Galesburg Reporter

ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million in a federal bribery probe in which Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan also is implicated.  

Madigan is alleged to have been a private beneficiary of the bribes that Commonwealth Edison has confessed to paying for nearly 10 years. The federal statement on the settlement said that it tried to prompt and pay “Public Official A,” who has been identified as Madigan, “in our around 2011 and continued through in or around 2019,” according to ABC 7 Chicago. Madigan allegedly acquired money for himself and his close friends, such as precinct captains. 

While Madigan has yet to face charges in the U.S. Attorney’s criminal charges case, he has still been implicated in the high-profile investigation. 

Meanwhile, ComEd has conceded to paying $200 million to end the investigation after multiple years. Under this deal, ComEd’s liability will be erased when it holds up its end of the deal, including the close of the criminal prosecution against it. 

Madigan’s office released a statement, insisting that he had no involvement in the misconduct.

"The speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer, nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended,” the statement reads, according to ABC7.

The statement also denies that Madigan’s legislative moves were with ill will. He has received and accepted subpoenas for certain papers and files related to the case. Some of the subpoenas, obtained by ABC7, were linked to AT&T, Rush University Medical Center, and Walgreens.

“(Madigan) has never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here. Any claim to the contrary is unfounded. This morning the speaker accepted subpoenas related to his various offices for documents, asking for, among other things, documents related to possible job recommendations,” the statement continued. “He will cooperate and respond to those requests for documents, which he believes will clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the federal prosecutor's statement “disturbing,” according to ABC7.