State Representative Norine Hammond issued the following statement regarding the verdict in the federal bribery and corruption trial of the ComEd Four:
“Today’s verdict is an indictment of the culture of corruption that ran rampant during the decades-long reign of former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. The indicted former Speaker set up and controlled an organization that looked like a mob chart of political insiders, lobbyists who had previously served as legislators or Madigan staffers, and precinct captains on the take for ghost payroll jobs.
“The Democratic supermajority in Springfield has had years to clean up their act, but unfortunately, not much has changed. I am hopeful that today’s verdict will serve as a wake-up call to those in power. It’s long past time to pass real ethics reform to empower our Legislative Inspector General to root out corruption and finally put an end to the crooked politics that left Illinois open to ridicule. We must act now to restore the people’s trust in our state government.”