Illinois State House District 66 issued the following announcement on Sept. 10
Speaker Madigan’s Guilt Already Established Through the ComEd Admission; Madigan has a Chance to Refute, But Consequences Are in Order
State Representative Allen Skillicorn (R-Dundee) of the 66th District applauds the move to create a Special Investigating Committee (SIC) and the legislative inquiry into Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s participation and knowledge of ‘pay-to-play’ corruption with Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) through jobs for his allies and friends with favorable legislation the end result for ComEd.
“Speaker Madigan needs to go before the Investigating Committee and answer questions. It is his opportunity to publicly refute his guilt that is already established with the ComEd admission to this corruption through the U.S. Attorney’s investigation,” said Rep. Skillicorn.
Federal prosecutors have revealed conspiracy and bribery charges against the ComEd’s former top in-house lobbyist, Fidel Marquez, who was senior vice president for governmental external affairs at the utility giant from 2012 to 2019, is charged with giving out jobs, contracts and payments to benefit Madigan, referred to in court documents as “Public Official A.”
This process, historically, has been used for lawmakers accused of crimes such as former State Representative Luis Aroyo and ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. This time with the focus on the longest-serving House Speaker in American history and sitting Democratic Party chair is an extraordinary event.
The House committee convened this morning to begin investigating whether Madigan improperly boosted ComEd’s legislative fortunes after the utility admitted it doled out jobs and contracts to his associates in a long-running bribery scheme.
The committee will determine whether Madigan engaged in any wrong-doing which is the first step in a process that could end in sanctions against the speaker and even expulsion from the Illinois House of Representatives. “Though Speaker Madigan himself has not been charged at this point, the expanding federal probe into ComEd’s interactions with the speaker and his allies is clear and disciplinary actions by the Illinois House are in order for Madigan without delay,” added Rep. Skillicorn.
Original source can be found here.
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