Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested at his North Side home Tuesday morning. His chief of staff John Harris was taken into federal custody as well.
The criminal complaint by the FBI agents said the two had been arrested on federal corruption charges. Each were arrested on two charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.
Blagojevich and Harris will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court Tuesday.
The arrest is the latest step in a three-year probe of "pay-to-play politics" in the governor's administration. A statement by U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Blagojevich and Harris "allegedly conspired to sell U.S. Senate appointment, engaged in pay-to-play schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Company for Wrigley Field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers."
Federal authorities were permitted by a judge to record the governor secretly before the November election after raising concerns that a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama would be tainted.
Fitzgerald's office said the 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was taped conspiring to sell or trade Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife.
According to the affidavit, Blagojevich floated the idea of "a substantial salary for himself at a either a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;" a corporate board seat for his wife worth as much as $150,000 a year; promises of campaign funds, including cash up front; and a Cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
The charges also relate to allegations that Blagojevich and Harris schemed with previously convicted defendants and Obama associates Antonin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others to arrange financial benefits in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to state funds.
To be fair, the US Attorney is advising that, at this point, Obama appears to be in the clear with regard to the charges.
However, the Blagojevich connection is merely the latest in a long line of troubling associations for Obama: Rezko, Wright, Ayers, etc.
Either he's a very naive man, who can't see obvious moral failings in his associates or he's content looking the other way in the face of wrongdoing to gain political advantage. You have to wonder whether the judgment he's displayed in his associations in the past, will be a prologue to how he conducts himself as president, especially when you see his picks for AG and Secretary of State.
ABC News: Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship
"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. "But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."
But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.
While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
First he says that all Chicago agencies are to stop doing business with Bank of America (for some loan issues I'm still learning about), then 6am this morning he's arrested. I love this town...
Either he's a very naive man, who can't see obvious moral failings in his associates or he's content looking the other way in the face of wrongdoing to gain political advantage.
You realize that also describes George W. Bush, right?
Either he's a very naive man, who can't see obvious moral failings in his associates or he's content looking the other way in the face of wrongdoing to gain political advantage.
You realize that also describes obama and every other politician, right?
It would be fruitless to ask Snarf how many domestic terrorist and racist pastors Bush has been friends with, he'd has no clue what the hell he is talking about.
Either he's a very naive man, who can't see obvious moral failings in his associates or he's content looking the other way in the face of wrongdoing to gain political advantage.
You realize that also describes George W. Bush, right?
Actually, I've said in the past that I thought that Bush was too loyal to people who didn't deserve that loyalty. See, e.g., former AG Albert Gonzales.
But I guess, in Snarf's mind, Bush's failings excuse Obama's failings.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell today criticized Barack Obama for not being more upfront about the Illinois corruption scandal.
Now, he said, the story will continue to dominate the media’s attention.
“They have never been in an executive position before,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of the American people.”
Known for his blunt critiques of fellow Democrats, Rendell did not hold back during the interview.
The public, said Rendell, understands Obama and his aides would have an interest in who fills the Senate seat and some contact with the governor's office — and that Obama should have said as much at the outset.
"Did Rahm Emanuel, who took Rod Blagojevich's seat in Congress, have contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did," Rendell said. "They may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you still have to have contact with him."
Obama issued a tepid statement on the first day of the scandal, issued a call through his spokesman for the governor’s resignation on the second day, and pledged Thursday to release details of his staff’s contact with Blagojevich’s office in the coming days.
Emanuel turned testy and declined to talk with a reporter who approached him Thursday at Chicago City Hall, where he was watching his children perform in a concert. The Chicago Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.
“You’re wasting your time,” Emanuel said. “I’m not going to say a word to you. 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.”
When pressed for comment, he said, “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father,” and he pushed the reporter’s digital recorder away.
Top Barack Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel gave aides to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich a list of candidates he could appoint to the Senate who would be "acceptable" to the president-elect, according to a new report yesterday.
The stunning report from a Fox TV affiliate in Chicago also cited a source close to the investigation as saying Emanuel had "multiple" conversations about the Senate seat with Blogajevich and with his aides.
