CHICAGO – Before the sun rose on a cold Wednesday morning in January 2019, Fidel Marquez agreed to a life-altering assignment as a cooperating witness in a criminal case the government was building against his colleagues at electric utility Commonwealth Edison and powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Defense attorneys in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday attacked the credibility of a key prosecution witness, questioning his motives for cooperating with the FBI and grilling him over attempts to hide money in a divorce and his recent attempted purchase of a gun to shoot rattlesnakes.

The former chief lobbyist for electric utility Commonwealth Edison has spent the last week telling a federal jury how he bent over backward to accommodate hiring requests from former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Seizing on a tactic strengthened by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, defense attorneys in the Michael Madigan corruption trial began their cross-examination of a key witness Tuesday by trying to distinguish between exchanging jobs for official actions and simply currying favor with the formidable ex-House speaker.

A former ComEd executive -- turned government informant -- is back on the stand Wednesday for his fifth day in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Patrick Cotter, defense attorney for a longtime Madigan ally, spent more than three hours cross-examining former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, trying to methodically rehabilitate his client.

Former state Rep. Michael McClain and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan enter the federal court building in Chicago Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024.