A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the unsealing of a court filing containing excerpts of grand jury testimony by Tim Mapes, the former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan who was indicted last year on obstruction of justice charges.
The order by U.S. District Judge John Lee came after Mapes’ attorney, Andrew Porter, filed a motion to dismiss under seal last week out of “an abundance of caution,” since grand jury testimony typically is kept secret.
But since the charges against Mapes are directly related to that testimony, both Porter and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz on Tuesday agreed that what is contained in the defense motion can be made public. Lee directed the clerk of the U.S. District Court to unseal the motion, but the filing was still not visible on the docket as of Tuesday evening.
Mapes, 66, of Springfield, has pleaded not guilty to lying to a grand jury investigating sprawling corruption allegations against Madigan, including an alleged scheme by utility giant Commonwealth Edison to bribe Madigan by paying his associates as lobbyists and consultants in exchange for the speaker’s help with legislation in Springfield.
The 11-page indictment alleged Mapes repeatedly lied during a March 31, 2021, appearance before the grand jury when asked about Madigan’s relationship with his longtime confidant Michael McClain, who was charged in 2020 with orchestrating the ComEd bribery scheme.
Mapes also lied when he said he had no knowledge that McClain had communicated with two unnamed state representatives in 2018 on Madigan’s behalf, the indictment alleged. The Tribune reported they are Rep. Bob Rita of Blue Island and former Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie.
Mapes is one of the closest advisers from Madigan’s extremely small circle of trusted associates to face federal charges. He has denied wrongdoing and maintained that federal authorities are attempting to squeeze him to give up incriminating information on Madigan.
His attorneys have said in court filings their defense will include that Madigan “kept information close to the vest” and “kept private conversations with others private,” and that McClain “often talked mysteriously, cryptically, and oddly — including about and when referring to Madigan.”
Madigan and McClain were indicted last month on racketeering conspiracy charges alleging a range of corruption schemes spanning more than a decade, including the scheme involving ComEd. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Mapes’ attorneys, meanwhile, filed a second motion on Friday asking that references to him being granted immunity by prosecutors be stricken from the indictment against him.
Mapes’ attorneys say there was no legal reason for prosecutors to include the references to immunization and speculated in their filing that prosecutors were putting other witnesses on notice about “the weapons at its disposal” if they didn’t testify as expected.
“One possible motive for adding such language to the indictment is to send a signal to other witnesses with whom the government was attempting to meet in 2021 concerning its investigation of Mr. Madigan,” the motion stated. “While the government may have had a motive to publicize to other potential witnesses the weapons at its disposal, the fact of immunization has no relevance to the charges against Mr. Mapes.”
Lee gave prosecutors two weeks to respond. A status hearing was set for June 1.
Mapes’ indictment in May 2021 caught many by surprise, particularly since he was granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. attorney’s office and warned by the chief judge before his testimony before the grand jury that failing to answer truthfully could result in criminal charges against him.
In 2018, Mapes lost his public positions as Madigan’s chief of staff and House clerk when a staffer accused Mapes of sexual harassment over several years and fostering “a culture of sexism, harassment and bullying that creates an extremely difficult working environment.”
Mapes had received an annual public salary of $208,000 working for Madigan. He also lost his position as executive director of the Madigan-run Democratic Party of Illinois. He now receives an annual public pension of $141,306.