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, communicated with the office of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois about potential candidates for Mr. Obama’s Senate seat and provided a list of names, according to two Obama associates briefed on the matter.
The Obama associates said the interactions concerned several people who might fill the seat. Such contacts are common among party officials when a political vacancy is to be filled. It was not clear whether the communication was via direct telephone calls.
The Chicago Tribune reported that communications between Mr. Emanuel and the governor, both Democrats, had been captured on court-approved wiretaps, but Obama associates gave conflicting accounts of the interactions.
Obama aides have said privately that Mr. Emanuel did not engage in any deal-making with Mr. Blagojevich, whom federal prosecutors charged last week with conspiring to turn a profit from the appointment.
The federal inquiry is looking into the exact nature of Mr. Emanuel’s contacts with the governor’s office. Mr. Emanuel has not been accused of wrongdoing by federal prosecutors.
Mr. Obama has said he has never spoken with the governor about the seat. But Mr. Obama’s aides have declined for five days to answer publicly questions about what discussions they had about the seat, with several saying they were doing so at the request of the office of Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
In announcing the charges against Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. Fitzgerald said the president-elect was not implicated in the case.
The Illinois governor alone has the power to fill such vacancies. The criminal complaint against him alleges that he sought to benefit personally from the appointment by securing high-paying jobs for himself and his wife, or campaign contributions, in return for his selection.
Mr. Obama said Thursday that his aides were looking through all of their possible contacts with the governor and would release more information in the coming days. Republicans, meanwhile, have raised questions about Mr. Obama’s refusal to say more and about his past ties with the main characters in the story.
Mr. Emanuel’s list of possible candidates included a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, Valerie Jarrett; the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan; Representative Jan Schakowsky; and Dan Hynes, the state comptroller.
The criminal complaint quotes Mr. Blagojevich as saying at one point that Mr. Obama’s aides were not willing to give him anything more than “appreciation” in return for appointing a candidate they favored.
Ms. Schakowsky told The New York Times last week that she called Mr. Emanuel last month when she was exploring whether she might fill Mr. Obama’s seat. She and Mr. Emanuel had served in the House together.
Ms. Schakowsky said Mr. Emanuel had declined to tell her if Mr. Obama had a favorite to fill the seat. She said he seemed wary about Mr. Blagojevich.
Transition officials would not comment publicly on Saturday.
One of the schemes Mr. Blagojevich is accused of involves Mr. Emanuel’s House seat, for which Illinois law requires a special election.
According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Blagojevich talked about approaching an unnamed “president-elect adviser” to ask for help raising “10, 15 million” for the governor to start a nonprofit organization.
The complaint quoted Mr. Blagojevich as saying that when the president-elect adviser asked him about the special election for the House seat, Mr. Blagojevich wanted “it to be in his head.”
Blagojevich Weighs Legal Options: Observers say Illinois gov. may be contemplating a deal with prosecutors after his meeting with renowned criminal lawyer.
Meanwhile, Frank Rich, a columnist for the New York Times, surveys the scandal and announces that, despite the Governor's party affiliation and Obama's ties to Illinois politics, the scandal is really...yep..."Bush's Fault"(TM):
If you want to trace the bipartisan roots of the morally bankrupt culture that has now found its culmination in our financial apocalypse, a good place to start is late 2001 and 2002, just as the White House contemplated inflating Saddam’s W.M.D. That’s when we learned about another scandal with cooked books, Enron. This was a supreme embarrassment for Bush, whose political career had been bankrolled by the Enron titan Kenneth Lay, or, as Bush nicknamed him back in Texas, “Kenny Boy.”
I think he's on to something. After all, it isn't as if Chicago politics have been corrupt for the past half-century or anything.
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said Friday that he was fighting to get "my name back" after he was identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in a criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Jackson, the son of famed civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and a six-term Democratic congressman from Chicago, had publicly sought to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Jackson had talked to Blagojevich, the person with the sole power to make the appointment, on Monday, just one day before federal agents arrested the Illinois governor. Jackson said he only presented his credentials and polling information that suggests he could win re-election in 2010.
Jackson said he had fought corruption "since day one" but said he could not serve as Illinois senator until his name was cleared in the public eye.
