Q&A: What charges might longest serving US speaker face?

Federal prosecutors recently answered the question about whether Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the nation’s longest serving statehouse speaker, is a subject of a criminal investigation into influence peddling to benefit an energy utility. The looming question now is whether the Chicago Democrat will actually be charged — and if the 78-year-old is charged, when and with what possible crimes. Q: Multiple clues over the past 12 months raised the possibility that he was a federal investigative target, including charges against political allies. But a bombshell filing by the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago last Friday erased all doubts.