West Cook News

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy recently called out House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Rep. Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero) for killing an investigation into former House Speaker Michael Madigan. 

“Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez, and other Democrats on the Special Investigating Committee failed the people of Illinois, and it is no surprise they continue to cover up the truth," Tracy said in a press release. "Why did Welch and Hernandez refer to the special investigation committee on Madigan as a ‘political show’ and ‘sham investigation’? They had the opportunity to uphold their oaths of office and end the culture of corruption but chose not to. This guilty verdict only proved what we already knew – that Illinois Democrat corruption is not a Republican talking point but something that is unfortunately real, pervasive, and a serious threat to honest government.”

The Illinois Republican Party said Welch and Hernandez were rewarded for their loyalty to Madigan by being given leadership positions.

Tracy's comments come after former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker along with Madigan associate Michael McClain and lobbyist Jay Doherty, who previously ran the City Club of Chicago, were convicted of scheming to pay $1.3 million to Madigan-connected people and companies. 

As part of the scheme, ComEd provided jobs – some of which were no-show – and contracts to those with connections to Madigan who at the time controlled the Democratic Party and had wielded power as the state’s most powerful politician as the longest serving state House Speaker in the nation. 

ComEd, the state’s largest utility, engaged in the scheme to influence Madigan in order to get preferential treatment in the state House. Prosecutors called the four defendants "grandmasters of corruption.” 

ComEd paid a $200 million fine in July 2020 and admitted to the scheme.

The 81-year-old Madigan was in power as House Speaker from 1983 to 1995 and then 1997 to 2021. He was an Illinois House member from 1971 to 2021 before stepping down amid the scandal. He is charged in a separate filing of 23 counts of public corruption related to the ComEd scandal and is facing a single count of public corruption from a similar scheme with AT&T. 

Madigan will go on trial in April 2024. Despite being under investigation, Madigan reportedly took part in the 2022 election campaign. Additionally, he transferred the last $10 million from his campaign budget to his defense fund.

The criticism of state Democrats comes just after former state senator Tom Cullerton was spotted working in Springfield as a lobbyist after serving jail time for taking a no-show position from the Teamsters.