The Barrington Hills Observer

Anne Pramaggiore

Anne Pramaggiore finished her testimony in her own defense Tuesday, but not before prosecutors cast a skeptical light on her contention that she didn’t know Commonwealth Edison lobbyist Jay Doherty had subcontractors on his payroll until the federal probe of the company and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan came to light.

Under cross-examination, the former ComEd CEO — a defendant in the “ComEd Four” trial along with Doherty and lobbyists Michael McClain and John Hooker — held to her story that she had no knowledge that Doherty paid associates of Madigan under his lobbying contract with ComEd in return for little or no work.

Questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker, Pramaggiore was asked about when she met with the FBI and government lawyers in September 2019. In that meeting — a “proffer” session in which she promised to tell the truth in return for not having any evidence she presented used against her — Pramaggiore told the feds she didn’t remember anything about the Doherty arrangements. She then was played the intercepted call from February 2019 between her and Fidel Marquez, ComEd’s senior internal lobbyist, in which he told her about Doherty’s no-work subcontracts.

The meeting with the feds, attended also by Pramaggiore attorney Scott Lassar, himself a former U.S. attorney for Illinois’ Northern District, then ended, apparently abruptly. After a sidebar in which lawyers for each side jostled about whether and how that meeting with the feds would be discussed, Pramaggiore testified, “It was the end of the day, yes. The interview was over.”

“You and your counsel ended the interview, correct?” Streicker asked.

Lassar immediately objected and said she’d violated the judge’s instructions. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber directed the jury to disregard that question.

But the seed had been planted — Lassar apparently thought the call when it was played was damaging enough that he ended Pramaggiore’s session with the feds before they were done with her.

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