The jury in Michael Madigan’s corruption trial heard many nicknames given to the highly effective Democratic House Speaker, from the apparent, like “MJM” or “Mr. Speaker,” to the extra esoteric ones like “Himself” and “Our Friend “.
But on Monday they heard a brand new one: “Sphinx.”
That was the nickname utilized to Madigan by some members of J.B. Pritzker’s staff after Pritzker’s 2018 election, in keeping with U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, who was a prime Pritzker aide earlier than his 2022 election to Congress.
The nickname, a reference to the legendary Egyptian pharaoh determine usually used to convey energy and ferocity, was utilized in an e-mail proven throughout Budzinski’s testimony that referenced a job suggestion from Madigan for the brand new administration Pritzker.
“Attached is the latest listing of suggestions from the Sphinx forward of your assembly in the present day,” reads the Dec. 4, 2018, e-mail from Budzinski to Pritzker and his future chief of employees, Anne Caprara. “We seen them in our course of and they’re coming by way of our portal.”
This will not be the primary time Madigan has been known as a Sphinx in political circles. Indeed, a few of the speaker’s mates and colleagues typically known as him “the Sphinx of Pulaski Road,” a reference to his thirteenth District headquarters at sixty fifth and Pulaski.
But Budzinski’s testimony was the primary the jury heard about. And whereas he confirmed that “Sphinx” was a reference to Madigan, he could not clarify why.
In cross-examination, Madigan’s legal professional Lari Dierks requested whether or not the “Sphinx” nickname was a part of Madigan’s “delusion” in Springfield.
“I am unable to actually discuss it. It wasn’t my nickname,” Budzinski testified.
The picture of Madigan, a well-known Southwest Sider Irishman, as a monumental desert behemoth with the top of a human, the physique of a lion and the wings of an eagle introduced some levity to a day of in any other case fast and straightforward testimony in Madigan’s Trial, which is now in its tenth week.
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey adjourned the trial for the day after simply an hour so the events might attend providers for longtime seventh Circuit Judge Joel Flaum, who died final week on the age of 88 years.
Testimony will resume Tuesday morning. Prosecutors stated they could dismiss the case in chief later this week.
Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who was speaker of the Illinois House for many years and head of the state Democratic Party, faces racketeering fees that allege he ran his state and political operations as a felony enterprise.
He is charged alongside together with his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, a former contract lobbyist for ComEd from southern Quincy state. Both males have pleaded not responsible and denied any wrongdoing.
Budzinski, a Springfield Democrat elected to the U.S. House final yr, was a senior adviser to Pritzker in his 2018 marketing campaign to unseat Gov. Bruce Rauner and later was a key aide in Pritzker’s new administration.
When she took the stand Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu requested her, “When you are not testifying in federal courtroom, are you able to inform the jury what your day job is?”
“I’m a consultant of the United States,” he stated. “I symbolize Illinois’ thirteenth district in Congress.”
After Pritzker’s election in 2018, Budzinski turned the chief director of the transition committee, serving to to “choose, interview and rent numerous people in state authorities and boards and commissions.” Pritzker had ultimate say on any hires, Budzinski stated.
The transition staff created a authorities portal the place all candidates needed to register, Budzinski stated. Other candidates got here in through LinkedIn and different social media. They additionally obtained suggestions from elected officers and different authorities officers.
Budzinski stated he was conscious that Madigan had been “a legislative chief for a very long time” and that they gave “critical consideration” to any job suggestion that got here from him. But he stated the suggestions from any of the 4 legislative leaders have been certainly not a slam dunk.
“We did a number of due diligence,” Budzinski stated. “We actually took vetting each single candidate that was really helpful to us very significantly.”
Jurors have been proven an e-mail from Budzinski to different Pritzker transition employees saying that they had the resume of a man from New York searching for a place with the Illinois Department of Transportation who “ought to have MJM”.
“We have to not less than name him and perhaps perhaps think about him for second place,” Budzinski wrote.
According to the indictment, one in every of Madigan’s suggestions was then-Ald. Daniel Solis, who labored undercover for federal investigators and requested Madigan to assist him get a state board place within the Pritzker administration as a part of an increase within the FBI.
Jurors have already watched an undercover video wherein Solis requested Madigan for assist getting on a state board that paid not less than $100,000, together with the Labor Relations Board or the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Prosecutors additionally offered proof that Madigan despatched Solis details about state boards and commissions in response.
The indictment in opposition to Madigan alleges that he met with Pritzker in December 2018 and talked about Solis as a candidate for a seat on the board.
But Budzinski was not requested particularly about Solis in his testimony, which lasted solely about half-hour.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
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