Mistakes by once all-powerful Michael Madigan exposed at trial

Whenever someone assures you that another person you’re both dealing with “understands” the “quid pro quo,” you’d be wise to run away as fast as you can and never look back.

But that’s exactly how then-Ald. Daniel Solis assured then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in late June of 2017 that their mark — the developers of a West Loop apartment complex — would eventually be convinced to retain Madigan’s property tax appeals law firm.

Solis chaired the powerful Zoning Committee, so the developers had to come through him, and Solis said they would understand the game: The developers hire Madigan’s law firm and their zoning changes would be approved.

“I think they understand how this works,” Solis told Madigan. “The quid pro quo.”

Solis admitted on the stand during Madigan’s corruption trial that what he said to Madigan was “dumb.”

Madigan didn’t know that the federal government was recording all his conversations with Solis. So, what was dumb about what Solis said is that Madigan might’ve immediately cut all ties to Solis, and Solis’ federal handlers would’ve been furious that he let the target get away.

Turns out, the real dummy was Madigan.

Madigan didn’t walk away. Instead, he kept going back to Solis, only gently admonishing him weeks later by telling Solis not to say the quiet part out loud and instructing him in the polite way of conducting business.

And then a few months later, while talking about another real estate deal, Solis asked whether the West Loop developers had signed on with Madigan’s firm. Madigan didn’t say, but appeared to give Solis the go-ahead to process their zoning request.

“You were contemplating processing something,” Madigan said. “You should go ahead and process that.”

Feds make their point

The feds are also trying to prove that Madigan’s consigliere, longtime lobbyist and fellow defendant Mike McClain, wasn’t just freelancing without Madigan’s approval when it came to all the demands McClain was making of Commonwealth Edison.

The trial so far has given the feds big wins on that point. Madigan and Solis were in discussions about the state transferring a Chinatown parking lot to the City of Chicago so that it could be developed into a hotel, and Madigan could get the property tax business. So, he told Solis to reach out to McClain.

McClain would give the developer “some ideas about how to go about it."

A couple of months later, Solis again brought up the Chinatown parcel to Madigan. “Let me get back into it and, and, um, see if there’s some way to find somebody that can talk to IDOT. That, that’s where the decision’s going to be made,” Madigan said.

“I’m trying to figure out a way to approach it," Madigan later told Solis about the parcel. He appeared to be calculating how he could pass a bill to benefit his law firm without leaving any overt fingerprints.

Madigan eventually told Solis that one of the Chinatown developers would soon be receiving a call from McClain.

The effort to transfer the property extended into the spring of 2018 for several reasons, most importantly opposition from local legislators.

In March of 2018, Madigan told Solis that maybe McClain should talk to the senator who was putting a brick on the land transfer, and then explained to Solis at length how this particular legislation could shorten the time it would take to transfer the property to the city.

From there, jurors heard recordings about the intricacies of passing the bill, including who was blocking it. McClain is heard on a recording briefing Madigan about which legislators were opposing the bill and about how the then-secretary of transportation was “getting squeamish” about it.

Also in March, Solis told Madigan that if Madigan could “take care of that [Chinatown] matter in May,” during the end of spring session, “I'm confident they'll appreciate it and … sign you up on after May.” Madigan didn't run away then, either.

But the bill eventually died and a possible payday was missed.

On May 28, 2018, a few days before the scheduled end of spring session when there was still hope the bill would advance, McClain called a member of Madigan’s House staff to tell them about the property tax transfer bill, "that deals with a developer of [Madigan's].” McClain told the staffer: “He wants to make sure he votes 'present.'"

In other words, if the feds didn’t have Madigan, McClain and Solis on numerous recordings, Madigan could’ve officially covered his rear by voting “present” on a bill that would’ve potentially padded his pockets and that he’d allegedly been actively pushing behind the scenes for months on end.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

Get Opinions content delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.