"[16] Michael J. Flynn was the Cook County Clerk, and also the Democratic committeeman of Chicago's 13th Ward, an unpaid, political-party leadership position.

[19] Madigan graduated from Saint Adrian's Elementary School, St. Ignatius College Prep on the west side of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame.

Democrats won back nine seats in the Illinois House in the elections of November 1996, regained a majority, and Madigan resumed the Speaker's role and held it until January 2021.

The documentary was widely criticized as overly partisan and raised ethical concerns after individuals featured in the movie claimed they were not told the nature of their interviews.

[31] In January 2021, Madigan announced he would be suspending his campaign for Speaker of the Illinois House after it became apparent that he would not receive the 60 votes necessary to win.

[32] On January 13, the Illinois House voted to instead elect Chris Welch to the Speakership, making him the first African American to hold that position.

"[40] Illinois senior Senator Dick Durbin said in 2008 that he received many constituent complaints about the dispute between Blagojevich and Madigan, with letter writers wanting him to step in to negotiate.

With Rod, you get the sense that he's more of a big ideas person, but then doesn't really have the wherewithal to carry through on things to make sure they get done, to deliver.The relationship between Blagojevich and Madigan hit its low in October 2007, when Blagojevich fired Bronwyn Rains, wife of Madigan's chief of staff Timothy Mapes, from her position of psychologist with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

[28][42] In August 2008, Blagojevich stated that House Democrats who held City of Chicago jobs were fearful of voting in favor of his 2008 capital bill because they thought Madigan might be able to get them fired.

[43] On December 15, 2008, Madigan announced that he was taking steps to initiate impeachment proceedings against Blagojevich after the governor was arrested on charges of conspiracy and fraud.

[45][46] After the committee reported, Madigan presided over the House deliberations which unanimously voted for the first impeachment of an Illinois governor.

[47] Governor Pat Quinn appointed a commission, to be led by retired Judge Abner Mikva, to investigate attempts by lawmakers and others to influence admissions of unqualified candidates (whose relatives had given money to Madigan, other lawmakers, and the state Democratic Party, which Madigan chairs) at the state's largest university.

[48] In the summer of 2013 it was reported that Madigan had sought to use his influence to secure patronage hiring and promotion at the Metra commuter rail agency for two of his supporters.

[49][50] Metra CEO Alex Clifford rejected these requests, and alleges that the agency's board sought his resignation as a result.

"[53] More than 400 current or retired state and local government employees have strong political ties to Madigan, according to a 2014 investigation by the Chicago Tribune.

[17] Of all the current sitting Democratic Illinois House members, Madigan has received the most campaign contributions from labor unions.

This sum includes:[57] On January 1, 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported that Madigan "has been on a fundraising tear, courtesy of a quirk in state campaign finance law that allows him to amass multiple five-figure contributions from the same donor into four funds he controls.

[58] Additionally, over the past 15 years, Madigan raised more than $658,000 in donations from the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Legislative PAC.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, estimated that the state would need to increase people's income tax from 3.75 to 5.5 percent in order to make up for Madigan's budget gap.

Bruce Rauner's argument that Democrats are to blame for the stalemate in Springfield because they're intent on only raising taxes to dig out of the state budget deficit.

[72] In October 2022, under a deferred prosecution with the US Department of Justice, AT&T admitted that it arranged for payments to Illinois House Representative Edward Acevedo, an ally of Madigan, in order to unlawfully influence and reward Madigan's vote in 2017 on legislation that would eliminate AT&T's so-called "Carrier of Last Resort" obligation to provide landline telephone service to all Illinois residents, which was expected to save the company millions of dollars.

[73] Madigan also helped to defeat an amendment to a bill that became law in 2018 regarding fees for small cell tower attachments that would have been harmful to AT&T's interests.

[74][75] On June 6, 2019, Bishop Thomas Paprocki issued a decree barring Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton from presenting themselves to receive the Eucharist on account of their role in passing the Reproductive Health Act, which removes spousal consent and waiting periods for abortions.

While singling out Madigan and Cullerton specifically, Paprocki also asked that other legislators who voted for the bill not present themselves for Communion either, saying that they had "cooperated in evil and committed grave sin."

J.B. Pritzker, and on a series of charges related to the Union West luxury apartment development, including multiple violations of the Travel Act and one count of attempted extortion.

[20][81] From 2006 to 2008 in Cook County, Illinois, Madigan and Getzendanner received the largest reductions for their clients of any tax appeal law firm.

Berrios is registered as a lobbyist to Illinois state government and advocates for issues including expanding video poker.

[97][98][99] In 2002 Madigan helped Lisa garner more campaign contributions in her run for Illinois Attorney General than even the candidates for governor that year.

[1] His staffers made numerous visits at public expense to contested Illinois House districts in the winter and spring before the November 2000 election.

[1] Her opponent in the race called on her to pay back taxpayer-paid bonuses her father had paid staffers before they departed to work on his daughter's campaign.