During ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s long reign, his chief of staff Tim Mapes placed in his office a pointed piece of artwork.

The sign, as observers recalled, quoted “The Wizard of Oz:” “Nobody gets in to see the wizard. Not nobody, not no how.”

“Who in the analogy did you understand the wizard to be?” a federal prosecutor asked Rep. Bob Rita, who testified in Mapes’ perjury trial Thursday.

“Madigan,” Rita answered.

Rita, D-Blue Island, was on the witness stand Thursday for the second time this year in one of the sweeping federal cases tied to Madigan and his Democratic allies.

Mapes is charged with lying to a grand jury in an attempt to thwart the investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Madigan and his longtime friend, powerhouse lobbyist Michael McClain.

When questioned under oath in 2021, Mapes said he couldn’t remember anything substantive about Madigan and McClain’s relationship. His defense asserts that he honestly could not recall certain matters, and that having a hazy memory is not a crime.

Asked on Thursday to describe the former power structure at the top of the Illinois House, Rita drew a triangle in the air above him.

At the highest point, he said, was Madigan. Then, moving his hands to the lower corners of the triangle, on either side were Mapes – the gatekeeper – and Madigan’s confidante, McClain.

McClain has already been convicted in the “ComEd Four” trial, which also featured Rita as a witness. Madigan and McClain both await trial in a separate racketeering case. They have pleaded not guilty.

Tying the three men together—Mapes, Madigan and McClain —is key to prosecutors’ claim that it was completely implausible for Mapes not to have known about Madigan and McClain’s actions. Rita even showed jurors on a blueprint of the speaker’s suite how McClain often sat by himself working in a conference room situated between the offices of Madigan and Mapes.

While Mapes held meetings next to the Wizard of Oz sign or gave orders on the House floor, McClain, a longtime lobbyist, was often seated on a bench outside the speaker’s offices, Rita said. Jurors were shown a Tribune photo of McClain holding court from the bench facing the Capitol rotunda as he looked up at three other lobbyists standing nearby.

Mapes derived significant power from his proximity to Madigan, and he wielded it assertively, Rita said..

“He ran a tight ship,” Rita said, with a frown on his face and a slight waver in his voice. “He ran the House, he kept the trains on time, he kept a lot of moving parts moving.”

Mapes was ousted in June 2018 after a House staffer accused him of repeated sexual harassment, harassment and bullying — allegations Mapes has denied.

Rita took the stand after receiving a letter from federal prosecutors confirming he was not a target of the investigation, he testified.

Jurors on Thursday heard the first of what is expected to be many recordings of wiretapped phone conversations.

Prosecutors played tape of a 2018 conversation between Rita and McClain discussing gambling legislation.

“What’s our next move?” Rita asked McClain, kicking off a casual conversation. Twice, McClain tells Rita he will have to check with Mapes on how to go forward.

Even after Mapes was ousted in June 2018 over a #MeToo scandal, he still showed an awareness of what was happening in Springfield, and his attention to detail was sharp,

While on the stand, Rita also described how Madigan told Rita in 2013 that Rita would be taking over sponsorship of sweeping gambling expansion legislation.

Rita said Madigan “indicated” he had a conflict of interest with the legislation, a concern that generally prompts lawmakers to steer clear of such a bill. The nature of the conflict was not disclosed in court.

Shortly after Madigan informed Rita of his new responsibility, Rita testified, McClain appeared outside the speaker’s Capitol office door.

“As I was walking out of the office,” Rita said, “Mike McClain was standing there. He (Madigan) indicated that Mike McClain would assist me and guide me.”

Gambling legislation, particularly one that included a new casino in Chicago and elsewhere around the state, was one of the thorniest matters to navigate in Springfield because there are so many different special interests seeking input, including horse-racing and established riverboats.

Rita said McClain was made available “so I would be guided in the right direction.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz immediately asked: the “right direction” according to whom?

“The speaker,” Rita replied, an answer that signaled Madigan could have influence over the legislation despite his potential conflict of interest.

Prosecutors underscored that point when they asked Rita about McClain seeking to add a last-minute amendment to far-reaching utility legislation when it passed Dec. 1, 2016.

McClain, who was a ComEd lobbyist, had by that time established a rapport with Rita because they had worked closely for nearly three years on gambling legislation.

Rita, the utility bill’s sponsor, was initially opposed to the last-minute amendment when it popped up in a committee hearing because he was unaware it was coming and did not no how it would impact the overall bill.

But Rita testified he dropped his opposition when McClain “talked to me when the hearing was going on” and gave assurances that the amendment “would be OK,” that Rita could move to adopt it.

“Mike McClain wouldn’t give me advice that would be adverse to what the speaker would want,” Rita said, providing another glimpse of Madigan’s far-reaching influence over legislation.

The amendment became part of the bill that passed.

Mapes’ trial kicked off in earnest Wednesday with opening statements, at which prosecutors said he deliberately lied and misled a federal grand jury because he wanted to “protect the boss,” a federal prosecutor charged Wednesday.

[ Former top Michael Madigan aide on trial: What you need to know — and what’s next for Tim Mapes ]

“Truth matters,” contended Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said.

The Mapes defense team countered with a far different picture: Mapes “did his level best” in giving answers during an intimidating grand jury process but simply could not remember details about key questions prosecutors asked about Madigan’s political association with a top confidant.

Besides, a Mapes attorney argued, Madigan jettisoned Mapes in 2018 from the longtime speaker’s government and political operations.

Madigan asked for Mapes’ resignation in June of that year after a downstate staffer accusing him of sexual harassment and fostering a “culture of sexism, harassment and bullying.”

When Mapes was first pushed out, one political observer told the Tribune that the existence of the Wizard of Oz sign in Mapes’ office represented a nod to the chief of staff’s heavy-handed gatekeeper role.

[ ‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial: What you need to know — and what’s next ]

Mapes and McClain were in deep with Madigan, prosecutors said, indicating it would be implausible to think Mapes wasn’t looped in on their plans — even after Mapes was unceremoniously cast aside.

“This was a tight inner circle, including and surrounding Michael Madigan,” MacArthur said. “Madigan, McClain and Mapes,” MacArthur said. “They shared communications, they relied on each other and they performed tasks for each other over the years.”

Katie Hill, Mapes’ attorney, countered that the government “has it wrong,” saying Mapes “did not lie.”

Jurors likely would not be able to remember, for example, the color of their prom corsage or who won a specific high school ballgame, Hill contended, just like Mapes could not remember details of what happened in conversations a few years ago.

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com

rlong@chicagotribune.com