A powerful former Springfield lobbyist and close friend of House Speaker Michael Madigan once sought leniency for a state worker in a disciplinary case by arguing that the worker “kept his mouth shut” about an unspecified rape downstate.
 
In the previously undisclosed, 2012 email, ex-lobbyist Michael McClain urged two top aides to then-Gov. Pat Quinn to avoid firing the worker, also telling them the man was politically “loyal” to Quinn and stayed silent about “ghost workers.”
 
McClain and a former client, Commonwealth Edison, already are facing intense scrutiny from federal agents investigating the state-regulated power company’s efforts to win rate increases and other favorable actions from Springfield.
 
The disclosure of the 2012 email -- which WBEZ obtained recently through an open-records request -- immediately prompted calls for an investigation from Gov. JB Pritzker and the top Republican in the Illinois House, who called the email’s contents “horrific.”
 
For decades, McClain enjoyed a cozy relationship with Madigan. He had dual roles as one of the most influential lobbyists in Springfield and a top political adviser to Madigan, who also is the head of the Illinois Democratic Party.
 
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