Afternoon Briefing: Jury hears closing arguments in former AT&T exec’s bribery trial

Good afternoon, Chicago.

In the end, after all the sweating by AT&T President Paul La Schiazza over House Speaker Michael Madigan’s power to block favorable legislation and all the handwringing over secretly hiring a Madigan ally to win the speaker’s influence, it wound up being a “pretty successful” bribery scheme, a federal prosecutor told a jury today.

The defense argument that followed painted a far different picture, one of common dealings between the corporate and political worlds.

Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.

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