Will County Gazette

Although Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has been implicated by federal officials in a years-long bribery plot involving Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), he’s not been charged, according to a July 17 Chicago Sun-Times story.

About $1.3 million allegedly was paid to individuals associated with Madigan, and records disclose that ComEd agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Madigan is not identified by name in the charging documents, released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but  "Public Official A" is believed to be Madigan who has been in office since 1971.

Will County Republican chairman George Pearson issued the following statement after the release of the records:

“I hope that if the fine is paid that it's returned to the citizens of Illinois because we've actually paid more than $150 million over the last couple election cycles to ComEd for the increase of the smart meters and rate increases over the last three years. I also hope other corporations will be held accountable, such as AT&T and Walgreens, that have also contributed to the ‘pay to play’ environment we have here in Illinois.”

Whether Madigan will be forced to step down, Pearson added, will depend on how much scrutiny is applied. According to WBEZ, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is investigating whether ComEd hired contractors with political ties in order to influence government actions, such as rate increases for electricity.

“Putting a stop to this will require the continuation by the federal government to widen the net and pursue those who have received six- and seven-figure jobs,” Pearson told the Will County Gazette. “What they've done in order to control their minions is give them, as well as their family members, jobs with a lot of these companies so that they will continue to vote Democrat and support their nonsense. 

"The problem is a lot of these folks won't make a federal case for them to conduct a proper investigation because they're afraid their family members will go to jail. As far as I'm concerned, any family members that have benefited from the cheating of Illinois residents should go to jail. They should lose those jobs because they did not earn them. Those jobs were given to them to support a crooked industry. This is nothing more than mob rule.”

Pearson also pointed out that the Chicago Sun-Times reported Gov. J.B Pritzker allegedly was the beneficiary of a tax break provided by former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios.

“If you pull out a toilet and a firm you use says the house was inhabitable because you pulled off the toilets to gain a $330,000 tax decrease on a Gold Coast mansion, that’s not the spirit of the rules,” Pearson said. “Did they meet the burden? How many homeowners here in Illinois have seen property tax increases over the last 35 years since Madigan’s rule and Joe Berrios’ existence in Cook County?”