Federal investigators sought information about Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in a subpoena and search warrant served on the City Club of Chicago as part of a probe into ComEd’s lobbying practices, sources told the Tribune on Monday.
The emergence of Madigan’s name on the paperwork is the latest indication that authorities are looking at the powerful veteran speaker as part of their burgeoning investigation. Madigan spokeswoman Eileen Boyce said she had no comment.
The City Club subpoena and search warrant, executed in mid-May, also requested information about several ComEd officials, including Anne Pramaggiore, a source said. She is a former top ComEd official who abruptly retired last week as CEO of Exelon Utilities. A source has told the Tribune that she was one of the focuses of the federal investigation.
Two other longtime ComEd lobbyists — John Hooker and Fidel Marquez — are also named in the subpoena and search warrant, a source said. Pramaggiore and Hooker have declined to comment, and Marquez has not responded to messages over the last few weeks. Hooker and Marquez are under federal scrutiny, sources have told the Tribune.
On Friday, the Tribune reported the investigation into ComEd’s lobbying activities centers on whether the utility giant hired politically connected lobbyists to curry favor with lawmakers in exchange for favorable action at the Illinois Capitol, according to a source.
As part of the investigation, authorities are scrutinizing certain ComEd executives and have zeroed in on payments through the company’s vast network of consultants to some individuals to seemingly circumvent lobbying disclosure rules, the source said. Some of the people who wound up being paid seemed to have done little actual work, the source added.
Among the payments, authorities suspect, were thousands of dollars in checks written to Kevin Quinn, an ousted political operative of Madigan, according to the source. The Tribune first reported the checks were under scrutiny in July.
City Club President Jay Doherty is a ComEd lobbyist. On Monday, he ignored reporters’ questions at an event featuring Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
The organization, which hosts speeches for prominent public figures, said in a statement issued late Sunday night that it has cooperated with a subpoena and search warrant.
Ed Mazur, the club’s board chairman, said there has been no contact with investigators since the end of July and maintained the City Club is just one of “many, many organizations” the grand jury has requested information from.
“Nobody has raised any charges against the City Club, and we’re in a position to fully cooperate with whatever we are asked to respond to,” Mazur said.
Mazur also defended Doherty, saying he “absolutely” would remain president of the organization.
“Why not?” Mazur said. “There have been no charges.”
WBEZ 91.5-FM first reported the City Club raid and Madigan’s name on the organization’s subpoena.
The mid-May timing of the City Club subpoena matches that of several raids by federal agents, including the home of retired ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain, a longtime confidant of Madigan.
Also raided was the Southwest Side home of former 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski. In the Zalewski raid, authorities sought records of interactions among Madigan, McClain and Zalewski related to attempts to get ComEd lobbying work for the former City Council member when he stepped down in 2018, according to a law enforcement source.
Federal authorities also have served the Illinois Senate with paperwork asking for records of communications with state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat whose legislative territory overlaps with the speaker’s House district.
Sandoval’s Capitol office was raided last month. The lengthy list of things authorities searched for included “items related to ComEd, Exelon, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, Exelon Official A, Exelon Official B, Exelon Official C, Exelon Official D, and/or any issue supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including, but not limited to, rate increases.”
The Tribune has reported that Sandoval’s daughter, Angie, collected more than $52,000 during a failed Cook County Board bid from people and companies later named in the federal probe. Angie Sandoval has worked for ComEd since 2013 and was promoted to the role of senior account manager in June.
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella and Gregory Pratt contributed.
rlong@chicagotribune.com
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
