Corruption seems to be endemic to Illinois. On Friday, according to the Chicago Sun Times, the US Attorney’s office of John Lausch in Illinois has filed a criminal complaint in federal court against ComEd, a utility company. ComEd will pay a $200 million fine to end a years-long bribery investigation.
Under the agreement, the government will defer prosecution on the charge for three years and then seek to dismiss it if ComEd abides by certain conditions, including continuing to cooperate with ongoing investigations of individuals or other entities related to the conduct described in the bribery charge. A full statement of facts of the case can be found here.
The fine will be paid in full within 90 days of the filing of the agreement. This makes the final payment date October 15th. ComEd may not use the fine to reduce its tax liability nor may it recover the fine through any rate making activities with its customers.
There are those of us who may be impatient with the work of Barr’s DOJ particularly as it relates to the attempt to overthrow the government of the United States. This breaking story shows that the DOJ is going after those who would profit illegally from the abuse of their office. As stated in the complaint, a target of the investigation is one of the most powerful men in state government anywhere in the country. He is Michael Madigan, Speaker of the House in Illinois. Madigan has been speaker for 37 years.
This case also shows that it takes a long time to build a provable case in a sprawling corruption situation. And this case is nowhere near as sprawling as the one John Durham is working on.
The investigation is wide ranging and has been going on for years. The feds earlier on Friday hit Madigan with a fresh subpoena that appears to seriously expand the investigation, with inquiries about AT&T Services Inc., Walgreens and Rush University Medical Center. The subpoena also seeks records concerning Madigan’s top supporters, including former Aldermen Mike Zalewski and Frank OIivo, current 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, ComEd and Exelon, McClain, properties in Chinatown, previously written about by the Sun-Times, and former Ald. Danny Solis.
Solis has for years cooperated with federal prosecutors. It has been reported that the FBI recorded Madigan during a meeting with Solis and a developer hoping to build a hotel in a Chinatown neighborhood. The Sun-Times report about the feds’ Madigan recording, also in January 2019, landed nine days before McClain told a ComEd vice president on Feb. 7, 2019, not to put things in writing.
Looking down from the 30,000-foot level, it appears that this step by the US Attorney’s office is the beginning of the next stage in a very long running investigation. Some will say that the corrupt politicians will wind up walking away scot free. If you believe that, you do not know anything about Bill Barr’s past history.
The next indictment will not be tomorrow. However, it is unlikely that this agreement would be made public now if the DOJ was not ready to take further steps soon. High level people in ComEd have been/will be called upon to testify against the Democratic organization’s very top people in Illinois. This could have implications electorally in Illinois for years. As Mark Wauck of MIH noted,
A friend recently said that it seemed like that the dam may be starting to break. It is beginning to look like PDJT and Bill Barr may be making some headway against those who have been feeding at the public trough for so long. The unnerving of Adam Schiff is another recent indication. We must re-elect PDJT if we, the people, ever expect to get our country back.