Lobbyist testifies in Madigan trial how she lost a year to Chinatown project and 'two very angry politicians'

When veteran Springfield lobbyist Nancy Kimme agreed to usher a bill through the Legislature that would hand a state-owned Chinatown parking lot to the city of Chicago in the days of Gov. Bruce Rauner, the longtime Republican thought she had an easy task ahead of her.

Instead, Kimme would be confounded by infighting among Democratic politicians, including then-state Sens. Martin Sandoval and Tony Munoz, and then-Ald. Danny Solis (25th). She repeatedly turned to the man who brought her into the mess, fellow lobbyist Michael McClain, to help her solve the “Rubik’s Cube.”

But the two were stumped. Eventually, McClain told Kimme, “there’s something fishy here.”

McClain wasn't far off. That May 31, 2018, call between Kimme and McClain was being secretly recorded by the FBI. And the two powerhouse Springfield lobbyists were right in the middle of a scheme that would one day lead to the indictment of McClain and former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

There's no sign McClain was actually aware of the FBI's wiretap on his phone, though. And now, Madigan and McClain are on trial for a racketeering conspiracy. Kimme is not accused of wrongdoing, but she spent the bulk of her day Thursday on the witness stand.

First, she explained to jurors how the alleged Chinatown scheme began in 2017. Then, she and a prosecutor reviewed in painstaking detail how it unraveled throughout 2018.

The feds called Kimme to the stand while signaling they are near the end of their case against Madigan and could even rest next week. Her testimony serves, in part, to corroborate last week’s testimony from Solis, who was secretly working for the FBI at the time.

Kimme, a former chief of staff to the late Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, established herself in Springfield as a go-to lobbyist who specialized in working with Republicans. She also served as a top adviser to Rauner, a fellow Republican who was in office during most of the events jurors heard about Thursday.

Kimme is also a business partner with former state Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who testified earlier in Madigan’s trial about how McClain allegedly passed along a message from Madigan in 2018 that Lang should resign.

The Chinatown allegations revolved around a parking lot at Cermak and Wentworth where developers hoped to build a hotel. Solis sought Madigan’s help having the land transferred to the city.

Madigan put Solis in touch with McClain — who enlisted Kimme — because Madigan was in a feud with Rauner. Meanwhile, Solis told McClain that the developers would give business to Madigan’s private tax appeals law firm if the land transfer went through.

But for roughly two-and-a-half hours Thursday, jurors heard Kimme describe how the project unraveled over eight months — and they heard more than 20 FBI recordings — in a tale involving characters such as Sandoval; Munoz; state Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago; and former state Reps. Dan Burke, also a Chicago Democrat, and Republican Avery Bourne of downstate Morrisville.

“What you ran into is two very angry politicians, apparently: Tony Munoz and Sandoval,” Tom Breen, one of Madigan’s defense attorneys, asked Kimme.

“That’s right,” Kimme said.

Sandoval and Munoz apparently had separate political grievances involving Solis. Burke and Bourne were among the lawmakers the lobbyists thought might carry the bill. The lobbyists also got bad information from Solis about Mah’s position on the bill, which led to McClain’s “fishy” comment.

Ultimately, Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz asked Kimme if “any bill passed that included that Chinatown transfer language?”

“No,” Kimme told the jury. “After all that, there was not.”

Earlier Thursday, Madigan’s defense attorneys had an opportunity to cross-examine two officials from The Resurrection Project, a not-for-profit in Pilsen. Jurors heard on Wednesday how the agency signed up for an insurance policy through Madigan’s son, Andrew Madigan.

Madigan’s son made $43,000 over three years, jurors heard. The feds have tied it to the alleged racketeering conspiracy and an August 2018 meeting between Madigan and Solis.

But Resurrection Project Chief Financial Officer Anjanette Brown testified Thursday that she decided on her own to hire Andrew Madigan’s insurance company, Alliant.

“Nobody had influenced you to do that, at all?” Todd Pugh, another Madigan defense attorney, asked.

“No,” Brown said.