Bloomberg Law Interviewed Brian Klein about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Snyder Decision and the Criminal Trial of Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan

Former federal prosecutor Brian Klein, interviewed on October 14, 2024 about the forthcoming federal corruption case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on the Bloomberg Law Podcast, said of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Snyder v. United States ruling on June 26, 2024, “It’s always helpful as a defense lawyer if you have Supreme Court precedent supporting you …”

“The Supreme Court has been very interested in public corruption cases the last five to 10 years” and in Snyder v. United States the Court narrowed the scope of public corruption by ruling that a bride by itself is not enough for a federal charge said Klein. Instead, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which includes Illinois, holds that you need a “an ongoing relationship and a stream of payments to establish quid pro quo,” said Klein, “and that’s the focus of the allegations” against Madigan.

Madigan, now 82 and the then longest serving state legislative leader in the United States, has been charged by federal prosecutors with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud said Klein.