Quincy Reporter

Mecki Kosin laments Illinois government now holds a distinction no other state wants to lay claim to.

“We now have both a governor and speaker of the house under federal investigation for corruption," the conservative activist told the Quincy Reporter. “I think we pretty much need a complete restart to have any chance of cleaning up Springfield." 

Madigan, who easily reigns as the longest-tenured lawmaker in the state, now finds himself at the center of a still-evolving probe into ComEd, in which prosecutors are on record in asserting that the company engaged in a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments that were steered to him in his role as house speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

While stopping short of formally levying any charges, prosecutors contend Commonwealth Edison attempted to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

“With Speaker Madigan, I’ve been waiting for justice to be served for a long, long time,” Kosin added. “At the same, I’m glad investigators have been so meticulous in getting what they need.”

In publicly announcing the case against ComEd public, U.S. Attorney John Lausch noted the investigation is ongoing. The Chicago Tribune reports federal investigators have moved to subpoena Madigan for information, including “possible job recommendations.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Madigan said he plans to cooperate with the probe, adding “The speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer, nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended.”

The scheme is believed to go all the way back to 2011 with many of the unanswered questions revolving around longtime Madigan confidante Michael McClain. Federal agents raided McClain’s Quincy home last year, and the Tribune has reported at one point authorities secretly taped his phone calls.

Still, Kosin said she doesn’t expect to see Madigan go quietly.

“I don’t expect him to resign,” she said. “He thinks of himself as king of the world and has run this state with an ironclad fist. His daughter didn’t run for reelection as state attorney general because I believe she knew things were unraveling and she didn’t want to be the one to prosecute her father.”