Illinois lobbyists’ bribery convictions halt their political softball game.

A Shocking Bribery Scheme Halts Illinois Lawmakers’ Softball Game

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It was supposed to be a fun day of softball for Illinois state lawmakers, but it quickly turned into a shocking scene when news broke that four people had been convicted of bribing former Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan (D.).

During warm-ups, Illinois Senate president Don Harmon (D.) was alerted that a federal court in Chicago had convicted four defendants associated with ComEd, the state’s largest utility company. The convicted individuals arranged to pay more than $1 million to Madigan in exchange for his support for special perks for ComEd.

The softball game was put on by lobbyists, who did everything from “getting the food truck that served barbecue and fries to footing the bill for drinks,” according to Politico.

Madigan, once an enormously powerful figure in Illinois politics and a close ally of Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D.), had a rapid fall from grace after news broke of the bribery scandal. He resigned from the House in 2021 after fellow Democrats withdrew support for his speakership. While Madigan himself was not charged in the latest case, he is facing a separate trial for bribery and other crimes.

Despite the shocking revelation, Illinois’s legislature under Harmon’s leadership is seeing “no new bills” to “tighten ethics rules,” Politico reported. The legislature will also probably not see any ethics legislation before it ends its session.

Madigan’s corruption trial is set to begin in April 2024.