CHICAGO — State Rep. Jaime Andrade said earlier this year in a Chicago Tribune interview he didn’t know whether former House Speaker Michael Madigan had helped get his wife a job with the secretary of state in 2018.

On Thursday, however, the jury in Madigan’s corruption trial heard a wiretapped call in which Andrade, a Chicago Democrat, was told by Madigan’s longtime confidant in no uncertain terms who had pulled the strings.

“The speaker jumped all over it, so that’s good,” Michael McClain told Andrade in the August 2018 call, which was played for the first time in court.

Although there was nothing illegal about Madigan’s favor, the episode is being held up by prosecutors as more evidence of the power and influence wielded by Madigan and, by proxy, McClain, during the time frame of the alleged racketeering conspiracy.

Madigan’s lawyers had objected to the calls being presented to the jury, saying they could be prejudicial, but U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey ruled before the trial began that they were relevant.

Andrade could not immediately be reached for comment.

The recordings related to Andrade were an aberration in a week of testimony that was otherwise focused on one of the central accusations of the trial: an alleged scheme by ComEd to extend a stream of benefits to Madigan and his allies, mostly through requests relayed by McClain, in order to get the speaker’s support for legislation in Springfield.

Earlier Thursday, former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, one of two key undercover cooperators in the Madigan investigation, wrapped up a marathon six days on the witness stand, taking the jury through dozens of secret FBI audio and video recordings the formed the backbone of the ComEd allegations.

Marquez endured a grueling, two-day cross-examination by lawyers for Madigan and McClain, who attacked his credibility on various fronts, including efforts to hide assets from his wife during their contentious divorce and misrepresentations about his felony conviction when attempting last year to buy a gun to shoot rattlesnakes.

The defense also questioned Marquez’s motives for cooperating, insinuating that he only agreed to plead guilty to bribery conspiracy to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. In fact, in exchange for his truthful testimony, prosecutors have said they’ll recommend no time behind bars at all.

That led to a memorable redirect questioning Thursday morning, when jurors heard for the first time that the alleged bribery scheme spread far beyond Madigan and McClain.

Marquez confirmed from the stand that several figures who have already prominently featured in the trial — ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, lobbyist John Hooker, consultant Jay Doherty and ComEd itself — had been criminally charged based, in part, on Marquez’s extensive cooperation.

That information had been banned from trial, and during jury selection last month attorneys diligently weeded out many potential jurors who had knowledge of the previous ComEd Four case.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu argued Thursday he should be allowed to show that Marquez’s cooperation was widespread, and his deal did not hinge entirely on the Madigan case.

The judge decided Marquez could testify that those entities were charged, but not mentioned that they were convicted.

Once the jury returned, Bhachu got right to it, asking Marquez about covert calls and in-person meetings he secretly recorded with McClain, Doherty, Pramaggiore and Hooker.

“You wore a wire on them, fair to say?” Bahchu said. “And they were all charged as a result?”

Bhachu also pointed out Marquez has been cooperating for more than 51/2 years so far with more still possibly to come.

“Under the terms of your agreement, will you have to testify in any future proceedings if the government asks you to?” he asked. Marquez answered, “Yes.”

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House and the head of the state Democratic Party, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise.

Among the allegations: Several Madigan allies got no-work subcontracts from ComEd; the utility reserved internships each year for young people referred from Madigan’s 13th Ward; and a law firm headed by Madigan fundraiser Victor Reyes was awarded a lucrative contract with ComEd, allegedly at Madigan’s request.

Madigan and McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

The trial, which began Oct. 8, had been expected to last about 11 weeks, but on Thursday the judge confirmed to the parties that this estimate was “wildly off.” He said he now has calculated the trial to go until at least mid-January, with a weeklong break over the Christmas holiday. He asked attorneys for both sides to decide what to tell the jury.

“There’s nothing wrong with the length of trial, we just have to let the jury know,” Blakey said.

Marquez testified for a total of almost 27 hours beginning last Tuesday. Once he was off the stand, prosecutors turned to a series of wiretapped calls, including the conversations involving Andrade.

On July 2, 2018, Madigan, the then-House speaker and head of the state Democratic Party, told McClain that Andrade “came to me and same story, he needs money, and he had the thought that maybe I could help his wife on something.”

