Daywatch: Feds look to call experts on machine politics at Madigan trial

Good morning, Chicago.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to call a pair of former Chicago aldermen as experts in the city’s political landscape at the upcoming racketeering trial of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

In a motion yesterday, prosecutors asked that retired University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson be allowed to testify as an expert witness on traditional Democratic machine politics, particularly the patronage system that ward bosses like Madigan were able to use to build and maintain power.

They also want to call former Ald. Michele Smith, a former federal prosecutor who would describe for the jury the intricacies of City Hall, including obscurities such as aldermanic prerogative, zoning and the role of ward committeemen, according to the filing.

It’s not the first time the U.S. attorney’s office has sought to use former legislators as experts in a political corruption trial.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jason Meisner.

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