Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore exits the U.S. Dirksen Courthouse in downtown Chicago after testifying in her own defense on the 18th day of the “ComEd Four” bribery conspiracy trial, April 13, 2023. (Shanna Madison / Chicago Tribune)
Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, the theater major from Ohio who rose to become one of the top female executives in the country, sounded Thursday like she could’ve been speaking at a City Club luncheon.
She was polished and engaging, spinning interesting anecdotes about her unlikely rise in Illinois’ male-dominated, sharp-elbowed corporate world. She sprinkled in appropriately timed humor. She held her audience in rapt attention.
The difference was Pramaggiore wasn’t delivering her remarks from a podium to a crowd of hundreds of Chicago movers and shakers.
It was from a federal witness stand, and she had a target audience of 12.
In a highly anticipated moment, Pramaggiore, 64, took the stand Thursday afternoon in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial, where she and three associates are accused of bribing powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan to advance the utility giant’s legislative agenda in Springfield.
Dressed in a dark sweater and wearing black eyeglasses, Pramaggiore described her relationship with Madigan as “professional” and friendly, but one kept at a bit of a distance.
“He’s a very quiet person, doesn’t say a lot,” she said. “But I did get to know a bit about him. I think we had mutual respect for each other.”
Pramaggiore said from her perspective, what was most important to Madigan was “staying the speaker.” That meant raising money and winning elections to keep his Democratic majority in the House, she said.
“That was sort of where he placed his priorities,” Pramaggiore testified.
Read more here.
Leave a Reply