Chicago City Wire

Tiffany Madigan – one of Michael Madigan’s daughters – received preferential treatment from ComEd due to her father’s influence over the state’s largest utility provider, emails show.

“F.Y.I. - Dad asked that I send this email to you. Tiffany's power went out and that perhaps you could call ComEd about it?” another of Madigan’s children, Nicole Madigan wrote in a 2012 email to defendant Michal McClain. 

McClain wrote back he had spoken to an executive and power was restored. 

“Power is back on…..” 

“Fidel Marquez dropped and did.” 

“Enioy…..” McClain wrote. 

Marquez, who began collecting evidence on behalf of investigators in 2019, said such requests from McClain were given precedence due to Madigan’s influence, according to The Center Square. 

City Journal in 2016 wrote about the importance of Madigan’s children in his orbit. 

“Madigan’s adopted daughter, Lisa Madigan, is Illinois attorney general and a likely future gubernatorial candidate,” Daniel DiSalvo wrote in City Journal. “His three other children’s careers, and those of their spouses, are also intertwined with his machine. Tiffany Madigan is a lawyer at a big firm that has donated money to Madigan’s campaigns. Her husband, Jordan Matyas, started out as a staffer in the speaker’s office, was chief of staff of the Regional Transportation Authority, and has now opened his own law firm that advertises his knowledge of state politics. Nicole Madigan is a real-estate lawyer who worked for a firm that contributed to Lisa’s campaign war chest and is now general counsel to a real-estate management firm in Chicago. Andrew Madigan is an analyst at a financial-services firm that receives state contracts and deals with city bonds.”

Matyas' law firm, 1818, is "also a registered lobbying entity and advocates at the local and state level on behalf of its clients," according to his LinkedIn profile. 

McClain along with former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and lobbyist and former City Club of Chicago head Jay Doherty are accused of participating in a $150 million bribery scandal meant to sway favor with the former house speaker. The "ComEd Four" trial began in March. 

In her opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said “The defendants sought to bribe Mike Madigan in order to influence his actions in the General Assembly, to ensure that he didn’t take action to hurt the company in the General Assembly and to reward past beneficial conduct to ComEd in the general assembly with legislation that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”   

Madigan himself is set to go on trial in April 2024 on 22 counts of public corruption related to the ComEd bribery scheme as well as another count of public corruption related to AT&T.

Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop have also shown connections between the Madigans and the Bidens. Lisa Madigan, Illinois’ former attorney general, was discussed in Hunter Biden’s emails. The emails came as Valerie Biden Owens - President Biden's sister - alerted Biden’s operation that Lisa Madigan had dropped her media consultant and that Owens' company was hoping to be considered for the job in 2010. 

“Hunt - do you have any swat here - that would not be a chit if you weighed in bc a chit is too expensive," Owen's email reads.   Eric - I know you would charge me a %!”