THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Madigan...Choate...Team Pritzker goes to London town...
July 13, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
We had a momentary bit of excitement last night after a tornado warning drove us to the basement for a little while last night. A tornado was reported to touch down near O’Hare, which is about 5 miles from our front door. Thankfully, all was well in our neck of the woods.
Our friends at Cor Strategies released the first poll in the Darren Bailey/Mike Bost primary in the southern Illinois-based 12th Congressional District yesterday. You can watch their breakdown here. I’ll have more for subscribers tomorrow.
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Let’s get to it.
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Feds call defense efforts to gut racketeering case against Michael Madigan ‘totally baseless’ (Chicago Tribune)
Former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s attempt to suppress the dozens of wiretapped calls and secret recordings that form the backbone of the government’s bombshell racketeering case is a “flimsy effort to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” federal prosecutors said in a motion Tuesday.
The 152-page filing also ripped defense claims that the indictment fails to connect any benefits Madigan allegedly received from utility giants Commonwealth Edison and AT&T Illinois to any action the powerful speaker took — or didn’t — on particular legislation.
“Without batting an eye, time and again Madigan stood prepared to take official action in his capacity as an Illinois representative and Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, at times with the connivance and assistance of his confederate (Michael) McClain, in exchange for legal work being steered to his private law firm,” the filing stated.
The government’s response to defense pretrial motions is part of a protracted legal battle in a case that rocked Illinois politics and ultimately ended Madigan’s record run as the state’s most powerful politician.
The filing Tuesday goes deep into the legal weeds at times but also lays out in the starkest language yet what prosecutors intend to prove at trial: That Madigan, the longest-serving legislative leader in the country, “exploited his position as a high-ranking public official to manipulate the levers of state and local government for the purpose of illegally enriching himself and his associates.”
“Madigan, together with his loyal lieutenant Michael McClain — a self-described soldier and faithful agent for Madigan — arranged for a flood of corrupt payments and perks to be doled out to Madigan and his associates in exchange and as a reward for Madigan’s abuse of his official powers,” the prosecution team, headed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, wrote in its filing.
Related: Ex-top aide to Madigan kept the former House speaker’s lawyer informed about meeting with FBI agents, prosecutors say (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘Let me put you on with the boss, OK?’: Feds detail wiretaps involving former Michael Madigan chief of staff (Chicago Tribune)
The 'ComEd Four' are fighting their corruption verdicts (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Problems with abuse, neglect and cover-ups at Choate extend to other developmental centers in Illinois (Capitol News Illinois)
This year, Illinois officials announced what seemed like a solution to the outcry over abuse and cover-ups at a state-run developmental center: Downsize the facility and move about half the residents elsewhere. Some of the roughly 120 relocated residents of the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center would receive care in community settings. Others are expected to end up in one of the six developmental centers located in other parts of the state.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou said the plan would “reshape the way the state approaches care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
But a new investigation by Lee Enterprises Midwest, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica has found that the problems at Choate extend to the other centers as well. People with developmental disabilities living in Illinois’ publicly run institutions have been punched, slapped, hosed down, thrown about and dragged across rooms; in other cases, staff failures contributed to patient harm and death, state police and internal investigative records show.
The Illinois State Police division that looks into alleged criminal wrongdoing by state employees investigates more allegations against workers at these seven residential centers than it does at any other department’s workplaces, including state prisons, which house far more people, according to an analysis of state police data.
It has opened 200 investigations into employee misconduct at these developmental centers since 2012 — most of them outside of Choate.
The state’s seven developmental centers, home to about 1,600 people, are situated from the bottom of the state at the edge of the Shawnee National Forest all the way north to the Wisconsin border. The oldest operating facility opened in 1873 and the newest one in 1987. They house dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of people with developmental disabilities in a hospital-like setting. These residents have a range of conditions: genetic, acquired from a problematic birth, or resulting from exposure to dangerous chemicals or from injury in childhood or adolescence.
As in other states, many of these facilities were built in small towns and rural areas. Today, they are short-staffed and at times chaotic and dangerous, according to a slew of reports and interviews with workers and advocates. This May, the safety concerns inside the developmental centers prompted a court-appointed monitor to urge IDHS to stop placing anyone covered by an expansive consent decree into any of the agency's developmental centers.
“Too many residents suffer physical injury, sexual assault and death to regard placement in such facilities as safe,” wrote Ronnie Cohn, the monitor and a New-York based expert on disability services, in a report that was prepared at the behest of a federal judge in ongoing proceedings.
Related: Illinois leaves three administrators in charge at Choate despite troubled history of resident care (The Southern Illinoisan)
London bridges? Pritzker to lead United Kingdom trade mission with state business and education leaders (Chicago Sun-Times)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker was planning to jet off to the United Kingdom Tuesday night for the first leg of a trade mission that includes meetings in London to strengthen economic cooperation between Illinois and Great Britain.
Pritzker plans to first attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed from Thursday though Sunday, in West Sussex, where he’ll discuss the state’s commitment to electric vehicle manufacturing with automobile and parts manufacturing leaders, the governor’s office said. He’ll also speak on a panel titled “Lawmakers and Infrastructure: The Context for the New Mobility.”
On Sunday, the governor will join a delegation of business and education leaders to meet with counterparts in London to discuss economic cooperation when it comes to manufacturing, clean energy and technology, quantum, hospitality and real estate. The governors’ office said Pritzker will return to Illinois on July 20.
Pritzker in January traveled to Davos, Switzerland, to speak at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting and promote the state’s achievements. And more international trips are in the works, according to his office.
“Now that travel is easier post-COVID, the governor’s office is looking forward to planning more international trips, including to Asia, potentially Canada, and also Mexico,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh told the Sun-Times.
First Lady M.K. Pritzker, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, and Pritzker’s chief of staff Anne Caprara are among those joining Pritzker on the London mission trip.
No word on if Pritzker will be spending any money on Savile Row while here’s in London.
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Pritzker issues disaster declaration for eight counties impacted by severe weather (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Pritzker proclaims disaster after record-setting rainfall, downstate tornadoes (Chicago Sun-Times)
State struggles to implement 2019 law that allows ‘X’ gender on IDs for nonbinary residents (Chicago Tribune)
New state law aimed at sparing kids trauma of testifying in court (Champaign News-Gazette)
Conyears-Ervin in a switch, poised to challenge Rep. Danny Davis in 7th District primary (Chicago Sun-Times)
Kina Collins announces third straight run for Congress against veteran US Rep. Danny Davis (Chicago Tribune)
Kamala Harris coming to Chicago July 24 for Democratic fundraiser (Chicago Sun-Times)
Larry Werries, who served as state ag director under Thompson, dies at 83 (State Journal-Register)
Editorial: Mayor Johnson’s transition report inspires — but sidesteps how to pay for it all (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Illinois has some of the most restrictive ballot access laws for third parties in the nation (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Cash continues to pour into Illinois' coffers (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Health equity, climate justice and the environment are deeply interconnected (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Tourism officials happy to report year end totals, hope trends continue (Shaw Media)
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