Ill. Gov. charged in Obama successor probe

[Richard]

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer 
1 hr 6 mins ago
 
CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on Tuesday on charges he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder in what a federal prosecutor called a "corruption crime spree."

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told a news conference prosecutors make "no allegations" Obama was aware of any alleged scheming.

Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.

"We were in the middle of a corruption crime spree and we wanted to stop it," Fitzgerald said Tuesday, calling the corruption charges against Blagojevich "a truly new low."

Federal investigators bugged the governor's campaign offices and placed a tap on his home phone and Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were "stunned" by what they heard on the tapes.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said the governor's office did not have immediate comment on the charges but issued a statement saying the "allegations do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the State."

A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.

Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if "they're not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it."

"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain," Blagojevich allegedly said later that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was "a valuable thing — you just don't give it away for nothing."

The affidavit said Blagojevich also discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.

It said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees.

He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president's cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the governor's office. He noted becoming a U.S. senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to the affidavit. And he allegedly said a Senate seat would also provide him with corporate contacts if he needed a job and present an opportunity for his wife to work as a lobbyist.

"I want to make money," the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation.

The affidavit said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being "stuck" as governor and that he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the U.S. Senate than while sitting as governor.

Among those being considered for the Senate post: U.S. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez; Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

The affidavit outlined a Nov. 10 call between Blagojevich, his wife, his chief of staff — John Harris, who also was arrested Tuesday — and a group of advisers in which Harris allegedly suggested working out an agreement with the Service Employees International Union.

Under the plan, Blagojevich would appoint a new senator who would be helpful to the president-elect and in turn get a job as head of Change to Win, a group formed by the union. The union would get an unspecified favor from Obama later.

Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussion. In fact, Blagojevich allegedly said in the same conversation that Obama most likely would not appoint him as secretary of health and human services or to an ambassadorship because of the negative publicity that has surrounded the governor for three years.

One day later, according to the affidavit, Blagojevich allegedly told an associate he knew Obama wanted a specific Senate candidate but "they're not going to give me anything except appreciation." He finished the remark with an expletive.

Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.

Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state. Federal prosecutors have acknowledged they're also investigating "serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich, who has a $177,412 salary, though it's unclear whether he accepts the total.

The governor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko who raised money for the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, Christopher G. Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.

According to Tuesday's complaint, Blagojevich schemed with Rezko, millionaire-fundraiser turned federal witness Stuart Levine and others to get financial benefits for himself and his campaign committee.

Federal prosecutors said Blagojevich and the chairman of his campaign committee have been speeding up corrupt fundraising activities in the last month to get as much money as possible before the end of the year when a new law would curtail his ability to raise contributions from companies with state contracts worth more than $50,000.

According to the affidavit, agents learned Blagojevich was seeking $2.5 million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, with a large part allegedly to come from companies and individuals who have gotten state contracts or appointments.

The affidavit also outlines Blagojevich conversations related to Tribune Co., which has been hoping to sell Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs which the publishing giant also owns.

Blagojevich was quoted in court papers as telling Harris in a profanity laced Nov. 4 conversation that his recommendation to Tribune executives was to fire the editorial writers "and get us some editorial support."

Harris is quoted as telling the governor Nov. 11 that an unnamed Tribune Owner, presumably CEO Sam Zell, "got the message and is very sensitive to the issue."

The affidavit said Harris quoted a Tribune financial adviser as saying cuts were coming at the newspaper and "reading between the lines he's going after that section," apparently meaning editorial writers. Blagojevich is quoted as saying: "Oh, that's fantastic."

"Wow," Blagojevich allegedly replied. "Keep our fingers crossed. You're the man. Good job, John."

Harris allegedly told Blagojevich in his conversation with the financial adviser he had singled out deputy editorial page editor John McCormick as "somebody who was the most biased and unfair."

After hearing that, Blagojevich allegedly stressed to the head of a Chicago sports consulting firm that it was important to provide state aid for a Wrigley Field sale.

Blagojevich took the chief executive's office in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up former Gov. George Ryan's mess.

Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation began with the sale of driver's licenses for bribes and led to the conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and governor.

FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said federal agents arrested the governor and Harris simultaneously at their homes at 6:15 a.m. and took them to the Chicago FBI headquarters.

He did not have any details about Blagojevich's arrest, only that he was cooperative with federal agents.

"It was a very calm setting," he said.

The governor was to appear Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan to answer the charges.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/blagojevich_corruption_probe

[Sily]

I was listening to the radio on the way home and heard Obama's name is mentioned 44 times in the affidavit.  This happens on the same day The Dark Knight is released on DVD....... hehe, I wonder if Goro will find a connection between Chicago, The Dark Knight, this "happening", Obama, 44.......  guess I'll wait and see.  