"While I would be honored to serve the people of this state, it is clear to me that I am no capacity to serve them if there is a cloud over my head that seems to suggest that I am involved in some unscrupulous scheme to be a United States senator or anything else," Jackson told CNN's Don Lemon.
Prosecutors accuse Blagojevich of selling the Senate seat in exchange for campaign contributions and other favors. However, they did not accuse Jackson or any of the other candidates referred to in the complaint of wrongdoing.
Jackson denied participating in the "pay to play" politics that Blagojevich is accused of in a federal criminal complaint. Jackson also said he was eager to talk to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald about his role.
"When it's over, I want every to know that I want my name back. ... I'm fighting now for my character, and I'm also fighting for my life," he said. "This is about my children being able to Google their name in five years and there be nothing there associated with them that suggests anything wrong."
Jackson said he does not understand why Blagojevich believed he would trade favors in exchange for an appointment to the Senate, saying he had "nothing to offer but my record of public service."
He also said he did not send an emissary -- including his father or his brother, Jonathan -- to Blagojevich offering favors.
"When the facts become clear ... I think the American people will recognize that the governor of our state is a little different," he said. VideoWatch Jackson question the governor's mental capacity »
Jackson said believed that it was wrong for politicians to believe they can gain personally as a result of holding public office.
"I think that there is a disconnect between public service and private sacrifice. ... If for one moment you think that public service is also private gain, then you are trampling on very, very unsteady ground that is likely to force you and good people with good names in a very different process," he said.
Ummm, your name is "Jesse Jackson" Jr., you didn't have that good of a name to begin with. When his children Google their name their gunna find out about all the dirty tricks and racial slurs grandpa did anyways.
Oopsie...today we learn from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that . . . surprise! Obama "dispatched" Emanuel to "to begin talking up Mr. Obama's preferred candidates."
So once again, Obama's initial "I had no contact" answer is proven to be inaccurate, or in a less sympathetic interpretation, a lie.
I dont think his lying on this matter will become of anything major(remember Bill perjured himself and got away with it), but what I am looking forward to is as more and more of his lies come to light the people who worshiped him as a demi-god(pro, whomod, we're looking at you) breaking down as they realize they bought into this shyster hook line and sinker. I can see some major breakdowns like that viral Britney Spears fan video coming....
Nah. The kool-aid is too strong. They'll be blathering on about the "vast right wing conspiracy" again or incessantly dredging up something Bush did once.
Look at the chucklehead from the New York Times who tried to blame the corrupt Chicago system of the past half-century on the Iraq war.
There are guys like the NY Times guy who deliberately shift the blame off of Obama, part of the left wing machine, I'm talking about the idiots they use like Pro and whomod, who dont know any better. Whomod and Pro really believe this stuff, guys like the Times writer know better but they lead these guys around.
Obama will eventually be painted into a corner and quite a few of them will crack.
CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides did nothing inappropriate.
Well as long as his lawyers say so, I'm satisfied.
The Chicago Sun-Times: "President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds — dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat."
I've always bookmarked from conservative blogs that I read rather than search for stuff like that on google. I've always been a little fearful of what search engines would say was news.
G-man, this is really pathetic of you. Obama has already said that he nor anyone on his team talked to the Gov.'s office about this. If that isn't good enough for you (and I don't see why it shouldn't be), Obama's lawyer said that his investigation has shown that Obama and his people haven't done anything wrong. I mean.... those are like facts, man.
Yeah, this isn't my proudest moment, I admit. After all, when has a prominent and beloved black man's defense lawyer ever lied about his client's innocence?
CHICAGO – Gov. Rod Blagojevich is legendary in Illinois political circles for not picking up the phone or returning calls, even from important figures like the state's senior senator, Dick Durbin.
But there was always one call Blagojevich regularly took, say his aides, and that was from Rahm Emanuel — his congressman, his one-time campaign adviser and, more recently — and troubling for Emanuel — one of his contacts with President-elect Barack Obama's transition staff.
The friendly rapport Blagojevich and Emanuel shared over the years has suddenly become a troubling liability for Emanuel and the new president he will serve as chief of staff.
