid a $200 million fine in July 2020 and admitted to the scheme.
The 81-year-old Madigan was in power as House Speaker from 1983 to 1995 and then from 1997 to 2021. He was an Illinois House member from 1971 to 2021 before stepping down amid the scandal. He is charged in a separate filing of 23 counts of public corruption related to the ComEd scandal and is facing a single count of public corruption from a similar scheme with AT&T. Madigan will go on trial in April 2024. Despite being under investigation, Madigan reportedly took part in the 2022 election campaign. Additionally, he transferred the last $10 million from his campaign budget to his defense fund.
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