Mary Dixon: It was a dramatic week of twists and turns in the ComEd bribery trial. One of the four defendants accused of bribing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has begun her testimony in her own defense and is due back on the stand today. Dave McKinney covers Illinois politics. He's been covering this trial for WBEZ. Good morning, Dave. 

Dave McKinney: Hey, Mary, how are you? 

Mary Dixon: I'm fine. Are you ready for week six of this trial?

Dave McKinney: You know, I'm gonna be ready whether I want to be or not. And it's sort of like watching a movie over there. And, you know, I feel like I need to bring some popcorn.

Mary Dixon: Well, let's pick up where things left off when jurors went home for the weekend. They were hearing testimony from one of the four ComEd defendants. Who is Anne Pramaggiore?

Dave McKinney: So Anne Pramaggiore is ComEd's former CEO. And once she got in at ComEd, she ultimately climbed to the top of the food chain there. And while at ComEd, one of her calling cards was that she had a series of big legislative wins in Springfield that brought ComEd back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Mary Dixon: Why is Pramaggiore on trial?

Dave McKinney: Well Mary, Prosecutors say that Pramaggiore and her three co defendants who were all ComEd lobbyists, they were part of the scheme to boost ComEd's legislative fortunes in Springfield. And the way they did that was that they allegedly doled out jobs and favors to Madigan. These jobs, they ran the gamut from summer interns all the way up to the boardroom. And, you know, I went back and I counted - the feds arrested their case midweek and they played basically 145 secret recordings, a mountain of evidence. And there's one recording that we're going to hear now involving Pramaggiore relaying word to Michael McClain, one of her co-defendants, that she had successfully engineered the appointment of a Madigan backed candidate for a spot on the ComEd board. 

Anne Pramaggiore: You take good care of me and so does our friend. And I will do the best that I can to take care of you.

Dave McKinney: If you picked up on Pramaggiore's reference to our friend, that's code language that she and McClain would use frequently to discuss Madigan. That was his nickname.

Mary Dixon: So now that Pramaggiore has taken the stand, what does she say that all this was about?

Dave McKinney: Well, so, Pramaggiore is unusual at this point in that she's the only one of the four defendants who has made any sort of public commitment toward testifying on her own behalf. And in short, you know, it's not surprising she says she didn't do any of the crimes that she's accused of doing. She never bribed Madigan. She basically said that he and she had a friendly, respectful relationship. That he wasn't an ally of the company. And the last question that her lawyer during questioning on Thursday left jurors with as they headed into the weekend was whether or not Madigan ever said that, you know, hey, because you hire my people, I'll help you with legislation. And she said, no, he never told me that. So that was, that was the thought that she left with them. You know, I would say that that so far in the roughly hour we have heard from her so far, she has presented a very polished image of herself. That's just kind of the person she is, talking directly to jurors. So she's giving this side of herself, a softer side, than what we've seen in the criminal indictment. And in the case that prosecutors have presented so far.

Mary Dixon: Of course, the subtext and the context here is really all about the former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. And you covered Madigan in Springfield for decades, Dave. So what are we learning about Madigan's political organization from this trial? 

Dave McKinney: You're making me feel old there with that line about the decades. But remember, Pramaggiore is at the top of this food chain and the trial has focused on these ghost subcontractors that are tied to Madigan. So a lot of these requests were being funneled through her allegedly. One of the contractors that is an issue here is a guy named Ed Moody. Now, most people don't know who this guy is, Ed Moody. But if you're in the world of politics, he is a big deal. He described himself on the stand as Madigan's number one precinct captain. And that meant a lot in Madigan world. Moody when he was on the stand detailed how Madigan and the some of the defendants in this case, Mike McClain and fellow defendant Jay Doherty, how they engineered this contract that Moody held for six years and involved no work for ComEd. And over and over again, Moody said that he didn't think he had to do any work for this money. That instead, he thought it was recognition for Madigan for all the fine work that he was doing knocking on doors in the 13th Ward.

Mary Dixon: Okay to be continued. Dave McKinney WBEZ is Illinois politics reporter. Thanks for the update.

Dave McKinney: Mary, thanks.

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