ComEd Four Seek Stay in Madigan Bribery Case Pending DOJ Review

Four former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists found guilty of conspiring to bribe ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) for help with energy legislation are asking a federal court in Chicago to pause proceedings in the case.

It’s “not unusual for federal courts to stay proceedings when—as here—a new presidential administration issues an executive order requiring an agency to review and revise its priorities,” the joint motion said.

President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 issued an executive order pausing all Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions. The order directs the Attorney General to, among other things, review all existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and “take appropriate action with respect to such matters to restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives.”

The defendants say there is reason to think Attorney General Pam Bondi will deprioritize this case. The counts here are predicated on the statute’s books-and-records provisions, not on any allegation of foreign bribery.

Five days before Trump issued the executive order on FCPA enforcement, Bondi circulated a memo directing the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement unit to prioritize investigations related to foreign bribery that facilitates the activities of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and to “shift focus away” from other kinds investigations and cases.

Although the defendants were convicted in May 2023, they haven’t been sentenced and there are pending post-trial motions seeking to upend the convictions.

Long-time ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain was found guilty on four counts of bribery and four counts of falsifying records in violation of the FCPA.

ComEd’s former CEO, Anne Pramaggiore, was found guilty on four counts of bribery and four counts of falsifying records.

John Hooker, a former ComEd executive who later served as an outside lobbyist for the company, was found guilty on one count of bribery and four counts of falsifying records.

Jay Doherty, who was accused of serving as an intermediary to help conceal prohibited payments to Madigan associates hired by ComEd as subcontractors, was found guilty on one count of bribery and four counts of falsifying records.

Prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois are opposing the stay. The case is before Judge Manish S. Shah in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

McClain is represented by UB Greensfelder LLP. Prammagiore is represented by Sidley Austin LLP. Hooker is represented by Monico & Spevack. Doherty is represented by Leinenweber, Daffada & Sansonetti and Gillespie & Gillespie.

The case is United States v. McClain, N.D. Ill., No. 1:20-cr-00812, motion to stay 2/17/25.