Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Monday they plan to call former Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis to the witness stand at the upcoming corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, marking a key change in strategy on how to introduce secret recordings Solis made during his turn as an FBI mole.
The disclosure came in a lengthy filing that also made public new details in the investigation of Madigan, the longtime former leader of the state Democratic Party who is charged in a racketeering indictment with using his office to bolster his own political power and rain cash on his friends.
The decision to call Solis is an about-face for the U.S. attorney’s office, which decided last year not to call the former alderman in the trial of former Ald. Edward Burke. Solis secretly recorded Burke for more than a year as he allegedly schemed to pressure developers in the massive $600 million renovation of the Main Post Office to hire his law firm to do property tax work.
Solis wound up being called as a witness by the defense, though attempts to dirty him up over his own allegedly corrupt acts appeared to have backfired since Burke was convicted on every Post Office count.
According to the new document in the Madigan case, which was filed several days after the original deadline due to technical issues at the U.S. attorney’s office, Solis will provide “devastating” testimony that adds context to many of Madigan’s responses on the secret recordings and allegedly shows how he was using Solis to get introductions to big-time developers, including the New York-based firm in charge of the Post Office project.
“Solis is expected to testify that Madigan continued to ask Solis during his cooperation to make introductions to developers so that Madigan could secure their tax business for his law firm,” prosecutors wrote.
In describing one conversation, “Solis is expected to testify that he asked Madigan for a state board position, and in return, Madigan asked Solis to introduce Madigan to (the Old Main Post Office developers),” prosecutors said.
When Solis asked Madigan about the process of getting a state board spot, the speaker was recorded telling Solis that he would go to then-Gov. elect J.B. Pritzker and that Solis would “come in as Pritzker’s recommendation.”
“Solis is expected to testify he understood this to mean that Madigan would convince (Pritzker) to appoint him to the state board,” prosecutors said.
In another conversation, Solis tells Madigan the developers of a Chinatown parcel understood that there was a “quid pro quo” over hiring Madigan’s firm to help get the deal done.
Madigan responded, “Okay,” according to the filing.
“This call is devastating evidence that Madigan intended to personally benefit himself by causing Solis to leverage his official position to in turn cause (the Chinatown developer) to give Madigan business,” prosecutors wrote.
The 23-count indictment alleges Madigan participated in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 aimed at using the power of his public office for personal and political gain.
The case punctuated a stunning downfall for Madigan, the longest serving leader of any legislative chamber in the nation who held an ironclad grip on the state legislature as well as the Democratic party and its political spoils. He was dethroned as speaker in early 2021 as the investigation swirled around him, and soon after resigned the House seat he’d held since 1971.
Also charged in the indictment was Madigan’s longtime confidant, Michael McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist who is facing separate charges alleging he orchestrated an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison.
That same alleged scheme forms the backbone of the indictment against Madigan and McClain, outlining a plan by the utility giant to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists favored by Madigan in order to win his influence over legislation the company wanted passed in Springfield.
Both Madigan and McClain have vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Their lawyers have until April 26 to respond.
In addition to the ComEd allegations, the indictment also accuses Madigan and McClain in a similar scheme to funnel payments from AT&T to a Madigan associate in exchange for the speaker’s influence over legislation the telephone company wanted passed in Springfield.
Madigan is also charged alone with illegally soliciting business for his private property tax law firm during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.
Solis recorded numerous conversations with Madigan as part of the Chinatown land probe, including one where the speaker told Solis he was looking for a colleague to sponsor a House bill approving the land sale, which was never consummated.
“I have to find out about who would be the proponent in the House,” Madigan allegedly told Solis in the March 2018 conversation. “We gotta find the appropriate person for that. I have to think it through.”
The indictment also alleged that Madigan met with Pritzker in December 2018 in part to discuss a lucrative state board position for Solis, ostensibly as a reward for helping Madigan win law business.
Before that meeting, Solis allegedly recorded Madigan telling him the speaker’s communication with Pritzker did not need to be in writing,” according to the indictment. “I can just verbally tell him,” Madigan allegedly said.
Pritzker, who agreed to be interviewed by the feds and is not accused of any wrongdoing, has said he “does not recall” Madigan ever asking him to consider Solis “for any position” and that the administration has no record of the alleged recommendation.
In the filing Monday, prosecutors said they will prove that the purposes of Madigan’s criminal enterprise included enhancing his own political power and financial well-being, financially rewarding Madigan’s political allies, political workers, and associates for their loyalty, and generating “income for members and associates of the enterprise through illegal activities.”
“Madigan was the leader of the enterprise, and he used his various positions to oversee, direct, and guide certain of the enterprise’s illegal activities,” prosecutors said.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
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