Michael Madigan Trial LIVE Updates: Former ComEd Lawyer To Resume Testifying In Former Illinois Speaker’s Trial

In a daylong testimony, former ComEd general counsel Tom O’Neill laid bare the corruption allegations against Madigan and co-defendant Mike McClain.

O’Neill described the utility giant as being in a “shaky financial position” in July 2010, desperate for a new way to set rates for customers.

Tasked with helping to achieve this, O’Neill spent the next six and a half years traveling back and forth to Springfield, negotiating and crafting three major pieces of legislation that would be critical to turning ComEd’s fortunes around.

“I have often, if not constantly, been asked: Does the speaker support this? Or where does the speaker talk about this?” O’Neill testified.

He said the company relied heavily on contract lobbyist McClain to gain access to Madigan.

“Mr. McClain had ready access to the Speaker’s chambers,” said O’Neill, who went on to connect the dots for prosecutors.

They drew a direct line between the legislative initiatives and the contract ComEd entered into in October 2011 with the law firm Reyes Kurson, led by Victor Reyes, a Madigan political ally.

The contract was agreed upon just as the General Assembly voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of ComEd’s first big legislative push. When O’Neill tried to cut the law firm’s hours a few years later as another ComEd bill was getting ready for a vote, ComEd CEO Ann Pramaggiore received an email from McClain.

“I’m sure you know how valuable Victor is to our Friend,” McClain said. “I know the essence of the matter, and so do you. If you don’t step in and resolve this issue of 850 hours a year for his law firm, then he will go to our Friend. Our Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this the training we have to go through?”

Prosecutors said the “Friend” was Madigan.

The contract was ultimately renewed a few months later, around the same time ComEd’s third major legislative push was successful in Springfield. O’Neill returns to the witness stand on Tuesday, when he is expected to face intense cross-examination by defense lawyers.