On a Tuesday afternoon in May 2019, teams of FBI agents fanned out across Chicago and downstate Illinois to execute a series of raids on some of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s top associates.
It was a pivotal moment in the ComEd bribery investigation that would shake Illinois politics to its core, with agents seizing hundreds of pieces of evidence, including laptops, cellphones, ledgers, emails and business records.
But one unusual item, found during the search of the Quincy home of Michael McClain, a retired ComEd lobbyist and Madigan’s closest confidant, stood out.
Stuffed in a tote bag in the back of McClain’s silver Toyota Avalon was a handwritten “Magic Lobbying List,” with the names of former Madigan staffers, associates and allies, who’d gone on to lucrative lobbying careers, scrawled on stationery from a boutique hotel in Chicago.
The list was shown for the first time Tuesday in the ongoing trial of the “ComEd Four,” where McClain and three former ComEd executives and lobbyists are accused of conspiring to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to various Madigan-connected “subcontractors” in exchange for the powerful Democrat’s influence over legislation the utility wanted passed, or blocked, in Springfield.
The list of preferred and favored lobbyists was found by a team of agents headed by Ted McNamara, a now-retired FBI supervisor who helped lead the case against corrupt Chicago police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt, the historic “Family Secrets” Chicago mob case, and many other big investigations in his 30-year career.
McNamara testified Tuesday that along with the notes on Talbott Hotel stationery, agents found in the same tote bag a printed email from McClain with the subject “Magic Lobbyist List.”
“So since I do not roam the halls like I use to I do not have the same level of ‘on site’ engagement I use to have so I must rely on you somewhat,” the Dec. 9, 2018, email read. “A Friend of ours and myself have gone through the ‘magic list’ frankly culled quite a few names… there are now a little less than two dozen on the list.” McClain often referred to Madigan as a friend because he preferred not to mention his longtime pal by name.
The physical list went on in different iterations across five pages, including one with a shorter bunch of names broken into sections headed by a different number of “plus” symbols in an apparent rating system.
Among them were former top Madigan political gurus Michael Thomson, Shaw Decremer, Bill Filan and Tom Cullen, along with Will Cousineau, who testified for prosecutors earlier in the trial.
The list also contained names of other longtime Madigan associates whose names have surfaced in the trial, such as top Madigan legal counsel Mike Kasper, lawyer and political consultant Victor Reyes, former legislators John Bradley, Annazette Collins and Toni Berrios, whose father, Joe Berrios, was the Cook County assessor and Democratic chair.
One page of the list also had a circle around the name of Nancy Kimme, the former chief of staff for Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka who became a key Republican lobbyist with the ability to reach out to both sides of the political aisle.
Another document found in one of McClain’s tote bags was a handwritten note that appeared to lay out McClain’s recent duties in assisting Madigan, since McClain had ostensibly retired in 2016 but continued to accept special political “assignments” from the speaker.
“Speaker: available 24/7 (calls),” read the note, which was shown in court. The second page of the note had the header “Special Assignments” followed by names including former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, who is one of McClain’s co-defendants.
Another header read “Diversion/Saving Speaker and Mapes,” a reference to Tim Mapes, Madigan’s longtime chief of staff who was ousted in a sexual harassment scandal in 2018. The note went on to refer to “minutes/members/lobbyists/seeing advice/wanting to visit with MJM/Mapes.”
Charged in the indictment are McClain, 75; Pramaggiore, 64; lobbyist John Hooker, 73; and Jay Doherty, 69, a lobbyist and consultant who formerly led the City Club of Chicago.
The defendants’ attorneys contend the alleged scheme was nothing more than legal lobbying, part of the state’s high-stakes, often-messy politics where myriad interest groups and stakeholders compete for access to lawmakers.
McClain and Madigan are charged in a separate corruption case that is tied to the ComEd scandal.
In addition to the raid on McClain’s home, the jury heard testimony about several other search warrants executed on the same day at the Chicago homes of 13th Ward precinct captains Ray Nice and Ed Moody, former 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski, and Decremer, who’d left Madigan’s operation for a lucrative lobbying gig.
At Decremer’s home in West Rogers Park, agents found a handwritten note of people he had previously made payments to, including Moody and ex-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, the speaker’s onetime assistant majority leader who had also moved into lobbying.
In the living room of Decremer’s condo was a baiduhai newspaper from May 2017 — two years before the raid — turned to a story headlined “House Speaker Madigan’s Much Lower Profile.” Included with the article was a photo of McClain siting on a bench holding court with Decremer and Thomson outside Madigan’s office at the Capitol.
In the raid on Moody’s bungalow on West 63rd Place, agents found a framed photo of Madigan and Moody — but no documents indicating Moody had done any work for ComEd, according to court testimony.
Later in the day, an FBI agent walked the jury through a series of charts and spreadsheets detailing the $1.3 million in payments funneled to Madigan’s allies with subcontractors over the eight-year period of the alleged scheme.
Most of the payments came directly from Doherty’s consulting firm, while other funds were delivered through McClain and firms owned by Bradley, Decremer and Reyes, according to testimony.
The jury also heard more testimony from Janet Gallegos, Doherty’s longtime administrative assistant, who handled ComEd’s payments to subcontractors being sent through J.D. Doherty & Associates.
Gallegos testified that she rarely saw the subcontractors, as most of the checks were mailed to their homes or businesses.
She said she saw Zalewski in person only twice. The first time he came into the office to pick up his check. The second time, she said, he “dropped off a ham for Christmas.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker also took Gallegos through a series of emails regarding the subcontracts, including some where she had to deal with a lag between Doherty’s contract being renewed by ComEd and the subcontractors being paid.
In April 2019, Zalewski emailed Gallegos about a delay in payment, saying he was going to meet Doherty and a mutual friend for lunch and was wondering if he should bring up the issue.
“I’m very grateful for what everyone has done to help me,” Zalewski’s email read. “The last check I received was November of last year. Please know, I AM NOT complaining.”
The FBI raided the City Club offices a month later.
In her cross-examination, Gabrielle Sansonetti, one of Doherty’s lawyers, attempted to portray Doherty in a favorable light in his activities as a lobbyist registered with Chicago, Cook County and the state of Illinois.
Gallegos agreed that, to her knowledge, Doherty always did things by the book and didn’t keep things secret.
“No wink-wink, nod-nod?” Sansonetti asked.
“No,” Gallegos said.