The Latest Breaking News from Amarjeet Bhachu

Witnesses in the perjury trial of Tim Mapes have said they found his forced resignation in June 2018 to be surprising, unexpected, traumatic. But Tuesday, jurors heard Mapes’ wife describe how he handled being fired amid a #MeToo wave at the Capitol.

Prosecutors have used a monthslong wiretap of Michael Madigan confidant Michael McClain’s phone to make their case that Tim Mapes lied in 2021 and tried to block the feds’ aggressive investigation of Madigan and McClain.

Former ComEd exec had been questioned over three days by federal prosecutors as they detailed the many ways the company allegedly tried to bribe former House Speaker Michael Madigan to benefit ComEd.

CHICAGO — Former Teamsters union boss John Coli Sr. once basked in a reputation as a tough-nosed, nationally known organized labor figure, rubbing elbows with the state’s political and business elite, running up $15,000 tabs at Chicago steakhouses, and cruising around the Mediterranean on other people’s yachts.

Coli admitted in 2019 he’d taken $325,000 in cash payments from Cinespace Chicago Film Studios between 2014 and 2017. Worried at one point the money would stop, Coli told Cinespace president Alex Pissios, “I will f---ing have a picket line up here, and everything will stop.”

John Coli once bragged, “You can cut my fingers off, I wouldn’t talk.” Two years later, Coli pleaded guilty and formally agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

CHICAGO — The racketeering case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime confidant will likely not see any significant court action until next year after a judge Tuesday granted the defense a lengthy extension to review the massive pile of evidence turned over by prosecutors.

Even though he had faced indictment since August 2019, the Villa Park Democrat held onto his seat until last February, resigning just before his attorney revealed his plans to plead guilty.

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot may have said she was “deeply offended” by the deferred prosecution deal that federal prosecutors struck with former Alderman Daniel Solis, but she sure seems interested in any dirt he’s been dishing.