Iliinois Governor Arrested

[Steverino]

Well...it's nice to see that Chicago style politics is alive and well! Hopefully, former Iliinois governor, George Ryan, who himself is serving time will have two open bunks in his cell- one for dear Ol' Rod and the other for Barack (perhaps a 4th for their fund-raising pal Tony Rezko whom already pleaded guilty)



CHICAGO – Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

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.

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.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that "the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering."

"They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator," Fitzgerald said."

Among those being considered for the post include U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Jesse Jackson Jr.

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

His chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested.

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.

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.

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.

Bochte said he did not know if either man was handcuffed or if the governor's family was their North Side home at the time of his arrest. He did say Blagojevich and Harris both were given time to get dressed before being taken to the headquarters.

He also 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 later Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan to answer the charges. The time was not immediately set.

___

Associated Press Writer Don Babwin contributed to this report.

[BILLY D.]

How about his other buddy, Daley?

Hope he's got his waders on 'cause the deep doo-doo is getin' higher.

I'll bet you couldn't drive a railroad spike up Obammers butt right now.

Best wishes, Bill

[RagingBullPa]

EXPECT the same from the phony the so called common people elected as our next president you want socialism and anarchy you got it baby, now live with it for 4 years , and they thought Bush Was Bad
, these guys make W look like God For crying out loud , me thinks its time for this democrat to change parties , theyare making a mockery out of
our beloved united states.


Lt. Gov.: Blagojevich Should Step Aside
Chicago Tribune
, 2008-12-09
By Jeff Coen, Rick Pearson and David Kidwell, Chicago Tribune
Dec. 9--Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested Tuesday for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "political corruption crime spree" that included attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Blagojevich and Harris were named in a federal criminal complaint that alleged a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy aimed at providing financial benefits to the governor, his political fund and to his wife, First Lady Patricia Blagojevich.
Blagojevich was taken into federal custody by FBI agents at his North Side home Tuesday morning -- one day shy of his 52nd birthday.
The arrests dealt a tumultuous blow to Illinois government, at once raising questions about the leadership of the state and the fate of the open Senate seat -- which the governor alone has the power to fill under the state law.
The allegations against Blagojevich provide a sharp contrast to a Democratic governor who campaigned for office promising reforms in the wake of disgraced, scandal-tainted Republican chief executive George Ryan. The complaint against Blagojevich comes little more than two years after Ryan was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison on federal corruption charges.
Robert Grant, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago office, characterized Illinois' place in the pantheon of political corruption.
"If it isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor," Grant said. And Fitzgerald, whose office also prosecuted Blagojevich's predecessor, said Blagojevich's "conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave."
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn called on Blagojevich to step aside, at least temporarily, or resign because the governor is "seriously impeded from carrying out his oath of office."
"I think he knows what he needs to do for the people," said Quinn, a Democrat.
Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, who had been viewed as a likely 2010 challenger if Blagojevich sought a third term, said the governor should immediately step down. Madigan, the daughter of longtime Blagojevich nemesis House Speaker Michael Madigan, also said she was moving forward on legal issues if the governor did not resign.
Despite facing myriad federal investigations throughout his five-year tenure, Blagojevich has maintained he committed no wrongdoing. On Monday, Blagojevich said any discussions he has had were "always lawful."
The stunning, early morning arrest followed a series of Tribune stories revealing federal investigators had compiled secret recordings of the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant. In recent days, the focus of federal investigators expanded beyond a probe of allegations of wrongdoing involving state jobs, contracts and appointments in exchange for campaign dollars to the possibility that the Senate succession process had become tainted by pay-to-play politics.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes about 6:15 a.m., according to the FBI. They were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago. Blagojevich appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan early in the afternoon and heard the charges read against him before being released on his own recognizance.
Spurring federal investigators to act was Blagojevich's pending appointment of a Senate successor to Obama, whose resignation took effect Nov. 16. Blagojevich had said he expected to name a new senator around the end of the year.
Prosecutors said they had numerous recorded conversations of Blagojevich discussing the merits of potential candidates, including their abilities to benefit the people of Illinois as well as the financial and political benefits he and his wife could receive.
Prosecutors said their recordings revealed Blagojevich expressed feeling "stuck" as a sitting governor and he spent a large amount of time weighing whether he should appoint himself to the vacancy -- possibly to avoid impeachment and help remake his image for a potential 2016 run for the presidency. A recent Tribune poll found Blagojevich with a record low 13 percent job approval rating.
Under state law, the governor has the sole unfettered discretion to name Obama's appointment. Despite his arrest, he continues to have the naming authority and some lawmakers discussed looking for ways to wrest it from him.
Prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as secretary of Health and Human Services or wanted an ambassadorship in the new Obama administration, or to be placed in a lucrative union-affiliated job in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett, a close friend and adviser to the president-elect to the Senate seat. Jarrett eventually took herself out of the running and Fitzgerald said "we make no allegation" that Obama was aware of Blagojevich's attempt to leverage the appointment.
Fitzgerald quoted a Blagojevich conversation in which the governor said the Senate seat is "a bleeping valuable thing. You just don't give it away. ... I've got this thing, and it's bleeping golden."
Obama spoke briefly about the arrest today in Chicago. "Like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today," Obama said. "But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
As reporters we being escorted from a brief photo opportunity following a nearly two hour meeting with Gore, reporters shouted questions about the matter at the president-elect. "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening. And as I said, it's a sad day for Illinois," Obama said.
Blagojevich also was alleged to be using a favors list, made up largely of individuals and firms that have state contracts or received taxpayer benefits, from which to conduct a $2.5 million fundraising drive before year's end when a new tougher law on campaign donations, prompted by the governor's voracious fundraising, would take effect.
Even Blagojevich's recently announced $1.8 billion plan for new interchanges and "green lanes" on the Illinois Tollway was subject to corruption, prosecutors alleged. The criminal complaint alleges Blagojevich expected an unnamed highway concrete contractor to raise a half-million dollars for his campaign fund in exchange for state money for the tollway project. "If they don't perform, [expletive] 'em," Blagojevich said, according to the complaint.
Blagojevich and Harris also allegedly conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.
Fitzgerald thanked the Chicago Tribune, which had been reporting on the investigation, for honoring a rare request about eight weeks ago not to report on certain aspects of the investigation that he said could have been jeopardized.
Tribune Editor Gerould Kern said today that the newspaper delayed publishing some stories at the request of the U.S. attorney's office during the course of reporting on the accelerating investigation of Blagojevich.
"On occasion, prosecutors asked us to delay publication of stories, asserting that disclosure would jeopardize the criminal investigation," Kern said. "In isolated instances, we granted the requests, but other requests were refused."
Tribune reporters Ray Long, John Chase, Monique Garcia, David Heinzmann, Hal Dardick and Susan Kuczka contributed to this report.
-----
To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Bob Meluskey Sr.

