Tim Mapes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Aug. 9, 2023. - Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS
CHICAGO -- Former House Speaker Michael Madigan has long been known as “The Velvet Hammer” for the way he quietly wielded power. But in a federal courtroom on Monday, the man once considered Illinois’ most powerful politician may have been given a new moniker: Don Madigan. Testifying in the perjury trial of Madigan’s longtime chief of staff, Tim Mapes, a former FBI agent who headed the blockbuster corruption probe likened Madigan’s style as one more fit for the head of an organized crime family than a legitimate political operation. “Mr. Madigan ran his organization, as close as I can compare ...
