As former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s defense lawyers began their closing arguments last week, attorney Dan Collins pointed to something the former speaker said when he took the witness stand earlier this month.

Closing arguments by defense attorneys are expected to finish Tuesday at the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain in Chicago. Madigan attorney Dan Collins wrapped up his final arguments on behalf of the former speaker Monday afternoon.

Of the 23 total charges in the indictment, Michael McClain faces six counts including racketeering conspiracy, federal program bribery and wire fraud. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ex-House speaker Michael Madigan, formerly the most powerful man in Illinois politics, “conspired to enhance and preserve (his) power and line his pockets” for years, prosecutors said at the outset of marathon closing arguments in Madigan’s corruption trial.

Prosecutors concluded their final summations Friday on Day 3 of closing arguments in the former speaker’s landmark trial by presenting an overview of how the various bribery and corruption schemes alleged in the government’s 23-charge indictment all come together under count one: racketeering conspiracy.

The outcome of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption trial will be watched closely well beyond Chicago’s federal courthouse, with the verdict representing a potential make-or-break moment at the Illinois Capitol.

A federal prosecutor on Friday called former House Speaker Michael Madigan “the man calling the shots,” a supreme politician who for years advanced a criminal enterprise focused on private gain.

Madigan, 82, and his co-defendant, political ally and confidant Michael McClain, are accused of running a criminal enterprise designed to enrich the former speaker and his associates and increase his political power.

Jury deliberations are expected to begin Wednesday after the prosecution’s rebuttal case at the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain. Assistant U.

What the evidence of this trial did show is lobbying and politics...,” McClain attorney Patrick Cotter said in his closing remarks, adding: “Lobbying and politics is not a crime.”

Madigan​ faces a 23-count indictment accusing him of running a criminal enterprise​ to enrich himself and benefit his political allies.