Emanuel and Obama have remained silent about what, if anything, Emanuel knew of the governor's alleged efforts to peddle Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.
Emanuel did contact the governor's office about the appointment and left Blagojevich with the impression that he was pushing Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend, so he wouldn't have to compete with her in the White House for Obama's attention, said a person close to Blagojevich. The person was not authorized to talk about the governor's discussions regarding the vacancy and requested anonymity.
It was not clear whether Blagojevich inferred Emanuel's motive for advocating Jarrett, or whether Emanuel discussed the appointment with Blagojevich directly or with John Harris, the governor's then-chief of staff who also is charged in the case, according to the source.
Emanuel's refusal to discuss the matter publicly, and the few comments offered by Obama to date, have prompted questions about Emanuel's ties to Blagojevich and what fallout he'll face as the criminal case unfolds, although sources have said he is not a target of prosecutors. Even so, any hint of scandal for Emanuel threatens to tarnish Obama's promise of new political leadership free of scandal and corruption.
Obama has said he will release a full accounting of his transition staff's interaction with Blagojevich and his aides over his Senate replacement once he receives the OK from prosecutors sometime this week. Until then, Obama has said it would be inappropriate for him or his aides to comment further.
Prosecutors refer in the 76-page complaint to the governor's discussions on FBI tapes about a "president-elect advisor," believed to be Emanuel, but they do not specifically cite contacts with Emanuel or anyone on Obama's transition staff.
Instead, the taped conversations reveal Blagojevich telling others to float his idea by the president's adviser of forming a nonprofit that he hoped would, with Obama's help, receive millions of dollars that the governor could tap later.
Blagojevich said he didn't want the idea associated directly in conversations about the Senate appointment or filling Emanuel's seat in the House, according to the complaint. However, Blagojevich is quoted as saying "I want it to be in his head" for later discussions about Emanuel's successor.
It was Blagojevich who, seemingly out of nowhere, yanked Emanuel into his scandal when answering reporters' questions the day before his Dec. 9 arrest, invoking his name in an apparent attempt to shrug off any perception of wrongdoing.
He said he wasn't concerned about a report in the Chicago Tribune that confidant and former aide John Wyma's cooperation had helped lead federal prosecutors to tape the governor's conversations.
Big deal, Blagojevich said. He said he's "always lawful" whenever he speaks, and he was confident Wyma has been "an honest person who's conducted himself in an honest way. That's the John Wyma I know and it's the John Wyma that Rahm Emanuel knows and a lot of other people know."
Blagojevich is right. Wyma does have ties to both him and Emanuel, those close to both have said. And Wyma's clients contributed to both — more than $100,000 to Emanuel's campaigns and causes, and more than $445,000 to Blagojevich's, according to campaign finance records reviewed by The Associated Press.
Wyma and his attorney, Zachary Fardon, did not respond to interview requests.
Emanuel's defenders say he is hardly an ally of Blagojevich.
"They were in different worlds personally and politically," said Peter Giangreco, a political consultant on Blagojevich's 1996 congressional campaign and his two gubernatorial races. "They only dealt with each other because they occupied the same political geography."
Emanuel's effort to promote Jarrett or anyone else for Obama's vacant Senate seat was more a part of his new job description and less a reflection of close ties, Emanuel's supporters have said.
But there was more to their relationship than a polite acquaintance. The two share a political past, rooted on Chicago's North Side, and a friendly relationship — although not a close friendship — that made Emanuel the obvious choice to push Obama's preferences to fill his vacant Senate seat, current and former Blagojevich aides said.
They at times joined forces politically, like in 2005 to promote importing prescription drugs from Canada and in 2006 to push for an increase in the state's minimum wage. Blagojevich, his aides say, wasn't shy about seeking the help of Emanuel, referred to in a 2006 Tribune article as his "Washington-based mentor."
Blagojevich was a congressman before he was governor and he represented the Fifth District, a small but heavily populated district in Chicago's northern and western suburbs, not far from O'Hare International Airport. His rise to Congress has been well documented of late, including the help he received from powerful Chicago Alderman Dick Mell — his now-estranged father-in-law.
