A lawyer for former House Speaker Michael Madigan is scheduled to continue his final pitch to the jury Monday by attacking allegations of a ComEd bribery scheme as well as the FBI mole at the center of the landmark case: ex-Ald. Daniel Solis.
Attorney Dan Collins began his closing argument Friday and foreshadowed what was to come, calling Solis that “small little crack in your windshield that just won’t go away and keeps spreading and spreading.”
Collins also scoffed at prosecutors’ characterization of Solis as a “walking microphone,” noting the then-25th Ward alderman and head of the influential Zoning Committee only began cooperating after being confronted with evidence of his own criminal wrongdoing, and was often scripted in his undercover dealings with Madigan.
“He’s not a walking microphone. He’s an actor in a stage production, and he’s getting direction from the government,” Collins told the jury Friday. “He is not simply a walking microphone, he is a walking crime wave.”
Collins told the jury he’d have a lot more to say about Solis when his closing argument resumes Monday.
Madigan, 82, a Southwest Side Democrat, and his co-defendant, Michael McClain, 77, a longtime lobbyist from downstate Quincy, are charged in a 23-count indictment alleging that Madigan’s vaunted state and political operations were run like a criminal enterprise to increase his power and enrich himself and his associates.
In addition to alleging plans to pressure developers into hiring Madigan’s law firm, the indictment accuses Madigan and McClain of bribery schemes involving ComEd and AT&T Illinois.
The trial, which began Oct. 8 and is finally inching toward a conclusion, represents the apex of a lengthy federal corruption investigation that has already resulted in convictions of several other Madigan-adjacent figures over the past few years. Madigan, however, is inarguably the biggest target.
Collins began his address to jurors after prosecutors’ extraordinarily lengthy closing argument, which wrapped up Friday morning after more than 10 hours over three days. That meant Collins’ argument was interrupted after about 2 ½ hours.
The attorney for Madigan’s co-defendant, Michael McClain, will go next, followed by a government rebuttal and then, finally, jury deliberations.
Near the end of her argument Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur called Madigan “the man calling the shots,” a supremely powerful politician who for years used his roles as an elected official, leader of the state Democratic Party, and private lawyer to advance a criminal enterprise focused on private gain.
MacArthur told the jury Madigan and McClain worked in concert, “used and abused their positions” to “maintain Madigan’s power and acquire profit for his personal gain.”
“For Madigan and McClain, the corrupt way was the way it was, the way it continued to be,” MacArthur said. “But that is not the way the law says it can be.”
The defense throughout Madigan’s marathon public corruption trial has tried to portray the longtime political heavyweight as a hardworking and humble Southwest Sider who only ever sought to help people through his role at the top of the Illinois political power structure.
To reinforce the regular-guy image, Collins on Friday repeatedly referred to his client not as “the speaker,” not as “Mr. Madigan,” but as “Mike.”
“The government depends on your cynicism, the cynicism that we have around our public officials,” Collins said. “The government has put forth what seems at first blush to be a very polished presentation, but it’s incomplete. It’s misleading. And on the most important points, it’s false.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com