Federal prosecutors within the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan may have an opportunity Tuesday to ask former Ald. Daniel Solis on his collaboration in opposition to one other “high-ranking official” – however they will not be capable to say the identify Edward M. Burke.
Solis, whose stunning position as an FBI mole is on the middle of the Madigan and Burke instances, was on the stand for six days testifying about wiretapped conversations and undercover recordings he product of Madigan allegedly agreeing to undertake a official motion in change for Solis’s assist in selling non-public authorized exercise.
Defense attorneys have spent the final two days attacking Solis throughout cross-examination, questioning Solis’ prison acts in addition to his unprecedented take care of the U.S. Attorney’s Office that may depart him and not using a felony conviction and can permit him to keep up his place. City pension of $110,000 a yr.
After cross-examination concluded Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey held a prolonged convention with attorneys earlier than sending the jury off to an early lunch.
With the jury out of the courtroom, the decide mentioned that due to the width of the cross, prosecutors throughout the redirected examination may query Solis about different points of his undercover work that led to expenses in opposition to others people, together with a former “senior” -ranking authorities official.
However, prosecutors mentioned they may warn Solis upfront to not say Burke’s identify.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur may also be capable to ask Solis particularly concerning the expenses in opposition to Robert Caldero, a longtime political operative of U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who gave Solis Viagra and organized intercourse acts for the alderman in a lounge North Side Massages.
Caldero was accused in 2021 of influencing a $1 billion Chicago Public Schools janitorial contract and utilizing Solis’ energy to solicit marketing campaign cash to have a park and avenue renamed for the donor’s family members . He is presently serving a 57-month jail sentence.
MacArthur may also let the jury know that Solis’ cooperation led to expenses in opposition to Pedro Soto, the previous high aide to CPS CEO Janice Jackson accused of mendacity to the FBI about passing categorised details about the bid to Caldero. Soto was sentenced final yr to probation.
The leeway granted to prosecutors comes a day after Madigan lawyer Dan Collins determined to call Burke in his cross, highlighting the contrasting types between Burke and Madigan in soliciting enterprise for his or her respective regulation corporations.
Collins requested Solis, did not Burke supply to pay you for authorized enterprise references? Didn’t Burke inform you issues like ‘the money register did not ring’ and ‘Did we land the tuna?’
“Mike Madigan by no means supplied you a dime, did he?” Collins requested, one of many few instances all day that he raised his voice.
Prosecutors objected to the road of questioning, and after a prolonged aspect listening to, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey informed the jury to disregard it.
“Ladies and gents, you have to utterly ignore the newest spherical of questions and solutions about Mr. Burke,” Blakey mentioned. “I’m not featured.”
Before the trial, Madigan’s protection group initially fought exhausting — and prosecutors agreed — to expunge any point out of the fees in opposition to Burke, who was convicted final yr for a sequence of bribery schemes and is serving a two-year jail sentence.
In a wierd twist, Burke’s former co-defendant, Peter Andrews, was sitting in Blakey’s courtroom Tuesday morning, listening to Solis’ cross-examination. Andrews, Burke’s longtime ward assistant, was acquitted of all expenses final yr.
Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for many years as speaker of the Illinois House earlier than resigning in 2021, faces a variety of racketeering expenses that allege he used his vital political and governmental energy to hold out a sequence of corruption plans.
He is charged together with Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from southern Quincy state who for years was certainly one of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both males have pleaded not responsible and denied any wrongdoing.
The trial, which started on October 8, is anticipated to final till mid-January.
Solis’ direct examination, which in whole lasted about 16 hours over 4 days, included dozens of wiretapped conversations and video recordings that Solis had secretly product of Madigan because the speaker competed for enterprise with massive builders in Solis’ twenty fifth Ward.
On Tuesday, McClain lawyer John Mitchell concluded cross-examination of Solis by noting that his shopper’s contact with the alderman was comparatively minimal and largely concerned updates on the standing of laws that may permit parking improvement in Chinatown .
Prosecutors allege that Madigan and McClain tried to pave the way in which for that laws in a plan to persuade builders to rent Madigan’s non-public tax regulation agency.
Solis met McClain head to head solely twice. In one of many conferences, Solis famous that he was “capable of direct a few of the work” to Madigan. McClain, within the recording, doesn’t reply audibly however continues to speak about political technique.
This, Mitchell closely implied, was not sufficient to really be incriminating.
“Did you by no means ask McClain, ‘Did you recognize I led authorized work previously?’” Mitchell requested.
“I believe I let on,” Solis mentioned. “…I did not ask that particular query.”
Mitchell introduced up a dialog throughout which McClain and Solis commiserated over how flagrant some politicians are about their doable wrongdoings. Some have been untrustworthy, they agreed, others spoke too freely in ways in which may get them into bother.
Mitchell, hoping to distinction this with Solis’ checkered previous, famous that the alderman had by no means informed McClain about any of this: not the Viagra, not the therapeutic massage parlors, not the irregular tax returns or the questionable use of marketing campaign funds, nor the hedonistic journey to Puerto Rico.
“It by no means got here up, no,” Solis mentioned of the marketing campaign funds.
On Monday, Madigan lawyer Dan Collins spent 5 hours questioning Solis about every little thing from prostitutes to smoking pot throughout a Puerto Rican tour with different elected officers to potential tax fraud involving greater than half 1,000,000 {dollars} that Solis has acquired from his sister.
Over and over, Collins received Solis to agree that Madigan had by no means requested Solis to dam a challenge or take motion in opposition to a developer as a result of they hadn’t employed Madigan’s agency to enchantment property taxes.
In truth, Collins identified, it was Solis who floated these concepts in entrance of Madigan, peppering his dialog with sentimental discuss his household and his private state of affairs and, on the path of the FBI, asking Madigan to assist nominate him to a publish of labor. Council of State when he retired from the City Council.
At the top of greater than 5 hours of questioning, Collins, a former federal prosecutor, recalled a transcript of a key 2018 assembly wherein Solis raised positions with the Labor Relations Board or the Commerce Commission, each of which he mentioned have been “very beneficiant.” of their compensation.”
During the change, Solis informed the speaker that “a number of good issues have been taking place” in his ward and that “you may have been excellent to me and I’ll assist you to.”
Collins requested Solis to learn Madigan’s response aloud:
“No, don’t fret.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
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