After Raid, Feds Probe State Sen. Martin Sandoval's Connection To ComEd
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two weeks after the FBI raided the home and office of Illinois state Sen. Martin Sandoval, the feds are investigating his connection to electricity provider ComEd.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey on Thursday dug into Sandoval's relationship with ComEd, which goes back more than a decade.
Our cameras were rolling as federal agents raided Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval's office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
The feds also raided Sandoval's home in Gage Park neighborhood the same day.
Now, energy giant Commonwealth Edison and its parent company Exelon are being pulled into the fray.
They acknowledged Thursday that they've been subpoenaed for "records of any communications" with the Democratic state senator.
A Com Ed representative said Thursday that the company intends to comply with any and all inquiries, and they've formed a special oversight committee to oversee it.
Sandoval is a member of the Energy and Public Utilities committee, and his relationship with Com Ed goes back to 2007.
Since then, his campaign has received $26,250 in donations, making him one of the top 25 recipients of Com Ed donations during that period.
"It's all above the board in terms of campaign finance regulation, and I don't think the FBI is going to be interested in that," said North Central College political science professor Stephen Caliendo.
That holds unless the donations were used inappropriately, Caliendo said.
Sandoval's other connection to ComEd is his daughter, Angie, who according to her Linkedin profile has been working for ComEd for nearly seven years – taking on the role of senior account manager in June.
While not illegal, Caliendo argues that the optics aren't great.
Records show ComEd has donated to at least 16 of the state senators on the Energy and Public utilities committee. Sandoval on Thursday did not return our request for comment.
A representative of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, which filed the subpoena last week, declined to discuss it.