After 30 days of testimony over three months, prosecutors on Wednesday rested their case in chief within the blockbuster public corruption trial of Michael Madigan, the immensely highly effective former speaker of the Illinois House and chief of the state Democratic Party.
Prosecutors offered about 150 wiretapped calls and undercover video recordings within the case in opposition to Madigan and his co-defendant, former lobbyist Michael McClain.
And the federal government put greater than 50 witnesses on the stand, together with two males sporting FBI physique cameras: former ComEd government Fidel Marquez and, maybe most memorably, former City Councilman Daniel Solis.
The case now passes to the protection, which has the chance to current its proof. They are more likely to name far fewer prosecution witnesses, and the trials might wrap up completely as early as Thursday, even with the federal government ready for rebuttal testimony.
The first protection witness, known as by McClain’s attorneys, was former AT&T Illinois insider Stephen Selcke. Selcke was concerned in negotiations surrounding a request by McClain in 2017 to safe a contract for former state Rep. Edward Acevedo.
The request got here as AT&T was pushing key laws to finish necessary landline service, generally referred to by the acronym COLR.
Selcke, who was a part of AT&T’s authorities affairs crew earlier than his retirement in 2019, was initially on the prosecution’s witness record, however prosecutors introduced they’d not have him testify in any case.
It shouldn’t be obscure why the protection wished the jury to listen to Selcke. He testified in a earlier Madigan-adjacent trial that he did not consider the corporate supposed bribery when, at McClain’s request, they agreed to pay Acevedo a $2,500 month-to-month contract for little or no work.
Selcke reiterated that place Wednesday on the witness stand, the place he was requested by McClain’s legal professional John Mitchell whether or not McClain had ever threatened that Madigan would strike down their laws if Acevedo wasn’t employed.
“No, I’m not conscious of this ever taking place,” Selcke mentioned.
“Did Mike McClain ever promise that if AT&T supplied Eddie Acevedo a job, Madigan would go the COLR invoice?” Mitchell requested.
“No,” Selcke mentioned.
Selcke mentioned the objective all alongside was to have the ability to return to McClain and say that they had discovered one thing for Acevedo to take action he might “test the field” — because the then-AT&T president wrote in an electronic mail Paul La Schiazza – and get credit score for being responsive.
Selcke additionally mentioned, to his information, nobody advised Acevedo that his contract wouldn’t require precise work. And whereas he personally would not attempt to rent Acevedo, as the previous chief of the House Latino caucus, he introduced a number of issues to the desk.
“I believe it trusted what Eddie was requested to do whether or not or not he might be an asset or not,” Selcke mentioned.
AT&T determined to rent Acevedo to jot down a report on Latino members of the General Assembly and Chicago City Council, Selcke testified.
He was not requested whether or not Acevedo really wrote that report or not.
An FBI agent testified Tuesday that an in depth search of AT&T supplies turned up no proof of labor executed by Acevedo. And Tom Cullen, an outdoor AT&T lobbyist, advised jurors this week that he had by no means seen a report — and Acevedo’s task was one thing of an inside joke amongst AT&T’s high brass.
“It wasn’t seen as a relationship that was price something, actually,” Cullen mentioned. “It was just a few sort of joke.”
Selcke appeared to contradict among the testimony given earlier this week by Acevedo himself, who advised the jury that as a part of his work for AT&T he typically met with Selcke on the Capitol gate and gave him updates on conferences he had attended.
Selcke, nonetheless, testified that after Acevedo was employed, he acquired no updates from anybody concerning the work he was doing.
Just earlier than the lunch break, Selcke testified concerning the morning the FBI got here to his dwelling in 2019. It was 6:30 a.m. and he was nonetheless sleeping, he mentioned.
“My spouse opened the door. She got here again and mentioned, ‘Hey, the FBI is right here to speak to you,’” Selcke mentioned, chuckling. “I believed he was joking. But it wasn’t.
Many members of the jury laughed together with Selcke at his story.
Selcke was not charged. He was finally given a letter of immunity from the U.S. legal professional’s workplace and can’t be charged with something he says on the witness stand, so long as he tells the reality.
His testimony will resume after the lunch break.
Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who was speaker of the Illinois House for many years and head of the state Democratic Party, faces racketeering expenses that allege he ran his state and political operations as a legal enterprise.
He is charged alongside together with his longtime confidant McClain, 77, a former contract lobbyist for ComEd from southern Quincy state and longtime Madigan confidant. Both males have pleaded not responsible and denied any wrongdoing.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
Originally printed:
