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.
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.”
