Soon after the feds’ latest campaign against Chicago corruption began to roil local politics and dominate the headlines, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu stepped off a crowded elevator one day at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
When the elevator doors had closed and Bhachu was gone, a man inside quipped, “good thing I’m not a politician.”
By that time years ago, word was out that the no-nonsense prosecutor was at the center of an investigation swirling around some of the most powerful politicians in Chicago including, most notably, then-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
That probe would end Madigan’s 36-year reign in Springfield and has forced him to fight for his freedom this winter inside a downtown courtroom. But now, Bhachu and Madigan are set to face off in a showdown for the ages at the federal courthouse.
That’s because, by taking the witness stand in his trial last week, Madigan invited an under-oath cross-examination by Bhachu, the lead prosecutor sitting on a decade’s worth of evidence and hundreds of recordings that can be used against the Southwest Side Democrat.
‘Buttery baritone’
Bhachu is one member of a larger team that called 50 witnesses in a bid to prove Madigan guilty. Still, the one-on-one exchange between the men could prove to be one of the most pivotal moments of the trial. The prosecutor, whose voice has been described in court as a “buttery baritone,” could quickly try to flummox Madigan, a famously controlled politician and trained attorney.
Bhachu is a 20-year veteran of Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office who participated in the historic “Family Secrets” mob prosecution and faced off with gangsters like Frank “The German” Schweihs and Michael “The Large Guy” Sarno.
Now, Bhachu is chief of the office’s Public Corruption and Organized Crime Section.
After prosecuting the likes of Schweihs and Sarno, Bhachu’s name began to be attached more often to cases against local power players, like former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak and ex-Teamsters boss John Coli.
Then came the raid on the offices of then-Ald. Edward M. Burke in 2018, the news that then-Ald. Danny Solis had been working undercover for the FBI, and the revelation that federal prosecutors had secretly recorded Madigan as early as 2014.
Signed plea deal with Solis
Bhachu’s name appeared on documents related to all three events. Perhaps most notably, his signature appears at the bottom of the controversial deal Solis signed with the U.S. attorney’s office late in 2018, which could save Solis from a conviction despite several allegations against him.
When then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened years later to intervene and possibly challenge the deal, Bhachu gave a rare speech defending it and called Solis’ undercover work “extraordinary.”
Solis secretly recorded politicians like Burke and Madigan for the FBI, but it “wasn’t the only path available to Mr. Solis,” Bhachu told a judge. Obstructing the investigation was an “easy path” Solis could have chosen that “many in this city and state have followed,” the prosecutor explained.
People may talk about cleaning up Chicago corruption, Bhachu said, but “often all it amounts to is talk.”
“It’s rare that someone actually delivers,” he said.
The prosecutor is friendly and casual when dealing with colleagues and jurors. During jury selection in Madigan’s trial, Bhachu had an exchange with one candidate about the person’s favorite Pokemon character, “Charizard.”
Bhachu acknowledged it’s a “pretty popular one.”
Accused of threatening witness
But Bhachu can be aggressive and cutting when he believes the public’s trust has been broken. He referred to Vrdolyak as a “charlatan” in 2020 while seeking a prison sentence of more than two years. The judge gave Vrdolyak 18 months.
Defense attorneys also say Bhachu went too far and “threatened” a witness during 2023’s trial of four people with ties to ComEd, who were later convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan.
Ex-ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez, who was not accused of wrongdoing, pushed back while being questioned on the witness stand by Bhachu about a past interview he’d given the feds. Bhachu retorted, “if you’re going to start talking about what I said, you might want to not do that. That might not work out well for you.”
The remark prompted groans in the courtroom. Dominguez did not make a repeat appearance in Madigan’s trial, even though the same allegations are in play.
Bhachu’s role in the Madigan investigation has prompted scrutiny and intrigue. During the 2023 perjury trial of former Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes, defense attorneys argued they should be allowed to summon Bhachu to the stand.
Bhachu had questioned Mapes before a grand jury, prompting answers that led to Mapes’ indictment. U.S. District Judge John Kness eventually told the attorneys they could summon Bhachu to the witness stand — but they never did.
Mapes would be convicted and is now serving a 2½-year prison sentence.
Holding ‘people in power’ accountable
Meanwhile, the Solis deal again attracted criticism last June, when U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall gave Burke two years in prison for racketeering. The judge said “it does seem a little unwarranted to say that Mr. Solis will get absolutely no time at all for his criminal activity.”
That prompted a supporter of Burke’s to turn her head sharply in Bhachu’s direction, even though Bhachu was not one of the prosecutors who handled the case in front of the jury.
Whatever happens with Bhachu’s cross-examination of Madigan, jurors are likely to hear from Bhachu again when it comes time for closing arguments. He gave the final argument during 2023’s trial of the ComEd officials, and he called them “grand masters of corruption.”
Bhachu referenced Madigan at the end of that argument, making note of the politician’s absence from that courtroom. He told the jury that the United States has “one of the greatest systems of justice in the world.
“People in positions of power can be held accountable,” he said. “They can be held accountable, if they break the law, by their fellow citizens.”