Tim Mapes trial: Prosecutors rest their case

A longtime confidant of then-Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was captured on a federal wiretap in 2018 saying he and one of the speaker’s top private attorneys worked to block the selection of former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey as the next U.S. attorney in Chicago.

The politically charged comment came during a July 5, 2018, conversation between Michael McClain and Tim Mapes, who had recently been ousted as Madigan’s chief of staff in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal that was engulfing Springfield.

On the call, which was played for the jury in Mapes’ perjury trial Monday, McClain told Mapes that he’d strongly disagreed with Madigan’s appointment of Hickey to investigate and address the alleged mistreatment of women in the legislature. Hickey had previously served as executive inspector general under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

“I did everything, Adam Vaught and I did everything we can to get (Hickey) nixed as the next U.S. attorney,” McClain said…