The Latest Breaking News from Michael Madigan

Developer who recorded Madigan early in fed investigation gets 16 months in prison

Long before the feds’ public corruption investigation rocked Chicago, See Y. Wong went undercover to record powerful politicians in 2014.

Chicago Sun-Times · Dec 21, 2022

Gary LaPaille, former state senator, Democratic Party of Illinois chair, Madigan staffer, dies at 68

He was “a Democrat’s Democrat. ... His blood was blue,” said former Virginia Gov. and ex-Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe.

Chicago Sun-Times · Dec 7, 2022

Madigan: Indicted but still pitching for (and getting) money

Illinois law allows the former House speaker to keep asking for campaign contributions even though he’s facing charges that he used his office to enrich himself and his allies.

Chicago Sun-Times · Nov 18, 2022

How one bakery is celebrating Dia de los Muertos, Madigan’s quiet arraignment and more in your Chicago news roundup

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Chicago Sun-Times · Nov 1, 2022

Michael Madigan’s lawyer says ‘not guilty’ for client, who skips arraignment

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole last week gave Madigan permission to skip the arraignment, held by telephone, after Madigan signed a waiver that said he pleaded not guilty “to each and every charge.”

Chicago Sun-Times · Nov 1, 2022

After a tumultuous first term, Gov. J.B. Pritzker spends big and plays it safe in reelection bid

In late August, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, billionaire scion of one of America’s wealthiest families, sat at a folding table at City Hall in Christopher, a town of fewer than 3,000 people 300 miles south of his Gold Coast mansion.

Chicago Tribune · Nov 1, 2022

Former Teamsters boss John Coli Sr. sentenced to 19 months in federal prison in extortion case

CHICAGO — Former Teamsters union boss John Coli Sr. once basked in a reputation as a tough-nosed, nationally known organized labor figure, rubbing elbows with the state’s political and business elite, running up $15,000 tabs at Chicago steakhouses, and cruising around the Mediterranean on other people’s yachts.

Chicago Tribune · Oct 27, 2022

Former Teamsters boss John Coli gets 19 months in prison for illegal payments from Cinespace Studios

The feds enlisted Coli as a cooperator in 2019, just as a set of aggressive investigations into old-school, Chicago-style corruption turned public. He was seen as particularly significant given his ties to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, former Chicago Mayors Richard M. Daley and…

Chicago Sun-Times · Oct 26, 2022

Abortion vs. Mike Madigan? Democrats and Republicans play hole cards in high-stakes battle for control of state Supreme Court

It wasn’t really possible for Democrats to draw the new state Supreme Court map in a way that would have assured them of winning one of the seats on the November ballot, as would have been their normal tendency. Instead, both seats are in play.

Chicago Sun-Times · Oct 24, 2022

Inside AT&T’s alleged ‘conspiracy’ to bribe powerbrokers at the Illinois Capitol

WBEZ and the Sun-Times have learned the identities of three former top phone-company lobbyists with ties to a Springfield corruption scandal as former AT&T President La Schiazza, pleaded not guilty to five criminal counts in federal court Friday.

Chicago Sun-Times · Oct 21, 2022