Trial of Michael Madigan LIVE updates: Jury hears more testimony in former Illinois speaker’s trial

In his daylong testimony, ComEd’s former General Counsel Tom O’Neill got to the heart of the corruption charges against Madigan and his co-defendant, Mike McClain.

O’Neill described the utility giant as a company that was in a “precarious financial position” in July 2010: a company that desperately needed a new way to set customer rates.

Tasked with making that happen, O’Neill spent the next six and a half years traveling back and forth to Springfield, where he negotiated and drafted three major pieces of legislation that were critical to turning around ComEd’s fortunes .

“I was often, if not constantly, asked: Does the speaker support this? Or: Where is the speaker on this?” O’Neill testified.

He said the company was heavily dependent on contract lobbyist McClain for access to Madigan.

“Mr. McClain had unfettered access to the speaker’s suite,” said O’Neill, who then connected the dots for prosecutors.

They drew a direct line between the legislative effort and a contract ComEd signed in October 2011 with Reyes Kurson, a law firm headed by Victor Reyes, a political ally of Madigan.

The contract was approved as the General Assembly voted to override Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of ComEd’s first major legislative move. When O’Neill tried to cut the law firm’s hours several years later, with yet another ComEd bill about to be voted on, ComEd’s CEO Anne Pramaggiore received an email from McClain.

“I’m sure you know how valuable Victor is to our friend,” McClain said. “I know the business, and so do you. If you don’t get involved and solve this issue of 850 hours a year for his law firm, he will go to our friend. Our friend will call me and then I will call you. Is that so?” Is this an exercise we have to go through?”

Prosecutors said the “friend” was Madigan.

Ultimately, the contract was renewed several months later, right around the same time ComEd’s third major legislative push ended successfully in Springfield. O’Neill returns to the witness stand on Tuesday, where he is expected to be extensively cross-examined by lawyers.