EDIT to add:  Gotham/Chicago =corrupt.


EDIT 2nd time to add:  The Dark Knight = Obama.  He has ties to the Templars? 

Hmm... I'll just wait on that one!

[Richard]

Interesting info Sily, I’m surprised you counted how many times Obama was mentioned.

I like your new avatar, it sure is colorful.

Here’s another interesting story.

OBAMA CORRUPTION ERUPTION: ILL GOV BLAGOJEVICH ARRESTED!

A Guv with a first name of R-d
[i]Is arrested for acting like G-d.
You couldn't invent
A story more bent...
Except about Senator D-dd! [/i]

Wonderful ditty thanks to Atlas reader David.

Obama was so in bed with this guy ............ how far are they going to go to cover Obama crimes? Illinois governor Blagojevich was arrested for  trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.Court-appointed wiretaps last month intercepted Blagojevich conspiring to sell the Senate seat that Obama resigned on November 16, according to US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald. In return, as recorded in various conversations, he sought a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a seat on a corporate board for his wife.This is some really sick shiz we are dealing with.

Senate seat for sale? Can I buy the NY senate seat or did Caroline Kennedy pick that up at a fire sale?

Blagojevich and Obama go way back. Both were funded enormous bucks by the convicted Syrian racketeer Rezko.  Speculation has simmered for weeks that the key fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama was whispering what he knows in Illinois government to federal prosecutors in hopes of getting a lighter sentence. Rezko raised more than $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign fund and was one of the governor's key advisers. He gave hundreds of thousands to Rezko.'

I do not know how Obama is going to stay one step ahead of his every dirty deal and corrupt actions.

In my post, PRISON TIME FOR OBAMA? I covered Obama's mob tie sidekick -- Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him.

Obama's voice over on Giannoulias's website here. Obama's list of criminal cronies goes on and on  (Wright, Ayers, Farrakhan notwithstanding).

Photo: Corrupt Chicago Capos: Illinois Gov. Do-not-spare-the-Rod Blagojevich, left, U.S. Sen andB. HUsseinObama, center, and Chicago mayor Richard M. Dale

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, chief of staff, arrested (hat tip so many Atlas readers!)

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.

In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.

Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

UPDATE: Patrick Fitzgerald Says Governor Blagojevich Engaged in 'Political Corruption Crime Spree'

UPDATE: Heh

UPDATE: MORE OBAMACRIMES: GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS ISSUED ON REZKO/OBAMA LAND DEAL

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/12/obama-corruptio.html

[Sily]

Thanks about the avatar.  The artist is vladstudio.com.  I'm a paying *lifetime* member at his site.  I love his wallpapers.  :)

[Richard]

Blagojevich Arrest Fits Tradition in Illinois, Land of the Plea

Tony C. Dreibus and Joe Carroll
Wed Dec 10, 2:02 am ET
 
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Rod Blagojevich has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors: He became the fourth of the past seven governors elected in Illinois to be arrested. Residents blame the sad tradition on a culture of patronage.

“Government in Illinois isn’t about political ideology or helping people,” said Christopher Mooney, who teaches political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield. “It’s about which idiot brother-in-law are you going to get a job on a road crew because he helped you get into office.”

The governor, a Democrat, was charged yesterday with trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Three previous governors were jailed: Otto Kerner, governor from 1961 to 1968; Dan Walker, who held the job from 1973 to 1977; and George Ryan, who served from 1999 to 2003.

Blagojevich, 51, and his chief of staff, John Harris, 46, threatened to withhold state assistance to now-bankrupt Tribune Co. in connection with the sale of the Wrigley Field ballpark, according to federal prosecutors. No pleas were entered and neither defendant made any statements during the hearing.

The men also allegedly sought to force the firing of members on the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board who were critical of the governor. Tribune Co. owns the newspaper and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, which plays at Wrigley.

State politicians being carted off to jail reflects a local indifference to wrongdoing that needs to be changed, said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a former city alderman.

“We have a culture of machine politics and it lends itself to corruption,” said Simpson. “We are the capital of corruption in the U.S.”

History of Corruption

Political corruption has a bipartisan history in the state. Kerner, a Democrat convicted in 1973, was jailed after the manager of two horse-racing tracks admitted to bribing the then- governor; charges were filed after Kerner left office. Walker, a Democrat convicted in 1987, a decade after leaving office, served less than two years of a seven-year sentence for receiving improper loans.

Ryan, a Republican charged with accepting trips and gifts in exchange for political favors, was sentenced to more than six years in 2006.

Robert Sorich, who led Democratic Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and three other men were found guilty by a Chicago federal court jury in 2006 for illegal hiring. Daley, first elected in 1989 and the son of the city’s longest-serving mayor, wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.

