Federal prosecutors are seeking to call a pair of former Chicago aldermen as experts in the city’s political landscape at the upcoming racketeering trial of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
In a motion Thursday, prosecutors asked that retired University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson be allowed to testify as an expert witness on traditional Democratic machine politics, particularly the patronage system that ward bosses like Madigan were able to use to build and maintain power.
They also want to call former Ald. Michele Smith, a former federal prosecutor who would describe for the jury the intricacies of City Hall, including obscurities such as aldermanic prerogative, zoning and the role of ward committeemen, according to the filing.
It’s not the first time the U.S. attorney’s office has sought to use former legislators as experts in a political corruption trial.
Last year, prosecutors wanted Simpson to describe the structure and operation of the Chicago machine to jurors in the “ComEd Four” trial of McClain and three former ComEd executives and lobbyists, but lawyers for the defendants argued the proposed testimony was a “transparent attempt to paint the four defendants with the broad brush of Chicago political corruption.”
“Even if the 150-year history of Chicago political corruption were at all relevant to the facts at issue, the jury needs no special expertise to understand that there has historically been political corruption in Chicago,” the defense stated in a joint motion.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber decided to block Simpson from testifying, ruling it wouldn’t help the jury decide the facts at issue and could prejudice the defendants.
Madigan, 81, is charged in a 23-count indictment alleging he participated in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 aimed at using the power of his public office for personal and political gain.
Also charged was Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain, 76, a former state legislator and lobbyist who was convicted last year of orchestrating an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison. McClain’s sentencing in that case is pending.
Madigan and McClain have each pleaded not guilty and the trial is set for October.
In the request to have Simpson testify, prosecutors said his expert perspective would add critical context for statements made on undercover recordings, particularly how an “old school patronage system” that rewarded ward loyalists and doled out job recommendations allegedly evolved into ComEd steering hundreds of thousands of dollars to Madigan approved consultants in order to appease the speaker.
“Equipped with an understanding of the history of political patronage in Chicago, the jury will better understand that the payments from ComEd to Madigan’s precinct workers were for their political work—not because of any value they added for ComEd, or simply because Madigan was in the habit of making casual job recommendations that he had no special interest in,” prosecutors wrote. “On the contrary, Madigan was keenly interested in his political workers being rewarded for their loyal service to his political operation.”
Smith, meanwhile, is perfectly suited to lead the jury through some of the more Byzantine aspects of City Hall politics, prosecutors said, particularly when it comes to the importance of zoning.
Smith’s former City Council colleague, Daniel Solis, was the head of the Zoning Committee when he began cooperating with the FBI, making undercover recordings of Madigan as the speaker allegedly solicited business for his private law firm from developers who needed Solis’ influence over zoning issues.
“(Smith) has substantial knowledge of zoning procedures and customs, both written and unwritten, based on her experience as an alderperson for 11 years,” prosecutors said. “In addition, Smith personally interacted with Solis when he was chairman of the Zoning Committee, and she will testify about the way he ran the committee and the power he wielded as chairman, including his ability to set the agenda for zoning matters.”
Smith represented Chicago’s 43rd Ward, which includes Lincoln Park and parts of Old Town and the Gold Coast, from 2011 to 2022, when she announced she was not running for reelection.
She was tapped by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot to head a newly created Ethics Committee and fought for tighter ethics controls at City Hall over the objections from some of the council’s more ingrained members, including Solis and then-Ald. Edward Burke.
Solis left the council in 2019 after being outed as an FBI mole. He was charged with misusing his powers as Zoning Committee chairman for personal gain, but the case will eventually be dropped as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office.
Burke, meanwhile, was convicted in December of racketeering charges based in part on Solis’ undercover work. His sentencing is set for June.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
