Pritzker: Illinois Speaker ‘Must Resign’ if Allegations True

Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, talks on his cellphone from his desk during an extended session of the Illinois House of Representatives at the Bank of Springfield Center, in Springfield, Ill., on May 23, 2020. Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP

CHICAGO—Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan “must resign” if allegations of corruption are true against the fellow Democrat long considered the state’s most powerful lawmaker.

Federal prosecutors said electric utility ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million to defer the prosecution for a bribery charge ComEd admitted to. They say the company has admitted that from 2011 to 2019 it arranged jobs, subcontracted work and monetary payments related to those jobs “for various associates of a high-level elected official for the state of Illinois.”