“They must have a cell reserved somewhere for aldermen and governors,” said Tommy FitzGibbon, executive vice president at MB Financial Bank in Chicago, who wants Blagojevich to resign. “It’s an embarrassment.”

‘What an Idiot’

The region’s reputation was in the national spotlight during this year’s presidential election. Republican presidential nominee John McCain ran political ads claiming that Democratic rival Barack Obama is part of a “corrupt Chicago political machine.”

The Blagojevich arrest has brought more notoriety to the region. Clients in Germany and Ireland were aware of the arrest and brought it up in morning telephone calls with Caimin Flannery, a partner in Caimin Flannery & Associates in Naperville, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago. The international business-development firm advises companies on mergers of $10 million to “several hundred” million dollars.

“Most people I’ve talked to today feel: ‘What an idiot,’” said Flannery, who was born in Ireland and speaks nine languages. “It’s just the greed factor.”

‘A New Low’

The governor was charged with conspiring to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions, including the replacement of Obama. Court-approved wiretaps intercepted Blagojevich last month conspiring to sell the Senate seat, said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. At various times, Blagojevich sought in return a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a seat on a corporate board for his wife, Fitzgerald said.

“This is a sad day for government and it’s a very sad day for Illinois government,” Fitzgerald said. “Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a new low.”

The governor’s office has become the heart of a corruption culture in the fifth-largest U.S. state, said Tamara Holder, a Chicago defense attorney.

“It’s definitely ingrained,” Holder said.

Blagojevich, in his second term, has been buffeted by scandals in the state government and budget shortfalls. A Chicago Tribune poll in October put his approval rating at 13 percent, the lowest ever recorded by the newspaper’s surveys.

No one among more than a dozen residents interviewed said they were caught off-guard by the arrests.

“You’ve been getting report after report of something negative going on,” said Hector Galvan, a trading consultant for RJO Futures, the private client division of R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC in Chicago.

While Blagojevich is the latest Illinois governor in court, Galvan said the state has also produced admirable politicians.

“The President-elect is from here,” Galvan said. “You can’t let a few spoil it for everyone else.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/200812...dJJXIEtbAF

[Richard]

In the old days, buying a Senate seat was not unusual

The allegations against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are echoes of history.

By David G. Savage
December 10, 2008

Reporting from Washington -- Reforms to end the buying of Senate seats by giving governors the power to fill vacant posts set the stage for the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

The reforms nearly a century ago were sparked by another Illinois scandal and led to a change in the U.S. Constitution.

The "blond boss" of Chicago, William Lorimer, was ousted from the Senate in 1912 after it was found that bribes had been paid to Illinois state legislators to get him the seat.

In the late 19th century, it was commonly said that wealthy men could buy a seat in the Senate by spreading money among the state legislators, who, under the nation's Constitution, had the task of choosing U.S. senators. The idea had been that elected lawmakers, rather than ordinary people, could be trusted to make a wise selection.


The Chicago case played a prominent role in the nation's decision to amend the Constitution and allow the state's voters to elect their senators. It was a solution that seems to have worked for 95 years.

Lorimer, an immigrant from England and a dapper and popular politician, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1895 when he was 33. In 1909, after a long deadlock in the Illinois Legislature, Lorimer was chosen to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.

But a year later, the Chicago Tribune reported on allegations that bribes had been paid to secure Lorimer's seat, including an admission by a state assemblyman that he had received $1,000.

Lorimer vehemently denied the charges and called for a Senate investigation. He was cleared, but a year later the Progressive Movement picked up the cause and the Senate reversed itself. Lorimer was ousted from the Senate by a 55-28 vote.

"The Lorimer case was the poster child for what was wrong with the old system," Donald Ritchie, a Senate historian, said Tuesday. "The senators were bombarded with newspaper editorials, and the feeling at the time was the best solution was to turn this over to the people."

This sentiment had been building for decades. Between 1866 and 1906, six bribery cases were brought before the Senate.

In the Western states, miners who achieved instant wealth sometimes aspired to higher office. In 1899, two rival mining company owners -- W.G. Conrad and William Clark --paid more than $1 million in bribes in hopes of obtaining a U.S. Senate seat representing Montana, according to Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University.

The contest lasted through 17 ballots before a winner could be decided, and the two candidates had to pay up before each day's ballot to prevent their supporters from switching sides, she said.

Clark eventually won, but the U.S. Senate refused to seat him and the spot was vacant for two years.

Lorimer, however, was the last senator removed for corruption involving a state legislature. In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, saying that the two senators from each state shall "be elected by the people."

This power-to-the-people amendment was a triumph for the Progressives, but its second clause said, "When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies."

Since then, governors have filled Senate seats "when vacancies happen" by making appointments or by calling for special elections. Legal experts said Tuesday that they were not aware of previous allegations that governors had sought bribes in exchange for such an appointment.

