Nearly eight and a half years after being confronted by federal authorities about his own wrongdoing, former Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis has taken the witness stand Thursday in the corruption trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan to testify about his unprecedented turn as an FBI mole.
Solis is the 34th prosecution witness — and arguably the most important — to be called in Madigan’s trial, which began Oct. 8. He’s expected to be on the stand for two weeks.
Solis, 75, worked undercover for more than two years, making a series of video and audio recordings that prosecutors allege captured Madigan, his powerful Democratic counterpart, scheming to use his official duties to squeeze developers for tax appeal business for his private law firm.
Solis, who represented the city’s 25th Ward and was the head of the City Council’s influential Zoning Committee, also testified last year in the corruption trial of former Ald. Edward Burke.
But in that case, Solis was called by Burke’s lawyers in a Hail Mary attempt to win acquittal. This time, Solis is being called as one of the pillars of the prosecution’s case, adding import to how he comes across to the jury and also exposing him to a much more wide-ranging cross examination over his own alleged misdeeds.
In his opening statement to the jury last month, Madigan attorney Tom Breen made clear there will be no kid-glove treatment of Solis, sarcastically calling him an “absolute beaut” and a morally bankrupt liar with a “decrepit personal and professional life.”
Breen also called Solis a “braggart and a BS-er” who had a “decrepit personal and professional life.” He told the jury Solis was given a script by the FBI and anything he said should be treated with suspicion.
To be sure, Madigan’s legal team will have plenty of ammunition. Despite his own admittedly illegal acts, Solis was able to cut a deferred prosecution deal with the U.S. attorney’s office that many in Chicago’s legal community say is unprecedented for an elected official, especially one allegedly caught betraying the public trust.
As part of the deal, Solis admitted to taking campaign cash from a real estate developer in exchange for official action as Zoning Committee chair. But instead of facing jail time, Solis will see all charges against him dropped next year, leaving him with a clean criminal record.
What’s more, the deal could allow Solis to keep collecting his nearly $100,000 annual city pension, which could easily bring in a sizable sum from the taxpayer-funded system over the remainder of his lifetime.
When the extraordinary leniency was made official in 2022, some in City Hall, including then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, complained it was a travesty of justice. But the lead prosecutor on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, told a federal judge Solis’ cooperation was perhaps “singular” even in the city’s long history of political corruption.
“Some may view (Solis’ deal) as being with little precedent, but what Mr. Solis did also was with little precedent,” Bhachu said during a status hearing in Solis’ case two years ago. “He didn’t just talk. He took action. He worked with the federal government for six years to expose corruption.”
Solis’ work as an FBI mole began in mid-2016, when he was confronted by investigators who had secretly listened in on hundreds of his phone calls over the course of nearly a year, including conversations where the alderman solicited everything from campaign donations to Viagra pills and sexual services at a massage parlor, court records show.
He had already agreed to go undercover for investigators when he traveled to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later that summer with the hopes of getting Madigan on tape, the Tribune has previously reported.
Instead, Burke walked into the picture and the investigation took an abrupt turn. In testimony in Madigan’s trial last month, in fact, FBI Special Agent Ryan McDonald told the jury that Madigan didn’t resume as a focus until more than a year later.
Burke was convicted of an array of corruption schemes last year in large part because of Solis’ cooperation and is now serving 2 years in prison.
In her opening statement to the jury in Madigan’s case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker outlined a series of schemes involving Solis, including one where Madigan allegedly pushed the governor’s office to place Solis on a six-figure state board position in exchange for the alderman’s help in landing legal business.
She showed jurors a copy of a note on Madigan’s law firm stationery that signaled Solis would be interested in sitting on a state labor relations board or on the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Madigan’s moves demonstrated how he operated in a “transactional” way, Streicker said. “When Madigan saw an opportunity to enrich himself, he took it,” she said.
In another episode, Streicker said, Madigan specifically requested Solis to help connect the longtime speaker with Harry Skydell, the New York-based developer of the sprawling Old Post Office.
In 2017, Madigan prepared to “exploit Solis’ power” over a proposed project called Union West in the West Loop, Streicker said. With the project being considered in the City Council where Solis oversaw zoning matters, Solis let Madigan know that the developer understood there was a “quid pro quo” that Madigan’s law firm should get the property tax business, Streicker said.
Later, Madigan was recorded using “whisper tones” to give a “false explanation” to Solis and told him to steer clear of using the phrase “quid pro quo,” Streicker said.
Breen, meanwhile, countered by playing the exchange that was captured on a shaky video recording Solis made of Madigan explaining that Solis should not use the term “quid pro quo” because what Madigan’s property tax appeals firm is offering high-quality work.
