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Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan Indicted

“Public Official A”  — the former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan — has (finally) been indicted under the charges of racketeering, relating to the ComEd lobbying scandal of 2020.  It ultimately led to Madigan leaving his post in the Illinois legislature after serving as House Speaker for 36 years.

Illustrated by George Eckart

The scandal resulted in a guilty plea by ComEd and a $200 million fine; and the indictment of three of ComEd/Exelon’s top executives: Exelon Utilities CEO and President Anne Prammagiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and consultant Jay Doherty.   ComEd’s vice president of governmental and external affairs Fidel Marquez resigned, and later plead guilty to a charge of bribery.  Trial dates are expected in 2022.  Throughout initial FBI investigations relating to these individuals, references were made of “Public Official A”, which by description could only have been Madigan.

Madigan becomes the second state legislature House speaker to be indicted by the FBI.  Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was also indicted relating to a $60 million bribery scheme to support a nuclear utility in Ohio.  Madigan continues to proclaim his innocence.

It is amazing how nuclear power utilities and federal indictments relating to bribery and more are being paired up in recent years.  In addition to the two indictments above, a utility executive overseeing the construction of SCANA’s VC Summer nuclear plant in South Carolina also plead guilty in the $11 billion fraud case in 2020.

Nuclear power seems to go hand in hand with political corruption.

 

Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is indicted on federal racketeering charges

By Dan Mihalopoulos, Dave McKinney, Tony Arnold —  WBEZ-FM

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PRESS RELEASE: National Day of Opposition to Nuclear Bailouts in Chicago  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 13 , 2021 

Chicago – On a day that saw the Illinois legislature approve another $694 million in nuclear power bailout money to profitable Exelon corporation, safe-energy activists in cities all over the country conducted actions and wrote to their members of Congress, urging them to remove an estimated $46 billion  in proposed nuclear subsidies from the upcoming Reconciliation legislation. Read more

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Letter to the Editor: Media Portrayed Opposition to Nuke Plant Bailouts Oversimplified, Incomplete

An otherwise excellent Chicago Tribune summary of the proposed Comprehensive Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CCEJA) was marred by the oversimplified one-line explanation for critics’ opposition to continued Exelon nuclear plant bailouts.  While legitimate to question and oppose bailing out a profitable corporate welfare queen like Exelon, the real reasons are more numerous and complex.

The $694 million Exelon bailout proposed in CCEJA is nearly twice the amount found financially defensible by Governor Pritzker’s $250,000 independent audit commissioned earlier this year.  What’s the justification for increasing ratepayer abuse? Read more

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PRESS RELEASE: 240+ Organizations Sign Letter Opposing Subsidies for Nuclear Power in Infrastructure Bills

WASHINGTON, D.C — Over 240 organizations, including Friends of the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Food & Water Watch, The League of Women Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and hundreds more sent a letter to Congressional leaders telling them to reject all proposals in infrastructure bills that subsidize nuclear energy, and to instead invest in a just and equitable transition to safe, clean renewable energy.

The letter opposes proposals in both the energy legislation for the larger reconciliation package (S.2291/H.R.4024) and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which together would grant up to $50 billion to prop up aging, increasingly uneconomical nuclear reactors for the next decade.

The letter highlights climate, economic, and environmental justice concerns with proposed nuclear subsidies, in addition to evidence that nuclear power is too dirty, dangerous, expensive, and slow to be a viable solution to the climate crisis.

All of the proposed subsidies (up to $50 billion) are predicted to go to reactors owned by only eight corporations and located in only 19 counties across eight states. Over 50 organizations in each of these states – Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas – signed the letter. Read more

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