Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, his former chief of staff, his handpicked alderman and a one-time close confidant are named in a federal grand jury subpoena seeking records from southwest suburban Merrionette Park.

The subpoena requests communications involving the speaker, his allies and Raymond T. Nice, a longtime precinct captain in Madigan’s vaunted 13th Ward operation. It also called for copies of state and federal tax records related to Nice.

Village attorney Burton Odelson said Nice was an independent contractor who worked on economic development and other business matters from 2015 through 2019, when he quit. Merrionette Park officials are cooperating and putting together the requested documents, Odelson added.

The subpoena shows that federal authorities are still gathering information in a wide-ranging government corruption investigation. In December, the Tribune exclusively reported that four sources said FBI agents and prosecutors asked about connections between Commonwealth Edison lobbyists and Madigan, lobbyists giving contracts to people tied to the speaker and city, state and suburban government jobs held by his associates.

Nice was registered as a Cook County lobbyist for ComEd and records show he received $85,000 in 2018 and 2019. Records indicate that Nice would talk to county officials regarding ComEd business operations "when requested by Jay Doherty,” a longtime lobbyist for ComEd who stepped down as president of the City Club. WBEZ 91.5-FM first reported that records showed Nice was registered until July 1, only weeks after City Club offices were raided in mid-May.

Doherty parted ways with ComEd amid a federal investigation into the company’s lobbying practices. The Tribune has reported that federal authorities are zeroing in on payments made through ComEd’s vast network of consultants to some individuals who seemed to have done little actual work.

Nice could not be reached for comment Thursday. In October, Madigan responded to questions about a federal investigation by saying: “I’m not a target of anything.” On Thursday, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he had no comment.

The Merrionette Park subpoena, first reported by the Sun-Times, sought correspondence and internal email “documenting communications with Michael Madigan, Michael McClain, Timothy Mapes, Kevin Quinn and Marty Quinn.”

McClain is a longtime Madigan confidant and former ComEd lobbyist. The Tribune has reported that authorities asked questions about the speaker’s relationship and dealings with McClain and that federal authorities recorded McClain’s phone conversations.

Mapes is the speaker’s former chief of staff who also served as executive director of the Illinois Democratic Party that Madigan chairs. Mapes was ousted from his positions within hours of sexual harassment allegations being levied against him in 2018.

Kevin Quinn was ousted from Madigan’s 13th Ward political and government operations following high-profile allegations that he sexually harassed a campaign worker. A $275,000 settlement was reached in federal lawsuit against Madigan’s political committees as Alaina Hampton said she was blackballed for calling out Kevin Quinn’s harassment, including a text message he sent saying she was “smoking hot.”

Kevin Quinn is the brother of Ward 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, the speaker’s political general. A Cook County grand jury subpoenaed records involving Marty Quinn’s re-election efforts against a neophyte DePaul University student.

Eileen Boyce, a spokeswoman for Ald. Quinn, said the Merrionette Park subpoena was a “surprise to him.” She said the alderman has “never been contacted by anyone” regarding the subpoena seeking material about Nice from Merrionette Park.

Over the years, Nice gave $2,300 in political donations to the 13th Ward, according to state records. Ray Nice Business Services, which matches the name of the Nice firm mentioned in the subpoena, donated $200 to Mayor Jose Nevarez Jr.’s campaign and $200 to previous Mayor Dennis Magee in both 2015 and 2016.

Odelson, the village lawyer, said the federal government inquiry has “zero” to do with the two mayors and is focused on Nice and his business.

Nice is a veteran of Madigan’s political operation. As part of its groundbreaking series “The Madigan Rules,” the Tribune reported in 2014 that Nice left his $118,000-a-year job at the recorder of deeds and took a job on the Cook County Employee Appeals Board, a part-time post that passed judgment on cases filed by disciplined county workers.

Nice took over for Mary Morrissey, a longtime Madigan loyalist who moved into a ranking position with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and is now executive director of state Democratic Party.

rlong@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RayLong

———

©2020 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.