Federal prosecutors in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan will get the chance Tuesday to ask ex-Ald. Daniel Solis about his cooperation against another “high-ranking official” — but they won’t be able to say the name Edward M. Burke.
Solis, whose stunning turn as an FBI mole is at the center of both the Madigan and Burke cases, has been on the witness stand for six days testifying about wiretapped conversations and undercover recordings he made of Madigan allegedly agreeing to take official action in exchange for Solis’s help drumming up private legal work.
Defense attorneys have spent the last two days blasting Solis on cross-examination, calling into question Solis’ own criminal acts as well as his unprecedented deferred prosecution deal with the U.S. attorney’s office that will leave him without a felony conviction and allow him to keep his $110,000-a-year city pension.
After cross-examination ended Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey held a lengthy sidebar with the attorneys before sending the jury out for an early lunch.
With the jury out of the room, the judge said that due to the extensiveness of the cross, prosecutors on redirect examination would be able to question Solis about other aspects of his undercover work that led to charges against other individuals, including a former “high-ranking” government official.
Prosecutors said they will warn Solis ahead of time not to utter Burke’s name, however.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur will also be able to ask Solis specifically about charges against Robert Caldero, a longtime political operative for U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who gave Viagra to Solis and arranged for sex acts for the alderman at a North Side massage parlor.
Caldero was charged in 2021 with influencing a $1 billion Chicago Public Schools janitorial contract and using Solis’ clout to solicit campaign cash and get a park and street renamed for donor’s relatives. He’s currently serving a 57-month prison sentence.
MacArthur can also let the jury know that Solis’ cooperation led to charges against Pedro Soto, the former top aide to CPS CEO Janice Jackson charged with lying to the FBI about passing secret bid information to Caldero. Soto was sentenced last year to probation.
The leeway given to prosecutors comes a day after Madigan attorney Dan Collins decided to bring up Burke in his cross, pointing out the contrasting styles between Burke and Madigan when soliciting business for their respective law firms.
Collins asked Solis, didn’t Burke offer to pay you for law business referrals? Didn’t Burke say things to you like ‘the cash register hasn’t rung’ and ‘Did we land the tuna?’
“Mike Madigan never offered a dime to you, did he?” Collins asked, one of the only times all day he raised his voice.
Prosecutors objected to the line of questioning, and after a lengthy sidebar, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey told the jury to disregard it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the last series of questions and answers about Mr. Burke, you are to totally disregard them,” Blakey said. “They are no longer in evidence.”
Before the trial, Madigan’s defense team originally fought hard — and prosecutors agreed — to scrub any mention of the charges against Burke, who was convicted last year of an array of corruption schemes and is serving a two-year prison term.
In a strange twist, Burke’s former co-defendant Peter Andrews, was sitting in the Blakey’s courtroom Tuesday morning, listening to Solis’ cross examination. Andrews, Burke’s longtime ward aide, was acquitted of all charges last year.
Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces a wide array of racketeering charges alleging he used his significant political and governmental power to execute a number of corrupt schemes.
He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
The trial, which began Oct. 8, is expected to last until mid-January.
Solis’ direct examination, which in total lasted about 16 hours over four days, included dozens of wiretapped conversations and video recordings Solis secretly made of Madigan as the speaker vied for business from big-time developers in Solis’ 25th Ward.
On Tuesday, McClain attorney John Mitchell wrapped up his cross-examination of Solis, noting his client’s contact with the alderman was relatively minimal and largely involved updates about the status of legislation that would allow development to go forward on a parking lot in Chinatown.
Prosecutors allege Madigan and McClain tried to smooth the way for that legislation in a scheme to get the developers to hire Madigan’s private tax law firm.
Solis only met McClain face to face twice. In one of the meetings, Solis noted that he had “been able to steer some work” to Madigan. McClain, on the recording, does not audibly respond but continues talking about political strategy.
That, Mitchell heavily implied, wasn’t enough to actually be incriminating.
“You never asked McClain, ‘Did you know in the past I’ve steered legal work?’” Mitchell asked.
“I think I implied it,” Solis said. “ … I didn’t ask that specific question.”
Mitchell brought up a conversation during which McClain and Solis commiserated about how flagrant some politicians are about their possible wrongdoing. Some were untrustworthy, they agreed, some talked too freely in ways that could get them in trouble.
Mitchell, hoping to contrast that with Solis’ sketchy past, noted that the alderman never told McClain about any of it: Not the Viagra, not the massage parlors, not the irregular tax returns or questionable use of campaign funds, not the hedonistic trip to Puerto Rico.
“It never came up, no,” Solis said of the campaign funds.
On Monday, Madigan attorney Dan Collins spent five hours cross examining Solis about everything from prostitutes and pot smoking during a Puerto Rican excursion with other elected officials, to potential tax fraud involving more than a half a million dollars Solis received from his sister.
Over and over, Collins got Solis to agree Madigan never demanded Solis hold up a project or take action against a developer because they had not hired Madigan’s firm to appeal their property taxes.
In fact, Collins pointed out, it was Solis who was dangling those ideas in front of Madigan, peppering his conversation with sentimental talk about family and his personal situation and, at the direction of the FBI, asking Madigan to help get him appointed to a state board when he retired from the City Council.
At the end of more than five hours of questioning, Collins, a former federal prosecutor, called up a transcript of a key 2018 meeting where Solis brought up positions with the Labor Relations Board or Commerce Commission, both of which he said were “very generous in their compensation.”
During the exchange, Solis told the speaker there was “a lot of good stuff happening” in his ward, and “you’ve been very good to me and I’m going to help you.”
Collins asked Solis to read aloud Madigan’s response:
“Don’t, don’t worry about it.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