When Emanuel returned to politics in 2002 after some years spent in investment banking, he targeted Blagojevich's Fifth District seat as he launched his reformist campaign for governor.
Due to his personal wealth and his national fundraising base dating to his work in the Clinton administration, Emanuel didn't have to go to Mell or to powerful unions because he already had acquired political clout.
Nancy Kaszak, who ran for Congress against Blagojevich in 1996 when both were state representatives and had a nasty battle against Emanuel in 2002, said she believes Mell quietly backed Emanuel. On Election Day that year, she recalls, Mell's poll workers passed out literature for both Blagojevich and Emanuel. Mell declined to be interviewed for this story.
Emanuel has described himself as a one-time adviser to Blagojevich. David Wilhelm, one of Emanuel's close friends who worked with him in the Clinton White House, informally assisted on that campaign for Blagojevich.
Emanuel, who has declined to comment since Blagojevich's arrest, told The New Yorker magazine over the summer that he, Wilhelm and Obama met once a week during the 2002 race to plot campaign strategy for Blagojevich. Wilhelm has said Emanuel overstated the group's role.
Also, Emanuel, Blagojevich and Obama all have hired David Axelrod, the Chicago political consultant who helped engineer Obama's presidential victory. Axelrod helped Blagojevich in 1996 and Emanuel in 2002.
The coming days will offer the first answers about Emanuel's recent interaction with Blagojevich and discussions about filling Obama's Senate seat.
Obama already has insisted that his aides did no bartering with Blagojevich to advance candidates for the appointment. But refusing the deal is only the first step to fighting corruption in a political culture that promotes it when others look the other way, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said earlier when announcing the charges against Blagojevich.
"We're not going to end corruption in Illinois by arrests and indictments alone," the prosecutor said. "What's going to make the difference is when people who are approached to 'pay to play' first say no, and, second, report it."
Obama Report 'Clears Emanuel': Aides to the president-elect say report on staff contact with embattled Gov. Blagojevich will 'exonerate' the chief of staff
Well, case closed. Obama has issued a report that his staff did nothing wrong.
I get a kick out of every news story about this ends with, "It should be noted federal authorities have stated none of Obama's staff are suspects in this investigation".
I am oddly going to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on this one. Should he have been more open about Emanuel talking with Blagojevich? Sure. But, I can also see why he would want to shy away from during the transition period. I do believe that it will all eventually come down on Blagojevich and his chief of staff.
As for Obama, I think his greatest fault in this and much of Illinois's "interesting" political ways and means is turning a blind eye.
And, that is about the best backhanded compliment I can give him in regard to all of this.
President-elect Barack Obama’s aides plan to release a report Tuesday absolving incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of any impropriety in his contacts with the disgraced Illinois governor’s office, Democratic sources tell Politico.
The report has been delayed at the request of federal prosecutors but now will come out Tuesday, the sources say.
The complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose conversations had been secretly taped by federal investigators, tested the smoothly running Obama transition, with some Democrats fretting that the case presents a distraction that could last into the new administration.
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, host of “This Week,” said during the roundtable on his program Sunday that the Obama legal team's review of contacts with Blagojevich found that Emanuel had only one phone conversation with the governor, and it was a “pro forma” conversation.
“I have been briefed on the review that Obama has done,” Stephanopoulos said. “The sources I talked to say that what it will show is there were actually far less contacts than we had heard — that Rahm Emanuel only had one phone call with Gov. Blagojevich. It wasn’t even really about the Senate seat.”
Stephanopoulos elaborated in a blog posting: “Most of the discussion concerned Emanuel's congressional seat (which had previously been held by Blagojevich), with only a ‘passing reference’ to the Senate vacancy, according to these sources. No deal for the Senate vacancy was discussed.
“[T]he report will show Emanuel also had four phone calls with Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris. During those conversations, the Senate seat was discussed. The pros and cons of various candidates were reviewed, and the sources say that Emanuel repeatedly reminded Harris that Blagojevich should focus on the message the pick would send about the governor and his administration. Sources also confirm that Emanuel made the case for picking Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett during at least one of the conversations. In the course of that conversation, Harris asked if in return for picking Jarrett, 'all we get is appreciation, right?' 'Right,' Emanuel responded.”
Stephanopoulos said on “This Week”: “According to these sources, absolutely no deals.”
ABC’s Cokie Roberts added: “It would be political malpractice if somebody from the Obama [camp] had not talked to the governor.”
President-elect Barack Obama’s aides plan to release a report Tuesday absolving incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel of any impropriety in his contacts with the disgraced Illinois governor’s office, Democratic sources tell Politico.
The report has been delayed at the request of federal prosecutors but now will come out Tuesday, the sources say.
So...'the most transparent President-elect in history' has released his report on contacts his staff had with Blagojevich at 5:00 p.m. on the day before Christmas Eve ...while he's in vacation in Hawaii, and won't take any questions on the matter.
Heh. When Burris shows up in Washington to be sworn in, he is likely to be met by armed guards at the Senate door:
Should Roland Burris show up for duty in the Senate on Tuesday, armed police officers stand ready to bar him from the floor.
This cinematic showdown is among an elaborate set of contingencies that Democratic leaders are planning if, as expected, the former Illinois attorney general appointed by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich shows up with newly elected senators to press his claim that he is the legitimate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama.
Democratic leaders hope to avert such a standoff. And Burris, in an interview Wednesday, said he hoped to claim the Senate seat without added drama.
"We're not going to create a scene in Washington," Burris said. "We hope it's negotiated out prior to my going to Washington."
Still, the Senate leaders' planning, detailed by a Democratic official briefed on their deliberations, even covers scenarios such as Blagojevich appearing in person to escort Burris.
Ironically, as a sitting governor, the scandal-plagued Blagojevich is allowed floor privileges. But Lucio Guerrero, Blagojevich's spokesman, said the governor had not decided whether to go to Washington with Burris.
With Democratic leaders vowing to bar anyone appointed by Blagojevich because of federal charges that he attempted to sell Obama's seat, leaders hope to stall Burris with paperwork. Senate rules require that an incoming senator's selection be certified by the secretary of state for his home state, and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has declined to sign a certification of Burris' appointment.
But Senate Democrats also have a follow-up plan: refusing to seat Burris until the Senate Rules Committee completes an investigation into whether the appointment process was tainted by corruption.
The plan is for the Senate investigation to extend longer than the Illinois Legislature's impeachment process underway against Blagojevich, leaving open the possibility that a new governor will make a rival Senate appointment that the Democratic leaders could seat.
What a great symbol of Democrat Party inclusiveness!
Well, well, well....it appears that Harry Reid might not be acting out of the purest of motives. Reports the New York Times:
Some highly placed Democrats have begun to question privately why Mr. Burris is being denied the seat if there are no problems with him personally. They said Democrats could dispose of the issue - and gain a reliable Democratic vote in the process - by acceding to the appointment if it met all legal requirements.
Mr. Blagojevich seemed on Friday to try to raise questions about the motives of Senate leaders' efforts to block Mr. Burris,disclosing for the first time that Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, had - before Mr. Blagojevich's arrest on Dec. 9 - called the governor to talk about whom he was considering appointing to fill Mr. Obama's seat.
Lucio Guerrero, a spokesman for Mr. Blagojevich, said that Mr. Reid called on Dec. 3 to discuss possible appointees, and expressed concerns that some being considered might not be able to win re-election when Mr. Obama's Senate term ended in two years. Mr. Burris was never mentioned in the conversation, Mr. Guerrero said.
"I think the governor thinks that it shows that Harry Reid may have a horse in this race, and it's not Roland Burris," Mr. Guerrero said.
An Illinois court will eventually decide if Governor Rod Blagojevich is guilty of corruption. But on at least one issue he is more law-abiding than Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats: the seating of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. [Review & Outlook] AP
Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich.
Mr. Blagojevich appointed Mr. Burris to represent Illinois on Tuesday, ahead of the official start of the 111th Congress next week. This was certainly an act of brash defiance given that nearly everyone had warned the Governor not to do so after he was heard on tape contemplating the sale of the seat for personal gain. But under Illinois law, Mr. Blagojevich had every legal right to do so.
