Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan petitions Supreme Court to hear corruption case

Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune on Jul 29, 2026

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Three months after a federal appeals court upheld the sweeping corruption conviction of Michael Madigan, the ex-House speaker is now taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Madigan, through his lawyers, petitioned the high court on Wednesday to review the long-running corruption case.

Last year, after a trial that stretched nearly four months, Madigan was convicted of bribery conspiracy and other corruption charges. The jury found him guilty on 10 of 23 counts, including a multipronged scheme to accept and solicit payments from utility giant ComEd to Madigan associates for do-nothing subcontracts.

Madigan was also convicted on six of seven counts — including wire fraud and Travel Act violations — regarding a plan to get now-former Ald. Daniel Solis appointed to a state board in exchange for Solis bringing Madigan business for his private law firm.

Madigan, who turned 84 earlier this spring, was sentenced in June 2025 to 7½ years in federal prison. Four months after his sentencing, Madigan reported to a medium-security camp in Morgantown, West Virginia. His current release date is in early 2032, when he would be nearly 90.

In April, an appeals court in Chicago sustained Madigan’s conviction, finding the evidence of wrongdoing was “overwhelming.”

“Michael Madigan spent nearly a decade leveraging his power as one of the highest-ranking public officials in Illinois in exchange for over $3 million of financial benefits for his close political allies,” the unanimous 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel wrote in its 29-page opinion about the ComEd plot.

In their new filing, Madigan’s attorneys want the Supreme Court to confront several questions surrounding the legality of the case, including a closer examination of what constitutes a public official acting “corruptly” and whether an “alleged promise to make a job recommendation” qualifies as an “official act.”

“The novel bribery theories the government zealously pursued against Speaker Madigan stretch federal bribery law in ways that threaten to criminalize and chill lawful interactions between state and local officials and their constituents,” Wednesday’s petition reads.

An attorney for Madigan did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday night.

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(Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed.)

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