In August 2018, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan asked then-Ald. Daniel Solis to help steer insurance business to Madigan’s own son during a meeting about the alderman’s potential appointment to a lucrative state board position, the Tribune has confirmed.
“The FBI contacted us about Alderman Solis and Andrew Madigan,” Raymundo said in a statement. “In response, we fully and truthfully cooperated with the FBI and will continue to do so. At no point were we pressured to do anything for anyone.” The grant helped support Access to Justice, a statewide program designed to mitigate the consequences of deportation and family separation and expand community-led legal services, including for immigrants facing proceedings that could jeopardize their residence in Illinois and former inmates working to reintegrate their families.
The emergence of a reference in the indictment to Andrew Madigan, even though he was not specifically named, is one of at least two veiled references prosecutors made among the 106 pages that outlined the case against the ex-speaker.to $22,500, the exact amount of a 2017 consulting contract that the Illinois affiliate of AT&T disclosed to regulators is under federal scrutiny for potential criminal charges.
Solis allegedly assured Madigan “there’s a lot of good stuff happening in my ward” and that the alderman would help Madigan land business for his private property tax law firm. Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez benefited from Madigan’s political machine in the closing days of an election. McCook’s Tobolski, who was mayor and a Cook County commissioner, got Madigan’s assurance that a legislative effort targeting dual officeholders was going nowhere. And Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek was appointed to an open seat in the state Senate with Madigan’s help and is still in the upper chamber.