As the Governor said in his announcement, the Illinois public also deserves its full measure of representation in Washington. Mr. Burris is a former state attorney general who is untainted by the charges against Mr. Blagojevich. After the Blagojevich tapes were made public, Democrats who run the state legislature said they'd pass a law to require a special election for the Senate. But their passion for that option ebbed when it became clear that a Republican could win, especially amid this Democratic fiasco. When the legislature failed to act, Mr. Blagojevich saw his opening to name Mr. Burris. The Opinion Journal Widget
Meanwhile, Mr. Reid and Washington Democrats are refusing to seat Mr. Burris, never mind their lack of authority to do so. As an initial matter, they're hiding behind the Illinois secretary of state, who is refusing to certify the appointment. But Mr. Burris has asked a court to order the secretary of state to carry out what under state law would typically be a nondiscretionary duty. In any event, Beltway Democrats can't inject themselves into what is clearly a matter of Illinois law.
The legal precedent here is the Supreme Court's 7-1 decision in Powell v. McCormack in 1969. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell had been accused of corruption but was nonetheless re-elected in 1966. House Democrats declined to seat him, Powell sued, and the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had acted unconstitutionally in denying him his seat. Congress could have expelled Powell with a two-thirds vote, as stipulated in the Constitution, but it couldn't deny him the seat in the first instance.
While the Constitution says the Senate can determine its own membership, the Court in Powell interpreted Article I, Section 5 to say that "in judging the qualifications of its members, Congress is limited to the standing qualifications prescribed in the Constitution." Nowhere in the Constitution is there a "qualification" saying that a Senator must not have been appointed by an embarrassing Illinois Governor.
Mr. Reid is also attempting the dodge of referring the matter to the Senate Rules Committee, which is run by Democrats, but the Powell precedent ought to be clear even to political lawyers. If Mr. Reid wants to banish Mr. Burris, he must first seat him and then persuade two-thirds of the Senate to expel him. Needless to say, the last thing Mr. Reid wants to do is create turmoil in his party by expelling an African-American Democrat whose only offense has been to accept an appointment to serve. But if Mr. Reid does go that route, we'd suggest worthier expulsion possibilities, such as Connecticut's Chris Dodd, who received sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide Financial while sitting on the Banking Committee.
Republicans want Illinois to hold a special election for the vacant seat, and we recommended that ourselves (as did Mr. Obama) when the Blagojevich tapes first became public. But now that Mr. Burris has been appointed, Mr. Reid can't legally deny him his seat. If this is the way Democrats are going to use their new monopoly on Beltway power even against a member of their own party, we're in for an ugly couple of years.
it's scary the way Obama and his far left cronies just want to throw the Constitution away.
Report: Reid Snubbed Jackson: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Rep. Jesse Jackson to Senate seat, report says:
The Nevada Democrat made one call to Blagojevich on Dec. 3 to discuss the seat vacated by the president-elect, Reid spokesman Jim Manley confirmed. Six days later, authorities arrested Blagojevich for allegedly trying to sell Obama's seat.
The Sun-Times reported Friday that during their discussion Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones because he feared they'd lose to a GOP opponent in the next election.
Jackson and Davis are both Democratic congressmen from Illinois, and Jones is the Illinois Senate president and Obama's political godfather.
Instead, Reid pressed Blagojevich to appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the newspaper.
William Walls of the Committee for a Better Chicago called Reid's opposition to the appointment of Jackson, Davis or Jones, all of whom are black, an act of racism.
Reid is a Mormon. During Romney's Presidential run, I seem to recall some people, including members of this board, arguing that the Mormon church is institutionally racist against blacks.
Feinstein: Let Burris In. Key Democrat breaks with Senate colleagues to support Roland Burris in his bid to assume Obama's U.S. Senate seat.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee that soon could take up Burris' case, said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has the right to appoint a senator despite the allegations of corruption against him.
"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes," Feinstein said, urging the Senate to settle the matter. "If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America. ... Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician."
The more I think about this, the more I think that Burris has the more legitimate claim to a Senate seat right now than Franken does.
Franken’s election result is in legal limbo for now, due to court challenges. But Burris has been appointed by his governor, the legitimate legal and constitutional authority on the matter.