"We are not aware of anything that resembles this," Ritchie said.

In recent decades, there have been occasional allegations that money and promised favors may have prompted some candidates for the Senate to drop out of the race. In 1986, Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Calif.) and an aide were accused of trying to lure state Sen. Ed Davis to drop his bid for the Senate by offering to help pay off his campaign debts. Those charges were dismissed before the matter went to trial.

A Boston College expert who studies public corruption said it is not unusual for public officials to choose friends or associates when making appointments. "We expect our public officials to appoint people who are close to them. We expect people to give them campaign contributions," said George Brown, a law professor. "It is normally a gray area.

"The two things that are unusual about this case," he said, referring to Blagojevich, "are one, the high level of the official, and two, the apparent brazenness and openness of the alleged incident."

Schiller of Brown University recalled the Montana mining operator who paid lavish bribes to win a Senate seat. "If William Clark woke this morning and saw the newspaper, he would have said, 'Of course, that's how it works'," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...6740.story

[Richard]

From The Times
December 13, 2008

Blagojevich scandal: Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson Jr face new revelations

James Bone in Chicago Pressure grew on two of Barack Obama’s closest political aides yesterday as new details emerged of the “pay-for-play” allegations against the Governor of his home state.

Rahm Emanuel, the President-elect’s new Chief of Staff, and Jesse Jackson Jr, the co-chairman of his presidential campaign, both faced new revelations about their possible involvement in the scandal.

Fox News Chicago reported that Mr Emanuel, a Chicago politician who won the Illinois Governor’s former congressional seat, may have been captured on FBI wire-taps discussing the fate of Mr Obama’s vacated US Senate seat with Rod Blagojevich.

The TV station said Mr Emanuel had “multiple conversations” with the Governor, who is accused of trying to “sell” the open Senate seat for a Cabinet post or lucrative top foundation job. The report said the Governor was given a list of Senate candidates acceptable to Mr Obama. Because the FBI was secretly taping Mr Blagojevich in recent weeks, Mr Emanuel’s conversations may have been recorded, Fox News Chicago said.

Any recordings of the newly appointed White House Chief of Staff speaking to Mr Blagojevich about Mr Obama’s former Senate seat would prove an acute embarrassment to the incoming Obama Administration, even if no illegal deals were discussed, and could even force Mr Emanuel’s resignation. Mr Obama has promised to release details of any contacts between his staff and the Governor’s office but told a news conference on Thursday that he was “absolutely certain” that none of his aides was involved in any deal-making.

Mr Emanuel skipped Mr Obama’s press conference, which he typically attends. Cornered by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter at a concert at his children’s school, he refused to comment.

“I’m not going to say a word to you,” Mr Emanuel said. “I’m going to do this with my children. Don’t do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.”

He was asked: “Can’t you do both?” Mr Emanuel replied: “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father.”

Mr Emanuel told an ABC News cameraman, whom he invited into his house to use the toilet yesterday, that he was receiving “regular death threats” because his home address had been put on TV.

Jesse Jackson Jr, the Congressman son of the famed civil rights leader, also faced new questions yesterday about his quest for Mr Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

A group of ethnic Indian businessmen with ties to Mr Jackson and Mr Blagojevich reportedly held a lunch on October 31 and discussed raising $1 million for the Governor’s campaign to encourage him to pick Mr Jackson as Senator, the Chicago Tribune said.

Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich donor who also has ties to the Jackson family, then co-sponsored a fund-raiser for the Governor on Saturday attended by Mr Blagojevich and Jesse Jackson Jr’s brother Jonathan, the newspaper said.

Mr Nayak, a leader of Chicago’s Asian community, owns a string of surgery clinics and was once involved in a land deal with Jonathan Jackson.

Mr Jackson Jr met Mr Blagojevich at 4pm on Monday to discuss his interest in the Senate seat. Mr Blagojevich was arrested at his home at 6am on Tuesday by prosecutors who said they were trying to thwart a “political crime spree”. Jesse Jackson Jr is due to meet prosecutors next week, but has been told he is not a target of the investigation.

He insisted yesterday that no one had offered the Governor money for the Senate seat on his behalf.

“People know me. They know who I am. I’m confident that no one on my behalf made a single offer to anybody for anything. I would not accept the position if it were offered under those circumstances,” he said.

Mr Blagojevich, meanwhile, went to work again yesterday without making any public comment despite the growing clamour for his resignation. Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney-General, filed a motion with the state’s highest court asking the judges to declare the scandal-plagued Governor unfit to hold office. John Harris, Mr Blagojevich’s Chief of Staff, who was charged along with the Governor, last night stepped down from his job, adding to the pressure on his boss.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...332897.ece