The Spin: Heat is on ex-lobbyist, Madigan confidant McClain | Kim Foxx’s first TV ad airs | Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces pot fair

Federal authorities have asked Springfield lobbyist Michael McClain, a confidant of House Speaker Michael Madigan, to cooperate with a wide-ranging public corruption probe. That’s what McClain told WBEZ-FM 91.5 and a source told the Tribune. From what McClain told the local public radio station, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to talk.

McClain also didn’t talk with reporters outside a Chicago steakhouse yesterday about a recently unearthed email he wrote to then-Gov. Pat Quinn’s office in 2012 in which he made reference to a “rape” cover-up.

Recreational marijuana is changing the landscape of Chicago’s decadeslong role as a host to trade shows, business fairs and political conventions. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced this morning the city is taking the lead on a weed fair next month for those interested in everything from getting in on the burgeoning business to learning about eligibility on getting criminal records wiped clean of any marijuana convictions.

Abortion opponents will march through downtown Chicago tomorrow. A politically polarizing issue, the March for Life includes a rally with U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a Democrat in the midst of a re-election battle, on the roster of speakers.

And former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it visit to Chicago this week, is opening up a downtown office tomorrow, and you can stop in to take a look.

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Federal authorities ask Speaker Michael Madigan confidant to cooperate in probe

From the Tribune’s Jason Meisner and Ray Long: "Federal authorities have asked a longtime confidant of House Speaker Michael Madigan to cooperate with a wide-ranging investigation that reaches from Chicago to Springfield, a source familiar with the probe told the Tribune on Thursday.

“It’s the latest development involving powerful former lobbyist Mike McClain. The Tribune previously has reported that authorities have recorded McClain’s phone calls and raided his home in downstate Quincy.” Click here to read the story.

But reporters with WBEZ caught up with McClain at Chicago Cut Steakhouse, and he gave every indication he’s not going to squeal.

Dave McKinney and Dan Mihalopoulos write: "McClain told WBEZ Thursday that federal investigators had asked him to cooperate with theirutility giant Commonwealth Edison. McClain, who represented the utility as a lobbyist, has emerged as a central figure in the scandal, but he intimated that he would not cooperate.

“McClain repeatedly smiled and said he had been asked by federal investigators to cooperate. But when WBEZ asked if it would be hard to betray someone like his longtime friend Madigan, McClain paused and then said, ‘It would be hard to betray myself.’”

McClain also “dodged questions about an email in which he sought leniency for a state worker in a disciplinary case, having argued that the man was politically loyal and had stayed silent about ‘ McKinney and Mihalopoulos write. Click here to read the story.

The Champaign County state’s attorney says that office is working with other state and federal agencies on an investigation into the referenced “rape” in the email, WBEZ’s Tony Arnold is reporting today. Click here to read the story.

Lightfoot announces legal weed fair, billed as a ‘first,’ will be in Chicago next month

Chicago will host what the mayor’s office is touting as a “first-of-its-kind” Cannabis Resource Fair -- a one-stopshop where residents can find out about job and business opportunities in the field, related financing to entrepreneurs looking to get their foot in the door as well as legal assistance for those interested in better understanding the law and even expunging pot-related convictions. The city-sponsored event is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 1 at the UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road.

Residents and businesses interested in attending the fair, which is free to the public, can register here.

Marijuana companies seek permission for 3 pot shops in Chicago hot spots: Click here to read Ally Marotti and Ryan Ori's Tribune story.

More than $100K stolen in Logan Square cannabis dispensary burglary that cops now say was an inside job: Click here to read Rosemary Sobol and Elvia Malagon's Tribune story.

Using marijuana is legal, but it can still get you fired - a guide: The Tribune’s Lisa Schencker has the details here.

Kim Foxx airs her reelection campaign’s first television ad

Embattled Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx launched her first television ad of the campaign season, focusing on her humble beginnings in the now-demolished Cabrini Green public housing project, suggesting the crime and poverty she saw as a kid influenced her decision to make the law her life’s work.

The ad opens with images of the complex and Foxx narrating: “The tower I grew up in wasn’t made of ivory, and poverty and gun violence weren’t just on the news.” Click here to watch the ad.

She doesn’t talk about her three challengers in the Democratic primary nor does she mention the controversial Jussie Smollett case, which triggered an ongoing investigation by a special prosecutor and plenty of public scrutiny that’s now bleeding into the March primary.

Bill Conway, the former prosecutor and Navy veteran, released an ethics plan yesterday aimed squarely at her office’s handling of the Smollett case. Tribune reporter Lolly Bowean has more about that and Conway’s plan of attack here.

Thanks to his father’s deep pockets, Conway has been blanketing the airwaves with ads -- increasingly turning up the heat on Foxx. A recent ad includes split-screen videos of Foxx and Smollett with a narrator saying Conway will “end the scandals” that hurt the criminal justice system. Yet another focuses on indicted Ald. Edward Burke hosting a fundraiser for Foxx at his home, as first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. Watch here.

A couple of Republican state Senate candidates were minding their own business, eating at a Joliet sushi restaurant when a crime happened

Talk about timing: Two state Senate candidates in the southwest suburbs were dining at a Joliet sushi restaurant when one had to jump into first-aid mode when a cook apparently was stabbed, the Herald-News is reporting.

Tom McCullagh, a Republican candidate for the 49th District state Senate seat, and Ben Bierly, a GOP candidate for the 43rd District state Senate seat, were dining at Sushi Ya sushi bar and Japanese restaurant when the crime unfolded Tuesday night, the Herald-News reported. McCullagh tended to the cook “after his hand was slashed by a meat cleaver-wielding attacker,” the newspaper notes.

