House Speaker Mike Madigan | File photo
House Speaker Mike Madigan | File photo
GOP lawmakers in Southern Illinois are pushing for House Speaker Mike Madigan to resign amid allegations he was involved in a bribery scheme with ComEd.
State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) shared a statement on her website, calling out Madigan as Commonwealth Edison has been exposed for public corruption and fraud. Madigan wasn’t specifically named in court documents, but he’s identified as "Public Official A." That individual strategized jobs and contracts for their political friends and in return greenlighted and approved laws that would benefit ComEd.
“Mike Madigan has been the driving force behind the spread of Illinois’ decades-long pandemic of public corruption,” Bryant wrote. "Speaker Madigan is the most powerful politician in Illinois, and the consolidation of his power has become absolute. Unfortunately, we know that in Illinois, absolute power can in fact absolutely corrupt our institutions and elected official."
State Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) echoed similar sentiments.
“Our focus as a legislature must immediately shift to passing strong, sweeping changes to our ethics laws," Severin said. "We must end self-dealing and the all-too-stubborn problem of corruption under the 40-plus year reign of Mike Madigan and the Chicago Democrat Machine. If the allegations in the deferred prosecution agreement are indeed true, Speaker Madigan has broken the public’s trust, broken the law, and must resign immediately."
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) is a third legislator to call for Madigan’s resignation.
“I am troubled that Speaker Madigan has been able to consolidate the kind of power that he has, controlling both the Democratic Party of Illinois and the Illinois House of Representatives," he wrote. "No one person should be able to exert the amount of authority Speaker Madigan has exerted over our state for as long as he has. The allegations leveled in today’s criminal settlement with ComEd and Exelon are serious enough to warrant Speaker Madigan’s immediate resignation."
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