Illinois House Investigative Committee To Review Madigan’s Role In ComEd Scandal

From The Center Square:

By Greg Bishop

House Speaker Michael Madigan said he will recuse himself from taking any part in an investigative committee Republicans requested to look into the ComEd bribery and patronage scandal that implicated Madigan.

“When I learned that Minority Leader Jim Durkin and two Republican members requested the House of Representatives establish an investigative committee related to the ComEd deferred prosecution agreement, I immediately recused myself and designated House Majority Leader Greg Harris to handle all aspects of this matter,” Madigan said in a statement.

Harris, D-Chicago, said Republicans used “House Rule 91, requesting the creation of a Special Investigative Committee to review the ComEd deferred prosecution agreement and determine if there are grounds to discipline Speaker Madigan. The petition was delivered to the Speaker’s Office in Springfield.”

In July, ComEd entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors and agreed to pay a $200 million fine. The agreement laid out a scheme ComEd was part of to give do-nothing jobs to Madigan associates in exchange for favorable legislation. Madigan has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing.

“The Illinois Constitution gives members of the House the authority to review the actions of its members and determine whether discipline is necessary, including overturning the results of an election or expelling a member,” Harris said. “This is a power that should be judiciously exercised, and one that has rarely been used. In the past two decades, it has been invoked on two occasions, following the arrest and indictment of former Representatives Derrick Smith and Luis Arroyo.”

Madigan said Wednesday that he has never made any legislative decisions with improper motives.

“The notion that the passage of two consequential pieces of energy legislation was tied to the hiring or retention of a few individuals is seriously mistaken,” Madigan said. “Those bills had broad support of Democrats and Republican members …”

Madigan, D-Chicago, also said the law doesn't prohibit members of the General Assembly from making job recommendations and said if Durkin, R-Western Springs, wants to question that, he should be “transparent and disclose all the jobs he has requested or lobbyists he has recommended over the years.”

“The request by Rep. Durkin and his members [for a special investigative committee] is a political stunt only months away from one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes,” Madigan said. “Like their president, the House Republicans know how to create a political circus, but time and again fail to show up when it’s time to govern.”

Harris appointed state Reps. Chris Welch, D-Hillside, Elizabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, to serve on the committee alongside Republican appointees state Reps. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, and Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville.

Wehrli declined to comment on the committee on Wednesday.

“The Committee will conduct its business in according with all House Rules and with health recommendations to protect all those involved and help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Harris said. “All proceedings will be public.”

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