USA vs. Timothy Mapes
Timothy Mapes served for decades as the chief of staff to then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. He is accused of perjury and attempted obstruction of justice for an alleged bid to block the feds’ Madigan investigation.
The women went public with accusations of harassment, retaliation and cover-up by Madigan and those around him. Although the trial focused on charges that Mapes lied to a grand jury, the women say the verdict will still send a message to other victims.
Tim Mapes, the former chief of staff to onetime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, is the seventh person to be convicted by a federal jury in Chicago this year as a result of public corruption investigations.
Tim Mapes, longtime chief of staff to one of Illinois’ most powerful politicians, listened as a federal prosecutor accused him of flaunting his oath to tell the truth, committing crimes and choosing “Team Madigan” as a grand jury closed in on his old boss.
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.
Defense lawyers for Tim Mapes are expected to call witnesses of their own over the next day or so. They said they weren’t sure whether Mapes would take the stand in his own defense, though it seems unlikely.
Jurors hear additional recordings that seemed to show the close relationship between Tim Mapes and Michael McClain.
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.
Tim Mapes is on trial for perjury and attempted obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to block the feds’ investigation of Michael Madigan and Michael McClain, who face criminal charges of their own.
The email, sent by Michael McClain to Tim Mapes and others close to Madigan, was used by prosecutors in Mapes’ perjury trial to undercut the argument that Mapes didn’t remember McClain doing tasks or assignments for Madigan at the time.
The email and others appeared to underscore the feds’ contention that Tim Mapes was well aware of a federal investigation and its key points before he wound up in front of the grand jury and drew a blank on some questions.
Agent Brendan O’Leary told jurors that Michael Madigan depended on “his tight inner circle,” which is why the FBI was so interested in hearing what his longtime chief of staff, Tim Mapes, would say in front of a grand jury.
Defense attorneys argued that Tim Mapes did not lie to a grand jury in 2021 but didn’t know or couldn’t remember the answers to certain questions he was asked under oath.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz has signaled one witness will likely be former state Rep. Greg Harris, who was secretly recorded by the FBI speaking with a longtime Madigan ally about becoming majority leader.
His lawyers say he testified truthfully for hours in response to questions from prosecutors who asked more than 650 questions.
Tim Mapes goes on trial Monday on charges of perjury and attempted obstruction of justice for his alleged bid to block the criminal investigation of the former House speaker and of Springfield insider Michael McClain.
Details about the case against Timothy Mapes were revealed in a 65-page document filed by prosecutors early Tuesday morning, four weeks ahead of Mapes’ trial on perjury and attempted obstruction of justice charges.
Defense attorneys also revealed the FBI tried to convince Tim Mapes to work as a “confidential witness” during a meeting in Springfield in February 2019. Mapes “politely declined.”
The ruling from U.S. District Judge John Kness keeps the trial of Timothy Mapes on track for Aug. 7.
Illinois has paid out millions in pension payments to former legislators who have admitted criminal wrongdoing or are awaiting trial.
The motion from Timothy Mapes’ attorneys also gives the slightest additional peek at what took place in front of the grand jury that was looking into Michael Madigan. The former speaker has since been charged with racketeering conspiracy.
The charges against Timothy Mapes brought federal prosecutors closer than ever to Michael Madigan, who has been implicated in a bribery scheme involving ComEd but has not been charged. He denies wrongdoing.
The charges bring the feds closer than ever to Madigan, who has not been criminally charged and denies wrongdoing. It also lifts the curtain slightly on a grand jury drilling deep into Illinois politics.
Some of Maggie Hickey’s harshest criticisms were of Tim Mapes, who became Madigan’s chief of staff in 1991; most of those interviewed, she said, “agreed that Mr. Mapes commonly threatened people’s jobs or reminded them that they were dispensable.”
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