Former top adviser to Madigan to testify in La Schiazza trial

A former senior policy adviser to House Speaker Michael Madigan will testify Friday in the trial of a former AT&T Illinois executive on charges that he bribed Madigan by secretly paying money to one of his allies through the adviser's lobbying firm.

Tom Cullen, a lobbyist who played a key political role in Madigan's administration for years, is a key witness in the trial of Paul La Schiazza, not only because he was the alleged intermediary for the illegal payments, but also because of his extensive knowledge of Madigan's dealings.

The Tribune first reported in 2022 that Cullen had testified before the federal grand jury investigating much of Madigan's political world, which prosecutors said included a criminal organization aimed at providing personal financial benefits to Madigan and his allies.

According to prosecutors, in the spring of 2017, La Schiazza agreed to hire former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo as an unofficial consultant and pay him $2,500 a month through Cullen's firm, Cullen & Associates.

The agreement, first pushed by Madigan's longtime confidant Michael McClain, was part of a plot to gain Madigan's support for key bills AT&T wanted to pass in Springfield, prosecutors said.

Cullen had previously testified in the perjury trial of Tim Mapes, the Speaker's longtime chief of staff, but had not appeared as a witness in the related ComEd Four bribery conspiracy trial.

However, his name appeared repeatedly in the ComEd Four case, including on a now infamous “magic” list of lobbyists favored by Madigan and compiled by McClain on hotel stationery.

His testimony in the La Schiazza case was highly anticipated and could prove controversial, as La Schiazza's defense team said Friday they would cross-examine him to determine whether their actions were illegal – a point the prosecution says is irrelevant.

Tom Cullen was one of the key engineers of the Madigan machine for decades and held a position of high trust in a small group of Madigan's confidants. As a longtime political insider told the Tribune, the group's membership is kept so secret that only “the people in the circle know who the people in the circle are.”

Cullen held the critically important position of director of Madigan's House Issues Development Staff, the political arm of the Speaker's government work. In that role, Cullen became indispensable in selecting and recruiting House candidates and charting their paths to victory.

When the speaker's daughter, Lisa Madigan, ran for attorney general, Cullen was part of a small circle of people – including McClain – who met frequently to support her in her successful national campaign.

La Schiazza, 66, was charged with conspiracy, bribery in a federal scheme and using a facility in interstate commerce to further illegal activities in an indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury in October 2022. The most serious charges carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail while his case is pending.

La Schiazza's lawyers argued that by paying Acevedo, AT&T was simply engaging in the kind of relationship-building necessary in politics, especially when a company is trying to get politicians to consider its agenda. The company also had political reasons for keeping the payments secret, the defense said.

The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, offers a small taste of some of the evidence that will be presented in Madigan and McClain's criminal conspiracy trial, which begins next month.

Before Cullen takes the stand, the jury will hear testimony from Stephen Selcke, who worked for years as one of AT&T's top internal lobbyists and was involved in Acevedo's hiring process.

The U.S. Attorney's Office granted Selcke immunity in 2022, forcing him to testify against his friend, but also protected him from any criminal prosecution as long as he told the truth.

Selcke testified Thursday that no one at AT&T wanted to hire Acevedo directly because of his reputation in Springfield for his heavy drinking and aggressive behavior. But Acevedo was a longtime ally of the speaker, and when McClain approached him and asked him to raise some money for a “small contract” for Acevedo, they were immediately agreed to, Selcke said.

“Speaker Madigan was the most powerful member of the Illinois House of Representatives and controlled virtually all legislation in the House … so of course we did not want to get into trouble with Speaker Madigan and get in the way of our legislation in any way,” Selcke told the jury on Friday.

He also testified that it was clear to all of them that McClain's request came directly from the speaker.

Two days after McClain's initial offer, La Schiazza sent the group an email saying he had also heard directly from McClain.

“The Speaker has assigned our bill to him as a 'special project,'” La Schiazza wrote on Feb. 16, 2017, according to a copy of the email presented in court. “Mike wants to meet with me, which I will do. … I will send him a summary of our bill. I have told him that I will also make my staff available for details if needed.”

He ended the email with the words “The game continues.”

In late March, however, after learning from McClain that Acevedo's hiring still hadn't moved forward, La Schiazza emailed the team again. “Got a call. … Do we have money set aside for a small contract for Eddie Acevedo? … Let me know,” he said. “Somehow I thought we had that in the works?”

After Selcke and others expressed concerns about hiring Acevedo as a direct lobbyist, which would require him to register with the state, a plan was discussed to “channel Eddie's efforts” through Cullen.

La Schiazza responded via email: “If you truly believe it would be detrimental to sign (Acevedo) directly, I have no objection to that plan as long as you are sure we get credit and the box is checked, and of course we have legal approval to engage Eddie in that manner.”

According to prosecutors, Cullen later attended a meeting with AT&T officials and Acevedo to discuss a cover story for the payments: “to prepare a report on the political dynamics of the Latino caucuses of the Chicago General Assembly and City Council.”

Acevedo initially balked, saying the payments were too low, but when McClain intervened and said the amount was “sufficient,” he agreed to the deal.

From June 2017 to January 2018, AT&T paid nine monthly installments of $10,000 to Cullen's company, with $2,500 of each installment earmarked for Acevedo, for a total of $22,500. The report was never produced and Acevedo did nothing else for AT&T, prosecutors alleged.

Meanwhile, after a protracted battle, the landline bill passed in the final hours of the 2017 spring session — with Madigan's direct support, according to legislative documents filed in court Thursday. The House later overrode a veto by then-Governor Bruce Rauner — in a vote that Madigan helped pass in the House.

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Originally published: September 13, 2024 at 10:17 am