CHICAGO – Before the sun rose on a cold Wednesday morning in January 2019, Fidel Marquez agreed to a life-altering assignment as a cooperating witness in a criminal case the government was building against his colleagues at electric utility Commonwealth Edison and powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The bribery and racketeering trial of former Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael Madigan is set to resume Tuesday after a four-day weekend. The court was not in session Friday and the federal courthouse in Chicago is closed Monday for Veterans Day.

The former ComEd vice president who secretly recorded his colleagues as part of a federal corruption probe began testifying against ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday, the first of what is expected to be multiple days on the stand.

Fmr. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan stands trial on federal bribery, conspiracy, racketeering, and wire fraud.

Patrick Cotter, defense attorney for a longtime Madigan ally, spent more than three hours cross-examining former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, trying to methodically rehabilitate his client.

A former ComEd executive -- turned government informant -- is back on the stand Wednesday for his fifth day in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

The former chief lobbyist for electric utility Commonwealth Edison has spent the last week telling a federal jury how he bent over backward to accommodate hiring requests from former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.