Senator to Madigan: Explain payments
Lobbyists did deals with aide ousted over harassment
A Northwest Side state senator is calling for House Speaker Michael Madigan to fully explain how friendly lobbyists wound up sending money to an aide he had ousted in a sexual harassment scandal — or step down from his role as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.
Democratic Sen. Iris Martinez, a Cook County circuit clerk candidate, spoke out days after the Tribune disclosed private emails that outlined how a close Madigan confidant arranged for some utility lobbyists to sign contracts with former political operative Kevin Quinn.
“Speaker Madigan must state what he knew and when he knew it,” Martinez said Friday. “Give us some answers or step down.”
A Madigan spokeswoman stood by the statement given when the Tribune disclosed confidant Michael McClain’s role: “If a group of people were attempting to help Kevin Quinn, the speaker was not a part of it.”
At issue is the latest chapter in the saga of Quinn, a veteran of Madigan’s political and government organization who was booted in February 2018 as a female campaign worker was about to go public with sexual harassment allegations, including text messages.
By early September 2018, though, Madigan friend McClain, an ex-ComEd lobbyist, was quietly arranging for Quinn to land contracts from current and former ComEd lobbyists. Like McClain, the four other lobbyists involved had ties to Madigan, ComEd or both.
In one email, McClain, who retired as a lobbyist in 2016 but stayed on with ComEd as a consultant, thanked the other lobbyists: “It is a wonderful sacrifice.”
McClain, operating as shock waves from the #MeToo movement still reverberated through the Capitol, recognized the potential for backlash if the back-channel arrangement came to light.
“These men are sticking their necks out knowing full well if it goes public before you are exonerated they will get the full blast from the ‘MeToo’ movement. So, please honor the confidentiality,” McClain wrote to Quinn.
McClain has not commented since word broke over the summer that the FBI raided his house in mid-May. Both McClain’s emails and the more than $31,000 to Quinn are part of a major federal investigation into ComEd’s lobbying activities, sources said.
The Tribune has reported that federal authorities are zeroing in on payments made through ComEd’s vast network of consultants to some individuals who seemed to have done little actual work. The payments were aimed at currying favor with certain lawmakers while circumventing lobbying disclosure rules, the source added. Authorities believe the payments to Quinn are an example of this, a source has said.
As for Martinez, she and Madigan have been involved in some intraparty fights, including local Democratic Party slatemaking.
But Martinez, the state central committeewoman of the 4th Congressional District, said her questions about Madigan had nothing to do with her run for circuit court clerk. She did not get the Cook County party endorsement of Madigan and other local Democratic leaders, who slated Michael Cabonargi, a member of the county Board of Review.
In addition to Martinez’s comments, Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago called the payments to Quinn “frustrating.” Cassidy also said it was “incredibly frustrating” that so many people were worried about Quinn rather than his victim. “Everybody’s asking about him,” she said.
On the Republican side, Rep. Margo McDermed of Mokena issued a statement saying that Madigan’s response to the Quinn sexual harassment case “was nothing more than window dressing while he continued to put political victories and fundraising ahead of his staff and the people of Illinois.”
Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a package of sexual harassment legislation that extends protections against harassment and discrimination to publicand private-sector workplaces statewide.
Madigan has pointed to that law as part of his #MeToo reform efforts as well as efforts to bolster protections for victims of harassment in his office and political organizations.
The law requires state officials, employees and lobbyists to go through annual sexual harassment training. Private-sector employers are required to provide sexual harassment training and could not require workers to sign nondisclosure or arbitration agreements related to harassment or discrimination.