Former Ald. Daniel Solis’ testimony about his extraordinary flip as an FBI mole will proceed for an abbreviated fourth day Wednesday earlier than the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan takes an extended Thanksgiving break.
Soils, a longtime twenty fifth District metropolis councilor and zoning board chair, has been on the stand since final week, giving jurors an enchanting seat on the entrance traces of one of many largest public corruption instances in Chicago’s sordid historical past .
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey mentioned he’ll cease testimony at midday Wednesday so jurors can instantly start their vacation plans. The trial, which started on October 8, will resume on Monday and is anticipated to final till mid-January.
Solis’ testimony Tuesday centered on a collection of undercover recordings he made as an FBI collaborator that appeared to indicate that Madigan was greater than keen to make use of his affect to assist Solis, who on the time had facilitated conferences between Madigan and the builders at Solis’. quickly increasing division.
The movies, taken throughout conferences at Madigan’s downtown regulation workplace, confirmed that as their relationship continued to broaden all through 2018, Madigan started asking Solis for extra favors, together with serving to his son, insurance coverage dealer Andrew Madigan, to return nose to nose with a nonprofit operation that had beforehand left him breathless.
At one level, prosecutors paused the video of Madigan exhibiting his son’s Alliant-Mesirow enterprise card and mentioned his son simply wanted a chance. “Give him an opportunity to indicate what he can do … get his foot within the door,” Madigan mentioned.
Solis later known as the speaker to let him know that he had organized a gathering between Andrew Madigan and the Resurrection Project, as he had requested.
Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served as speaker of the Illinois House for many years earlier than resigning in 2021, faces racketeering costs that allege he ran his state and political operations as a felony enterprise.
He is charged together with Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from southern Quincy state who for years was one in every of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both males have pleaded not responsible and denied any wrongdoing.
Solis’ extremely anticipated testimony supplied the end result of a saga that started almost eight and a half years in the past, when FBI brokers confronted Solis at his dwelling in June 2016 and confirmed him proof that they had gathered about his personal misdeeds.
Solis’ testimony Tuesday centered on Madigan’s alleged makes an attempt to get enterprise for his regulation agency from builders who had megaprojects underway in Solis’ ward.
“I’ll proceed to get you authorized enterprise,” Solis instructed Madigan in a video proven to jurors. “I’ve all types of issues taking place within the South Loop and the West Loop.”
Solis then threw a good larger bait, telling Madigan he might introduce him to Harry Skydell, the New York-based developer of the large $300 million renovation of the outdated publish workplace who’s Madigan’s counterpart, Ald. Edward Burke, had additionally pursued authorized work.
When Solis provided to introduce Madigan to Skydell, he had simply spent months of undercover work in opposition to Burke, involving dozens of telephone calls and conferences about Skydell’s publish workplace renovation venture.
In reality, essentially the most notorious line from Burke’s trial, through which Burke requested Solis “Did we land the tuna?” it had occurred greater than a yr earlier than Solis’ conversations with Madigan.
Burke, town’s longest-serving alderman and highly effective finance committee chairman, was convicted final yr and is serving a two-year jail sentence.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
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