Michael Madigan, connected to Obama, Bill Ayers and Andrew Weissmann, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison this past week for corruption. Who would have predicted this?
Michael Madigan ran the state of Illinois like a mobster for more than three decades. He used his power to crush anyone and any entity that dared oppose him on anything. He is the definition of a pure politician. He is now going to prison.
Michael Madigan, the country’s longest-serving state House leader, served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 until 2021, with the exception of two years. Along the way, he developed a reputation as an all-powerful political wizard who wielded vast influence over laws affecting nearly every aspect of life in the state.
Five months ago, the man long known to Illinois as “Mr. Speaker” made the stunning decision to climb onto the witness stand, swear an oath and tell his side of the story.
But along the way, Michael J. Madigan denied his famous friendship with the fixer known as Michael McClain. He denied a promise he made to the once-powerful Ald. Danny Solis. And he denied his role in a bribery scheme in which Illinois’ largest utility tried to buy his favor.
It turns out, U.S. District Judge John Blakey didn’t buy his tale.
“To put it bluntly, it was a nauseating display,” the judge said during the former speaker’s long-anticipated sentencing hearing Friday.
Then, the judge locked eyes with Madigan, the man once regarded as the state’s most powerful politician. Blakey looked down at him from the bench and said, “you lied, sir. You lied.”
“You did not have to,” Blakey continued. “You had a right to sit there and exercise your right to silence. But you took that stand and you took the law into your own hands.”
The ultimate politician Madigan was the king of Illinois politics. Here is a video that tells his story.
What turned out being the final nail in Madigan’s coffin was his relationship with a firm in Chicago by the name of ComEd.
The corrupt Chicago political machine has been around for more than a century. No doubt, ComEd and other corporations have had to deal with the machine in order to do business in this city and state for ages. A former ComEd CEO was Tom Ayers, the father of Obama mentor and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
Exelon is the parent company of ComEd and brags about being the largest energy company in the US. This firm gave heavily to the Obama campaign:
…Exelon contributed at least $227,000 to Obama’s campaign and two top Exelon executives are among his largest fundraisers. According to The Times, Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, also worked as a consultant for Exelon.
In return, Obama gave Exelon numerous government contracts worth millions:
Exelon Was One Of Only Six Electric Utilities Selected For A $200 Million Energy Department Grant And Received A Commitment For $646 Million with “Extremely Generous Financial Terms” From The Treasury Department. “In addition, Exelon, which provides power to more than 6.6 million customers in at least 16 states and the District of Columbia, was chosen as one of only six electric utilities nationwide for the maximum $200 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department. And when the Treasury Department granted loans for renewable energy projects, Exelon landed a commitment for up to $646 million allowing it, on extremely generous financial terms, to finance one of the world’s largest photovoltaic solar projects.” (Eric Lipton, “Ties To Obama Aided In Access for Big Utility,” The New York Times, 8/22/12)
In July 2020, ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine for bribery as it relates to the Illinois Speaker Madigan. ComEd not only spent millions on fines, they also spent millions on legal fees during this episode. WBEZ reported:
Amid a sprawling federal corruption probe, Commonwealth Edison quadrupled its payments last year to a powerhouse Chicago-based law firm that’s representing the utility giant in the investigation of its Springfield lobbying practices, WBEZ has learned.
Federal regulatory documents show ComEd paid Jenner & Block nearly $2.4 million in 2019 — more than what the power company had reported paying the law firm in the previous four years combined.
What is not reported is that Jenner & Block is the same firm where the Mueller gang leader Andrew Weissmann worked before joining the DOJ in 2011 and the same firm he returned to in May of 2020. Weissmann announced he was leaving MSNBC in 2020 after he decided to put together a fund raiser for fellow corrupt Obama associate, Joe Biden:
Reports of Weissmann’s involvement in the Biden campaign fundraiser gave fuel to supporters of President Donald Trump, who have long charged that Weissmann was biased against the president.
“It doesn’t get any swampier than this: trying to stage a partisan coup against the president and then raising money for his political opponent,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh.
The decision to overtly campaign for Biden comes shortly after it was announced that Weissmann would be rejoining law firm Jenner & Block, where he was a partner before he was hired by the Department of Justice in 2011. He will take over the firm’s investigations division on July 1.
The corruption of the Democrat Party was rank in Chicago, from Obama to Weissmann to Joe Biden, all via Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan.
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