Will County Gazette

Veteran Illinois state Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) isn’t surprised by House Speaker Mike Madigan’s consistency.

“He’s never talked about anything he’s been involved in. Why would he do it now?” Batinick told the Will County Gazette after Madigan refused to appear before a bipartisan Special House committee now looking into some of his most questionable actions. “It’s the way Mike Madigan’s operated ever since he’s been in Springfield. Even the governor thinks he should answer questions, so I definitely think he should appear and the committee should be doing all it can to make sure that happens.”

Amid the backdrop of an ongoing ComEd federal corruption probe, Madigan recently let it be known he has no intention of answering questions about his suspected involvement before the bipartisan panel. The state’s longest-tenured lawmaker made his feelings clear in a three-page letter he sent to committee members in which he also forcefully defended his widely known practice of patronage hiring as not “ethically improper.”

“Everyone knows patronage hiring is bad,” Batinick added. “It goes against everything our government should stand for.”

Batinick has long felt the walls are closing in on Madigan in the widening probe, particularly after federal investigators moved this summer to charge former ComEd top executive Fidel Marquez with bribery and conspiracy in connection with the scheme. Marquez marked the second top company official to be hit with such charges.

“I definitely think this brings the investigation closer to Madigan because it’s another person that hopefully will be willing to talk about what he was trying to do and how it all works,” Batinick added. “I’ve been concerned it’s going to take something like this to really clean up Springfield.”