Will County Gazette

House Republican Floor Leader Mark Batinick’s calls about longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan just grew louder.

“I’ve been saying for months now that the speaker has to go,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette shortly after federal authorities revealed Madigan now stands at the center of an ongoing corruption probe involving utility giant ComEd. “Before now, it was the ghost-payrolling and cover-up scheme and the string of sexual harassment complaints in his organization. All of this corruption took place on his watch involving his people, which says either he knew about it or absolutely should have known.”

Madigan, who easily reigns as the longest-tenured lawmaker in the state, was named by his position as prosecutors asserted Commonwealth Edison engaged in a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments that were steered to him in his role as house speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

While stopping short of formally levying any charges, prosecutors contend ComEd attempted to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

“To all these people that are saying, ‘He needs to resign if these things are proven true,’ like I said – we already know enough to know he needs to go,” Batinick added. “By now, that much should be clear to all of us.”

In publicly announcing the case against ComEd public, U.S. Attorney John Lausch noted the investigation is ongoing. The Chicago Tribune reports federal investigators have moved to subpoena Madigan for information, including “possible job recommendations.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Madigan said he plans to cooperate with the probe, adding “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.”

Batinick isn’t buying it, adding that he only sees one way for all people of the state insisting that they want change to get what they are demanding.

“All the Democratic lawmakers of this state need to grow a spine and finally stand up to Madigan by doing what’s right for the people of this state,” he said. “We all know he needs to go.”