“He cut him pretty deep,” McCullagh told the Herald-News. The injured man survived, and police are investigating. Click here to read the story.

McCullagh is the lone Republican running for the seat currently held by Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat who decided not to run again as she makes a bid for Will County Executive.

Democrats vying for 49th Senate District nomination besides McCullagh include Meg Loughran Cappel, a Shorewood resident and member of the Joliet Township High School Board; Michael Crowner of Bolingbrook; and Larry Hug, a Joliet city councilman, according to the state board of elections.

The district covers all or part of Bolingbrook, Crest Hill, Joliet, Oswego, Plainfield, Channahon, Naperville, Aurora, Romeoville and Shorewood.

In the neighboring 43rd Senate District, Bierly, an Elwood resident and the lone Republican in the race, will square off with state Rep. John Connor, 85th, a Lockport Democrat, in the fall general election. State Sen. Pat McGuire, a Democrat, also decided against running for another term in the 43rd District.

The 43rd District includes all or part of Bolingbrook, Crest Hill, Elwood, Fairmont, Joliet, Lockport, Manhattan, Preston Heights, Rockdale and Romeoville.

2020 Election Watch

Republicans line up behind Ives as she looks to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten: Former U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, who lost his west suburban 6th District seat to Democrat Sean Casten in the 2018 midterms, already has endorsed Republican challenger Jeanne Ives, a former state representative, in this year’s election. But Ives says she’s racking up more high-profile GOP endorsements including: Republican National Committeewoman Demetra Demonte; the Lake County Republican Party; Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison; the conservative Club for Growth PAC; FreedomWorks, a group closely tied to the tea party movement; the House Freedom Caucus, a GOP caucus in the U.S. House; and the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List.

Rich Porter, Illinois Republican National committeeman, also is backing Ives, according to her campaign. And Republicans in Illinois’ congressional delegation along with U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy hosted a fundraiser for Ives in Washington, according to Ives’ political team. Ives, of Wheaton, is facing Jay Kinzler, of Glen Ellyn, in the Republican primary while incumbent Casten, of Downers Grove, is unopposed in the primary.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush to stay on the ballot, election board rules: Click here to read the Hyde Park Herald’s piece. One of Rush’s Democratic challengers, Sarah Gad, had objected to some of nominating petitions. With the Illinois State Board of Elections’ ruling this week, the 1st District congressman is cleared for the March Democratic primary where he’ll be facing Gad, Robert Emmons Jr. and Ameena Nuur Matthews, all of Chicago. The district includes Chicago’s South Side but stretches into the south suburbs. The winner will face lone Republican candidate Philanise White in the fall general election.

Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is opening a downtown Chicago office: Days after his first -- and quick -- campaign stop here, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign will open its Illinois headquarters Saturday in downtown Chicago. Residents are invited to meet with his campaign staff in the office at 325 N. LaSalle St. Click here for more information.

A late entry into the crowded Democratic field, Bloomberg doesn’t seem to be focusing on his primary rivals. Instead, Bloomberg’s targeting President Donald Trump. Bloomberg’s campaign is billing the opening, along with others nationwide, as “Day One, which will mark the first day of the nationwide campaign to defeat Donald Trump.”

Reminder: As the Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart explained in a piece about Bloomberg’s visit to Chicago this week, the former three-term New York mayor announced his bid in November, a little more than two months before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses that kick off the Democratic nominating contest. So he’s skipping the four early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, and focusing instead on states that vote in the Super Tuesday primaries of March 3 and beyond.

“Illinois, with its mid-March primary, falls squarely into that strategy,” Ruthhart wrote. “Bloomberg hopes to make up ground by relying in large part on his vast fortune to flood local airwaves with campaign ads and attract support in a state that awards a high number of delegates.”

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski to speak at Saturday’s March for Life rally in downtown Chicago

“Thousands of opponents of abortion are expected to gather at Daley Plaza (tomorrow) for the start of the march and rally, as the nation continues to clash over abortion rights amid mounting threats to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that established a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy,” the Tribune’s Angie Leventis-Lourgos writes.

“Last year was pivotal for abortion legislation on opposite ends of the reproductive rights debate spectrum, leaving the country more polarized in terms of access to the procedure,” she notes.

"States like Alabama, Missouri and Georgia in 2019 passed some of the toughest restrictions on terminating a pregnancy in the United States. Others enacted sweeping expansions to abortion provisions, such as the controversial Illinois Reproductive Health Act signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June, which declared the procedure a ‘fundamental right.’

“Illinois has long been considered an oasis for abortion access in the generally more restrictive Midwest.” Click here to read the full story.

Amid the list of speakers is U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a social conservative Democrat from Western Springs whose anti-abortion stance makes him a rarity in the party these days.

For details about the march and rally, including the schedule, click here.

Other news:

Changes in rules governing Chicago police cooperation with ICE officials move forward - Click here to read John Byrne’s Tribune story.

Army Reserve leaders based in suburbs accused of mishandling sexual assault claims - Click here to read the Associated Press story.

Libertyville-based Tap Room Gaming sold to downstate video gambling company- Click here to read Emily K. Coleman’s story in the Lake County News-Sun.

50,000 Cook County residents will lose food stamps if they don’t find work soon, and the clock is ticking - Click here to read Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz’s story in the Tribune.

Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.

Twitter @byldonovan

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