Five weeks into her trial over allegations she conspired to bribe House Speaker Michael Madigan, ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, the theater major from Ohio with a knack for public speaking, is facing the most important performance of her life.
Pramaggiore, 64, informed the court on Wednesday that she plans to take the witness stand and testify in her own defense — a rare and often risky move in a high-stakes federal trial. Her lawyer has said her testimony will likely begin Thursday morning and could last into next week.
As the longtime face of ComEd, Pramaggiore, of Barrington, was a rising star in the male-dominated corporate world, and often came across as a brainy mix of business savvy and homespun directness that put people, including public officials, at ease.
But her turn on the witness stand will be unlike any other public speaking she’s ever done, a far cry from the friendly luncheons at the City Club of Chicago, where her emcee, and now co-defendant Jay Doherty, lauded her before every speech.
While Pramaggiore, who has a law degree, will have a chance to charm the jury and perhaps explain some of her statements on the wiretapped calls played in court, she also will be subjected to intense and lengthy cross examination from prosecutors, questioning they’ve likely been preparing for months.
Before the trial began Thursday, prosecutors revealed for the first time that Pramaggiore sat down for what’s known as a “proffer” session with the U.S. attorney’s office in September 2019, leading to a 33-page FBI report of her statements.
Proffer sessions are typically part of an initial exploration of potential cooperation or a guilty plea. The judge ruled that if Pramaggiore testifies inconsistently with her proffer, prosecutors can try to impeach her with the FBI report.
Pramaggiore, has pleaded not guilty to all counts, could face years behind bars if convicted.
[ ‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial: What you need to know ]
Charged in the case are Pramaggiore, Doherty and two other longtime ComEd lobbyists, John Hooker, and Michael McClain, a longtime confidant of Madigan.
The indictment alleged the four defendants steered $1.3 million in payments from ComEd to Madigan-approved subcontractors who did little or no work in a bid to win the speaker’s influence over the utility’s legislative agenda in Springfield.
The indictment also alleged the defendants schemed to hire a clout-heavy law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes and stack the utility’s summer internship program with candidates sent from the 13th Ward.
The four on trial have all pleaded not guilty. Their lawyers have contended the government is trying to turn legal lobbying and job recommendations into a crime.
Madigan and McClain face a separate racketeering indictment that is set for trial next year.
[ ‘ComEd Four’ trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
Pramaggiore’s testimony will be followed by witnesses for Doherty and John Hooker. The last defendant to present a case will be Michael McClain, a longtime confidant of Madigan’s who is accused of orchestrating the elaborate bribers-for-favors scheme.
Unlike Pramaggiore, the other three defendants told the judge they still are considering whether to testify on their own behalf.
The defendants have so far argued that what their clients engaged in was nothing more than legal lobbying, and that prosecutors have tried to criminalize typical political job recommendations and horse-trading.
On Wednesday, Pramaggiore’s attorneys called to the stand Illinois Appellate Court Justice David Ellis, who was Madigan’s top counsel in charge of negotiating ComEd’s massive “smart grid” legislation at the center of the indictment.
Ellis was adamant that while Madigan’s staff played an important role in getting ComEd’s bills to a vote, their focus was always on making the legislation better, often in ways that were detrimental to the utility.
“Did Mike Madigan ever tell you to favor ComEd?” asked Pramaggiore attorney Daniel Craig at the end of his two-hour direct examination.
Ellis chuckled softly, before again answering, “No.”
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Pramaggiore’s indictment in 2020 capped a fall from grace that left many in Chicago’s business and legal community stunned.
Pramaggiore seemingly had risen to the challenge when she inherited a massive utility that had been floundering in the late 2000s, with aging infrastructure prone to widespread power outages and growing dissatisfaction from its 3.8 million customers.
But to pull the company up, prosecutors allege, she made a calculated decision to embrace the Springfield power structure, joining forces with Madigan, the Chicago Democratic power broker, and his straight-from-central-casting cronies.
Emails and wiretapped phone calls played in court over the past month have only deepened the disconnect between Pramaggiore’s public persona and the actions described in the indictment.
In some of the conversations that jurors in the trial will hear, Pramaggiore even adopts the some of the vernacular of her co-defendants, sounding more like a hard-boiled character in an old gangster movie than a button-down chief executive.
“You take good care of me, and so does our friend, and I will do the best that I can to, to take care of you. You’re a good man,” Pramaggiore told McClain in one September 2018 call, referring to Madigan as “our friend” instead of by name.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