Madigan explained that Andrade’s wife was a Spanish speaker and native of Peru, and that he’d thought of placing her with Doherty, though “not necessarily with ComEd.”

“I had the thought that I could actually put Jay Doherty on a retainer,” Madigan said on the recording. “And then he’d have her and she’d do whatever she would do. We’d tell Andrade to prepare some monthly reports on what she’s doing. So he’s got it on file.”

They wound up finding a position for Andrade’s wife doing research for the general counsel for then-Secretary of State Jesse White. The jury then heard another call in which Andrade thanked McClain for the effort.

“I hope she really likes the job,” McClain told Andrade on the Aug. 29, 2018, call. “She can learn a lot in that role, and she can just keep it at least for three or four years, learn all the mumbo jumbo, all the magic words. … She has an opportunity to go elsewhere and make even more money.”

Andrade told McClain he was “happy” with the outcome and thanked McClain profusely.

“I’ve got two kids in Catholic school,” he said. “There’ll be enough to pay the tuition and aftercare and before-care while I’m in session.”

“I thought I’d call you ’cause (Madigan) and I were talkin’ about cha so … I hope she really likes the job,” McClain said.

“Thank you again, Mr. McClain,” Andrade said.

The Tribune first revealed earlier this year that Andrade, who represents parts of Chicago’s Northwest Side, was the elected official mentioned in court papers as Public Official E.

At the time, Andrade told the newspaper Madigan was one of many people he reached out to regarding his wife’s potential employment. “I asked about 50 people, including Madigan,” Andrade, who is not accused of wrongdoing, said in his remarks to a Chicago Tribune reporter.

Andrade said at the time that a bout with COVID-19 had caused lapses in his memory, and he didn’t know whether Madigan had anything to do with his wife’s hiring. While Andrade remembered talking to McClain, he wasn’t sure why he would have thanked him specifically.

Andrade’s wife currently makes about $62,000 a year in a law-related position with the secretary of state, records show. Neither she nor Andrade is expected to be called as a witness.

Prosecutors Thursday also played a series of wiretapped conversations between ComEd insiders that were sparked after Marquez, under the supervision of the FBI, asked what he should say to the utility’s new CEO, Joseph Dominguez, about the subcontracting deals with Madigan’s do-nothing allies.

In one call from February 2019, McClain relayed to Hooker what he’d said to Marquez during lunch at Saputo’s restaurant in Springfield, a meeting that Marquez had surreptitiously video-recorded.

“I just told (Marquez) to be transparent,” McClain told Hooker. “We had to hire these guys because Mike Madigan came to us. …That’s how simple it is. So if you want to make it a federal court suit, OK, but that’s how simple it is.”

“This was the best way to do it,” Hooker said. “This avenue is one of the best avenues. … It’s clean for all of us.”

McClain and Hooker congratulated each other for the elegant solution they came up with: Since the no-work subcontractors were under Jay Doherty’s contract, if anyone asked whether they were legit, it was up to Doherty to prove they were actually working.

“That’s why we set it up like this, John,” McClain said.

Hooker responded by using the frequent nickname for Madigan: “We came up with this plan and between him, our friend, and Tim (Mapes, Madigan’s then-chief of staff), and the alderman, they thought it was great,” he said.

“Well, you and I came up with it,” McClain said. “They didn’t come up with it.”

“No, we came up with it, but they thought it was great once they heard it,” Hooker said.

Dominguez was also top of mind later that month, when McClain discussed him in a wiretapped call with Hooker and Pramaggiore.

McClain said he was skeptical Dominguez would “snap to” and get something done quickly when Madigan requested it.

“I don’t think he really respects Madigan,” he said. “I wouldn’t trust Joe. I would trust Joe to think that this is a quid pro quo and he’s wired.”

Later in the call, McClain said he would not be shy about giving Dominguez the real lay of the land.

“My instinct is that I come up to Chicago and I sit down with Dominguez and say, ‘Now, look it, (expletive), if you want to pass this bill, this is what it requires,’” McClain said.

“’Either you want to look like you’re the leader, and be the leader, but that means you’ve got to authorize your people to do things. Or if you want to keep playing your silly games … that’s fine,’” he continued. “I don’t mind having a daddy talk with this guy.”

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