Jim Dey | Fed’s star witness creates plenty of drama in Madigan trial | Columns

The best show in Chicago — the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — has leapt into the stratosphere.

Here’s a headline touting the highlights.

“Massages, affairs and a suitcase full of cash in China: Former city councilman Daniel Solis’ soap opera life is at the center of Madigan’s corruption trial.”

That’s the prominent prosecution witness Solis, who briefly took the stand last week and returned Monday to undergo lengthy questioning by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

How long? Media outlets expect Solis’ testimony – including an expected “brutal” cross-examination by defense attorneys – to continue into December.

Solis, a corrupt former city councilman who agreed to work undercover for the FBI, has already helped bring down now-imprisoned former city councilman Ed Burke. Now prosecutors are offering his testimony to help nail Madigan.

A series of charges against Madigan relate to the long-running bribery-corruption scandal involving utility Commonwealth Edison, a conspiracy that Madigan’s prosecutors orchestrated.

The other involves Madigan’s allegedly illegal efforts to secure business for his law firm by promising to help a developer trying to gain control of a state-owned property to build a hotel.

Solis, chairman of the city council’s zoning committee, was instrumental in the latter. He arranged a meeting with the developer at Madigan’s behest and recorded dozens of conversations and meetings with Madigan that will be used as evidence.

Records indicate that in exchange for assisting Madigan’s law firm with business pending before his zoning board, Madigan agreed to ensure Solis got a well-paying job on the state’s payroll.

But it will be a difficult task for Solis on the witness stand, as there are several skeletons in his closet. A media outlet highlighted Solis’ unrest as he entered the courtroom last week.

“When Danny Solis finally entered the shaft of a federal courthouse … he made a sharp turn toward the jury box and then again toward the witness stand that had been waiting for him for more than eight years,” the Chicago Tribune reported. “The path he chose kept him as far away as possible from a man across the courtroom, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Although Solis never looked at Madigan, Madigan’s eyes appeared to be on the most anticipated witness in the trial.”

In government corruption and organized crime cases, prosecutors often present questionable characters. They lay the foundation for the defense to examine her many character flaws in detail.

But just as defense attorneys emphasize the unreliability of some government witnesses, so too, perversely, do federal prosecutors who claim like-minded people are colluding.

In this case, the government will wonder why Madigan spent so much time with Solis if he is the criminal the defense claims he is. Her answer is obviously that Madigan is no different.

Then prosecutors will take their argument a step further by telling jurors that they can watch the video and audio tapes to confirm the veracity of Solis’ testimony.

The biggest surprise in Solis’ testimony so far is his involvement of his sister – Patty Solis Doyle, a powerful Democratic politician – in shady dealings involving large sums of money. She is not accused of wrongdoing, although it emerged that the government briefly intercepted her communications.

Madigan, who vehemently denies the allegations, has assembled a small army of powerful lawyers to defend him.

The defense contends that ComEd lavished Madigan on legal benefits to win his favor, not to buy his vote for corporate-backed legislation. It’s unclear what defense they will bring to the Solis/zoning issues, other than the claim that Madigan’s actions fell far short of criminal activity.