Let’s hope we are hearing the soft rustle of a new page being turned in Illinois politics.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury returned a 22-count indictment against former House Speaker Michael Madigan following an investigation that went on for years. It charged Madigan, who lost his role as speaker in January 2021 and later resigned his House seat, with a litany of schemes. Taken together, the racketeering and bribery charges portray a politician with an iron grip on the political machinery of Springfield who used that power to place allies in jobs, extort money from entities doing business with the state and twist arms to get lucrative business for his private property tax law firm.
