CHICAGO — The government is calling its first witnesses in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday.
Prior to that, the attorney for Madigan’s co-defendant, Michael McClain, gave his opening statement Tuesday morning at the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
A 23-count indictment filed in March 2022 accuses the 82-year-old Madigan, the longest state House Speaker in U.S. history, of running Illinois and his political operations like a criminal enterprise. The 77-year-old McClain, Madigan’s longtime confidante described by the government as his right-hand man, was also named in six counts in the racketeering conspiracy.
Both are potentially facing heavy prison sentences if found guilty.
McClain, a former state legislator-turned-lobbyist from downstate Quincy, was found guilty in another corruption trial last year as part of a group dubbed the “ComEd Four.”
On Tuesday morning, McClain’s attorney told the jury of eight women and four men that in the hundreds of hours of secret recordings and thousands of documents used to charge the defendants, there isn’t a whiff of any illegal conduct by McClain.