Tim Mapes told a federal grand jury that he didn’t see all that much of lobbyist Michael McClain after McClain retired in 2016.
“I think he was (in Springfield) occasionally, but I don’t really know his schedule because he wasn’t there much,” Mapes testified of McClain, one of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s closest confidants. “From what he had told me when he was going to retire is that he was going to phase out some of his clients through the spring session. And I didn’t — I never did have another discussion with him about it after that.”
That testimony stood in stark contrast to evidence presented in Mapes’ perjury trial on Friday, where federal prosecutors played a series of wiretapped conversations showing Mapes and McClain were in frequent contact, even after Mapes was ousted in June 2018 as part of a sexual harassment scandal that had engulfed the speaker’s office.
Not only that, the men appeared in the calls to have a great affection for each other. They talked about their families and commiserated on the declining health of McClain’s mother. They ate meals together, joked about the perceived shortcomings of certain Madigan staffers, and worried about each other’s futures. At one point, McClain signed off by telling Mapes he loved him.
On the day Mapes resigned, McClain left him a voicemail that was played for the jury, saying, “Tim, this is Mike. You know I’m here for ya. So whatever I can do to help, all you gotta do is call on me. All you gotta do is call on me. God bless.”
Mapes called McClain back and the two talked about the unfairness of Mapes’ forced exit. “You’re the only person’s made me cry today,” McClain told Mapes.
In another call from June 2018, McClain told Mapes he still hadn’t talked to Madigan about Mapes’ abrupt ouster.
“I don’t think I can contain myself right now around him,” McClain said. “I think I would say, ‘I never thought you’d be the one to leave the foxhole.’ But I just … haven’t even wanted to talk to him. You know what I mean Tim?”
The calls were played one after another for more than an hour as prosecutors neared the end of their case in chief.
Prosecutors had planned to rest on Friday afternoon, but that plan was scuttled after technical issues in the courtroom audio feed delayed the start of the trial. Prosecutors now plan to rest their case Monday.
The defense is expected to begin presenting its case on Monday, and will call an expert witness who will testify on the faults of human memory. They have also said they want to call Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, who conducted the questioning of Mapes at the grand jury.
Mapes, meanwhile, has not said whether he will testify, though it’s considered a long shot given his previous track record and the general risks involved.
Mapes, 68, of Springfield, is charged with perjury and attempted obstruction of justice, accused in an indictment of lying in answers to seven questions during his appearance before the grand jury investigating Madigan and his vaunted political operation.
He faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction count, while the perjury charges carry up to five years behind bars.
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Over seven days of testimony, prosecutors have presented 15 witnesses and dozens of wiretapped phone conversations, emails and other documents in an effort to prove that Mapes was lying when he said he was unaware that McClain was doing sensitive “assignments” for the speaker.
The prosecution’s case has also included the audio of Mapes’ entire grand jury testimony, offering a rare glimpse into a secretive process and illuminating how big-time political corruption investigations play out behind the scenes.
Mapes, who served for more than 25 years as Madigan’s chief of staff as well as stints as executive director of the state Democratic Party and the clerk of the House, has denied making any false statements.
His attorneys have argued that he did his “level best” to provide truthful answers. They also accused prosecutors of asking open-ended questions and failing to provide Mapes with any corroborating materials that might refresh his recollection of years-old conversations.
While the charges against Mapes are fairly straightforward, the trial has been anything but ordinary, especially given the backdrop of the political corruption scandal that roiled Illinois politics and helped end Madigan’s record, decadeslong run as speaker.
A slew of Democratic Springfield insiders have lined up to testify for the prosecution, including state Rep. Bob Rita, ex-legislators Lou Lang and Greg Harris, and former top aides to Madigan such as Tom Cullen, Will Cousineau and Craig Willert.
[ Former top Michael Madigan aide on trial: What you need to know — and what’s next for Tim Mapes ]
Lang testified Thursday for the second time about the painful end to his 32-year legislative career.
[ Tim Mapes perjury trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
Prosecutors played a series of calls from 2018 where Mapes and McClain discussed Lang’s future after rumors of a #MeToo allegation prompted Madigan to decide Lang should give up the seat he’d held for decades.
In one call from Oct. 26, 2018, McClain told Mapes, “My assignment is to tell Lou Lang that he has no life in the House anymore.”
“You’ve had one discussion with him. Did you have more?” Mapes asked.
“I’m doing it in tiers,” McClain responded.
In a recorded telephone call from Oct. 31, 2018, McClain said he would wait until fundraising checks that they had directed Lang to disperse to other Democratic candidates cleared, “Then I gotta tell (Lang) he’s gotta move on, he has no future in the House.”
On the witness stand Thursday, Lang calmly told prosecutors that he was not surprised that it was McClain who called him to deliver the news because “he was the message sender.”
“Mr. McClain was the person dispatched to tell members things that the speaker didn’t want to tell them,” Lang testified.
On Friday, the jury heard calls between McClain and Mapes that were both personal and profane. Some dealt with the death of McClain’s mother in 2018, while others featured McClain counseling Mapes on how to get over having to resign.
On June 27, 2018, McClain told Mapes he still cringed when he thought about letters he wrote to Madigan after he lost his legislative seat in 1982.
“I’m like, Jesus Christ, you dumb (expletive),” McClain said.
McClain also told Mapes that his replacement as executive director of the state Democratic Party was in over her head. “This is between you and me,” he said. “I never thought that she was the sharpest knife in the drawer and her head’s gonna be swimming a lot.”
The jury also saw how Mapes kept tabs with the burgeoning federal investigation into Madigan and his friends.
In November 2019, Mapes’ son, Devin, forwarded him a Tribune investigative story detailing $30,000 in payments that had been steered from Madigan-connected lobbyists to former Madigan lieutenant Kevin Quinn, who had been cut loose due to the alleged sexual harassment of a campaign worker.
“I’m starting to think that the feds don’t have much on (McClain),” Devin Mapes wrote in the email. “It’s just wicked character assassination — lots of stuff that people will think looks bad/unsavory but nothing that will convert into a guilty verdict.”
“Good to hear,” Mapes replied. “Well they really want another guy.”