[popplecop]

Biggest problem is that Wisconsin will get stuck with him, just as we did with Ryan. Of all the Federal Prisons, why do we get stock with Ill. Govs.? Oh well, they should make good cell mates. Hope his hands fit a snow shovel, got a foot of the stuff yesterday.

[McPat]

That would be the "Govenor of Chicago" not Illinois. He never gave two hoots about us downstaters. Heck, he lives in Chicago and flies down to Springfield, on our dime, each day to go to work. I hope he rots!
McPat

[Steverino]

You're darn right McPat!

That SOB should be strung up by his privies and beat like a pinata for what he did to our state DNR.

He does not and has not ever represented any areas either North, South, East, or West of the city of Chicago. What can we expect coming out of the Daley-Mell machine?

On another bowhunting site that I frequent, they are already scheduling impromptu lawn chair & beer drinking parties along interstates this summer at the prospect of catching a newly shaved Blago, sans black game show host hair and sportin' a new orange jumpsuit while poking trash in switchgrass along the road!

[Lilred]

Oh good lordy...they all do that dontcha know. He just got busted for it...he musta been runnin round with somebody's wife er somethin...either that er somebody's husband lol

[Duffy]

Has anyone else happened to notice this picture from the news of Blagojevich entering his vehicle?



Look closely at the telephone pole. Isn't that one of these posters:



I just think it's funny that Chicago has a rat problem, and the sign warning passers-by about rats appears in the same frame as another bigger Chicago rat!

(Apologies to any Chicagoans I may have offended. But we have plenty enough corruption here in the Cleveland area for you to ridicule, too! Have at it!)

[McPat]

Barack Insane Obama is tight with this guy. He was instumental in getting this dirtbag elected. They have consistantly endorsed each other in thier respective endevors and now Obama says he hasn't been in contact with Blago about the senate seat. Yeah right! Don't ever forget that the corrupt Dailey Chicago machine gave birth the the president select.

McPat

[Rapier]

The whole country best get a double handfull and hang on, cause here it comes. This court jester is just the tip of the iceberg.
Best,
Ed

[Critch]

Two guys are talking in an Illinois prison courtyard and one of them says, "The food was much better when you were governor."

[skeeter@ccia.com]

they can toast all involved in Chicago but they will never bother the ah....you know who...he will still be the next president (elected because of skin color) and we can deal with all that...maybe someone has a shoe with a bomb in it??...to toss??.
He does resemble the 'mad' magazine guy....I see a cartoon in the mist.

[RagingBullPa]

but i'll fill it with horse manure then throw it at the *********

[Steverino]

Why waste perfectly good horse manure? Use your own and hope that Blago has worst reflexes than 'W'

[RagingBullPa]

i wasn't throwing it at blago i'm throwing it at the other illinois jerk osama obama, i'll switch to doggie do-do- then