Will County Gazette

Political activist Scott Tarpley says bribery allegations by the U.S. Attorney's Office against Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is an indication that the Trump administration is getting to the bottom of more corruption.

As previously reported, ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine after a federal investigation exposed alleged payments of more than $1.3 million to associates of Madigan.

“It's interesting that Republican governors couldn't get to the bottom of any of it,” said Tarpley, a former Champaign County Board spokesman. “Madigan's been protected by the Chicago machine and his daughter, Lisa. Now, the Trump administration and the feds are actually getting to the bottom of it. That's pretty significant. It's also interesting that Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested a couple of days after President Trump fired the Southern District of New York prosecutor. One domino at a time, President Trump is draining the swamp. This is part of it.”

Lisa Madigan is the former Illinois attorney general. Her father the head of the Illinois Democratic Party, has been in office since 1971. Except for one two-year period, he has served as House Speaker during that time. 

“Mr. Madigan has been involved in well-documented corruption for forever so, to me, the biggest question is why now, why today and what took so long,” Tarpley told the Will County Gazette.

The U.S. Attorney's Office detailed the alleged bribery scheme in which Madigan is referred to as 'Public Official A'.

“ComEd arranged for various associates of Public Official A, including Public Official A’s political allies and individuals who performed work for Public Official A, to obtain jobs, vendor subcontracts, and monetary payments associated with those jobs and subcontracts at ComEd, even in instances where certain political allies and workers performed little or no work that they were purportedly hired to perform at ComEd,” the outline states.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said in Waukegan last week that Madigan should leave office if the allegations prove to be true. 

But Tarpley described the Democrats as being ‘all in on it together.’ 

“They’re one big happy family,” he said. “All of the Democrats in Illinois have been recipients of Madigan's largesse. They're all involved in it. Every single one of them. If you're a Democrat in Illinois, you have been tainted by Michael Madigan's money, period, including former President Barack Obama. He grew up in the swamp.”

After the agreement with ComEd was announced, John Lausch, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said at a news conference, "Corruption is a continuing problem in Illinois.”

Although Lausch refused to name Madigan, the document clearly identified Public Official A as the speaker of the House for the state of Illinois. Madigan, through a spokesperson, denied any wrongdoing.

“Standard operating procedure in Illinois,” Tarpley said. “Corruption is expensive. That’s why it costs so much to live here.”