Another Madigan scandal and again: ‘The Silence of the Dems’
In the days since the U.S. Department of Justice alleged that Michael Madigan benefited from a yearslong bribery and influence scheme, Illinois Democrats have said, well, next to nothing. You wouldn’t call their reaction “denial.” More like “deflection” or “distancing” as in, The kingpin of our state party and legislature — that guy way over there — he has problems.
But the best description of the Dems’ reaction is “delay.” Most influential Democrats are deferring a decision they should have made years ago: The speakership of the Illinois House and the leadership of the Illinois Democratic Party are positions of public trust. Madigan long ago ebbed away that trust. He has to go.
Instead, Democratic officials have been murmuring versions of what Gov. J.B. Pritzker said on July 17 after the feds’ most recent assertion that Illinois governance and politics involving the state’s largest utility provider represented a vast criminal enterprise. So let’s unpack Pritzker’s statement. From Tribune coverage:
“The speaker has a lot that he needs to answer for — to authorities, to investigators and most importantly to the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “If these allegations of wrongdoing by the speaker are true, there is no question that he will have betrayed the public trust and he must resign.”
The Democrats who’ve been living off that weak ultimatum — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle included — won’t call for Madigan to resign as House speaker and head of their state party, or as a state rep, until they know the Justice Department’s allegations are “true.” But years could pass before federal courts render final judgment on what prosecutors can establish beyond reasonable doubt. Years.
We would agree that U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s allegations on July 17 would not, by themselves, suffice to deprive anyone of liberty or the right to due process. If the feds eventually charge any individuals, juries and judges will decide their fate.
What we would argue is that Lausch described more than enough for Democrats to want a new leader at the head of their party — and representing Democrats as the boss of a legislature. This could be a chance at reset. Why not grab it?
For decades, Madigan has owned the system: the rules, the agenda, the campaign coffers, the relationships, the leverage, the staff, the dirt. All of it. Democrats themselves will tell you he has been in power far too long. Why? Their deep embarrassment now, in doing nothing despite serious corruption allegations, is the naked admission voters already know: He owns them.
Paralyzed Democrats are waiting for ... what?
Note that the feds, in laying out a bribery scheme that may have cheated utility ratepayers, have not accused Madigan of wrongdoing. Note, too, that when a court convicts any official of public corruption, the question of whether to resign from government and party posts often is among the least urgent of his or her problems.
But one unarguable time for an official to step down is when prosecutors offer credible evidence of corruption that devastates citizens’ trust in that official.
Yet instead of leveling consequences, the ruling Democrats continue to tolerate, enable and protect Madigan.
That’s peculiar. Rather than demanding that Madigan leave or be dethroned, Pritzker, Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and Democrats in the legislature are waiting for ... what, exactly?
If they won’t insist that Madigan go until they know everything about his conduct, then they’re admitting that milking Madigan for campaign money and political muscle means more to them than living by the good-government platitudes they love to mouth.
From bloodlust to pure hypocrisy
Can you imagine the Democratic bloodlust if prosecutors laid out a scheme to benefit Illinois’ preeminent Republican?
If you were here in the early 2000s when the feds laid out a scheme to benefit then-Gov. George Ryan, you can more than imagine the angry Democratic reaction to scandal — you witnessed it.
This time, though, pure hypocrisy. The Dems are stalling for time even as prosecutors explain the entitlement and impunity that Madigan’s allies routinely exercise over Illinois governance.
Madigan, through a spokeswoman, denied doing anything improper:
“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. He has never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here. Any claim to the contrary is unfounded.”
What all of us see here is a utility company, Commonwealth Edison, acknowledging its role in an illicit scheme, and cooperating in a federal corruption investigation — with ComEd officials, as part of an agreed-to process, willing to provide information and testify if necessary. The company also will pay the government $200 million to help expiate its sins.
And the Democrats? On the day Lausch unveiled this Madigan scandal and Pritzker reacted, state Sen. Melinda Bush, Democrat of Grayslake, expressed more disgust for Madigan than did any other Democratic official. Bush wants Madigan to resign his legislative post and state Democratic Party chairmanship: “We can’t allow this shameful behavior to continue — especially from someone who has a lead role in both the General Assembly and throughout the state. The continuous ethics and legal violations have been swept under the rug for far too long,” she wrote.
Bush also happens to be the chief sponsor of numerous ethics bills in Springfield that her own party has ignored for years. Go figure.
Madigan and a defrocking
Which brings us to the most maddening feature in this long-running and sorry serial, “The Silence of the Dems.” This scandal is but the latest of several that have badly tarnished Madigan and Illinois Democrats who’ve had plenty of reasons to oust him. Among those glaring reasons:
■ Madigan repeatedly refused to take responsibility for a culture of sexism and bullying within his political organization and his House chamber. Illinoisans saw the depth of statehouse duck-and-cover when a departing inspector general wrote in a Tribune commentary that Springfield’s system of investigating charges of misconduct is broken — by design.
■ As FBI agents and federal prosecutors have described misdeeds that Madigan’s cronies have committed, the state’s top Democrat relentlessly dodges accountability. The House speaker sees nothing, hears nothing, knows nothing. If true, that incompetent policing of Madigan’s own realm is cause for his dismissal.
■ And don’t forget the downward spiral of Illinois on Madigan’s watch. Start with the “Illinois Exodus,” with parents forced to watch young people by the tens of thousands build their futures in states with brighter prospects. Add the enormous pension and other debts laid on Illinois taxpayers. The insolvent state government unable to pay its bills as they come due. The vulnerable populations, including disabled kids, who often age out of the system before they can get help from the state. The steady percussion of tax increases — with more to come if voters approve the graduated income tax amendment that would let Madigan & Co. collect, and spend, even more billions of dollars.
So, Democratic leaders:
Illinois Democrats, we keep asking why you won’t demand that Madigan go. Why won’t members of his House who acknowledge his control over the agenda, votes, issues, committee assignments, the budget process — all of it — in addition to numerous scandals, take action? Make room for new leadership? Take this as an opportunity to remake their party?
Illinois does need ethics reforms. But mostly it needs politicians who display — and demand —ethical leadership.
Gov. Pritzker, Mayor Lightfoot, President Preckwinkle: Yes, you can squander this Madigan scandal and continue to look the other way, as usual. You can refuse to dig into serious questions on whether public corruption has cost ComEd ratepayers a fortune.
You can leave Madigan in charge of your party, and in charge of Illinois.
Or you can seize this moment.
So why the silence, Democrats? Can’t you see that this corruption case gives you cover to get rid of your party’s — and this state’s — longstanding liability?