Three weeks after former House Speaker Michael Madigan reported to federal prison, his lawyers have filed a long-awaited appeal to overturn his corruption conviction, arguing the prosecution flaunted recent Supreme Court rulings reining in the use of the bribery and fraud statutes and instead stretched the laws “past their breaking points.”
The 71-page filing with the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said allegations surrounding two of the central prongs in the case — the ComEd bribery scheme and Madigan’s offer to help then-Ald. Daniel Solis get a state board position — “improperly criminalizes the rough-and-tumble business of state politics in direct contradiction of recent Supreme Court rulings.”
Madigan’s lawyers also accused the U.S. attorney’s office of “throwing years’ worth of l

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