Four people convicted in May 2023 of a lengthy conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on behalf of ComEd argued Monday their case should be put on hold because of an executive order handed down last week by President Donald Trump.
Among them is Michael McClain, the man who just spent four months on trial with Madigan but avoided a second conviction when jurors failed to reach a verdict Wednesday on six additional counts McClain faced.
If the defendants are successful, it could be the first time Trump’s actions have had a direct known effect on an active public corruption case in Chicago. Their attorneys hope to appear Feb. 25 before U.S. District Judge Manish Shah, who presides over the ComEd case.
Nearly two years have passed since a jury convicted McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty of the ComEd bribery conspiracy. The four were accused of the same scheme that led, in part, to Madigan’s conviction last week.
Prosecutors say ComEd paid $1.3 million to Madigan’s allies over eight years so Madigan would look favorably at the utility’s legislation. The money was paid to Madigan’s allies through intermediaries, and the recipients allegedly did little or no work.
However, the 2023 ComEd case has been tied up in legal limbo for more than a year, and the four defendants have yet to be sentenced. That’s mostly because the U.S. Supreme Court picked up a Northwest Indiana corruption case that raised questions about a bribery law at play in local corruption cases, including Madigan’s.
Shah could hand down a ruling any day on how the high court’s decision affects the ComEd case.
Now, defense attorneys are also pointing to a Feb. 10 executive order from Trump pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The president’s order says the law’s use has been “stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States.”
The law was enacted to bar “payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business,” according to the Justice Department’s website. However, the four defendants in the ComEd case were convicted under the law for falsifying books and records — not for “the bribery of foreign officials,” as their attorneys have pointed out.
Four of the nine counts in the ComEd case are tied to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Trump’s order cites a 180-day period in which the U.S. attorney general is expected to review enforcement of the law. It says use of the law, going forward, will be governed by updated guidelines or policies and “must be specifically authorized by the Attorney General.”
In a Feb. 5 memo, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote that the Justice Department’s criminal division “shall prioritize investigations related to foreign bribery that facilitates the criminal operations” of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations, “and shift focus away from investigations and cases that do not involve such a connection” when it comes to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Defense attorneys for the four ComEd defendants pointed to Trump’s order in an email last week to federal prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu replied Friday that his team was “aware of the recent order issued by the Attorney General and the President’s executive order concerning the FCPA and will comply with whatever review guidance we receive in [the] future.”
“We oppose your motion,” Bhachu added.
The defense attorneys filed copies of the emails along with their motion Monday.
“The FCPA charges brought against Defendants in [the ComEd case] do not implicate the bribery of foreign officials to facilitate human smuggling nor the trafficking of narcotics and firearms, so they fall outside the categories that the Attorney General has directed prosecutors to prioritize,” the defense attorneys argued in the motion before Shah.
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