Eventually the court challenges will be settled in MN though while Burris will always have gotten his seat from Blagojevich. But I think at this point the party has done everything it can reasonably do to try to stop Blagojevich from getting someone in and it's time to give it up.
HYPOCRISY AND RACISM OF DEMOCRATS, DOUBLE-STANDARD OF THE LIBERAL MEDIA IN NOT REPORTING IT by Patrick J. Buchanan 01/06/2009
About the appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, somebody big is lying, big-time. It is either the governor or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Last week, Reid declared that he would not permit Burris, the African-American elder statesman of Illinois politics, to fill Obama's seat, or even to enter the Senate chamber, though no one had suggested Burris is other than an honorable and able public man.
Reid declared Burris "a tainted appointment," not because of any ethical defect of his, but because of the cloud over the governor who had appointed him.
Saturday, however, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, in a story sourced to the governor's office, that Reid personally phoned Blago on Dec. 3, six days before the scandal broke, to urge him not to name any of three high-profile candidates for the Obama seat.
On the Reid blacklist were, according to the source, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Danny Davis and State Senate President Emil Jones.
What do the three have in common? All are black.
Reid reportedly urged Blagojevich to pick either state Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth or Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
What do these women have in common? Neither is black.
As Prince Riley, a senior consultant to Burris, told Politico, "It's interesting that all those who are viable are white women and the ones who are unacceptable are black men."
It sure is, Prince -- if the story is true.
Confronted by David Gregory on "Meet the Press," Reid called Blago a liar and said he thinks Jackson would make a fine senator. Said Reid:
"This is part of Blagojevich's cloud. He's making all this up. I had a conversation with him. I don't remember what was in the conversation, other than the generalities that I just talked about. I didn't tell him who not to appoint. He's making all this up ..."
However, this brings us back to the contents of a conversation Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly had with Blago, also before U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald busted the governor for allegedly hawking Obama's seat to the highest bidder.
Valerie Jarrett, Barack's confidante, had by then withdrawn.
Rahm reportedly told Blago he should choose from one of three names: Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Rahm then reportedly called back to add Lisa Madigan.
All four are white. Conspicuously missing from Rahm's list were all four black candidates: Jackson, Davis, Jones and Burris.
Are Blago or his people all lying? The truth is on Fitzgerald's tapes.
As Gregory pressed Reid, whose re-election in 2010 in Nevada is no sure thing, the majority leader suggested his feet were not so set in concrete and he may be open to a deal with Burris:
"I'm an old trial lawyer. There's always room to negotiate."
The deal being talked about is that Reid may let Burris take the seat if he agrees not to run in 2010. For the fear Democrats have is that no black male in Illinois can for sure hold Barack's seat.
Now, if any such deal is what Reid has in mind, one hopes Burris will slap it away. He has as much right to be in the Senate as Harry Reid does. And for Burris to enter that body as a professed lame-duck would mean that not only would he be last in seniority, he will have neutered himself.
Reporters need to get to the bottom of this. Did Reid and Rahm convey to Blagojevich that Jackson, Davis, Jones and Burris were all unacceptable? Or is the governor's office putting out malicious lies against Rahm and Reid? Again, the truth is on the tapes. And the ball is in Blago's court, as Reid has all but openly called him a liar.
Incidentally, can one imagine the firestorm if Mitch McConnell, GOP leader, was reported to have called members of the Republican National Committee and told them all the candidates for party chair were acceptable, except for Ken Blackwell of Ohio and Michael Steele of Maryland, the two African-Americans?
McConnell would suffer the fate of Trent Lott, the GOP leader who in 2002 had to resign his post over a toast to 100-year-old Strom Thurmond. Lott observed that Strom had run for president on the Dixiecrat ticket in 1948, that Mississippi had voted for him and that, had Strom been elected, we might not have all these problems.
Lott was maliciously accused of endorsing the segregationist stand Strom had run on, 54 years before, though Lott never voted for segregation, and Strom's voting record had been consistent for decades with that of other Southern conservatives.
Al Gore, whose father, Sen. Albert Gore Sr., stood beside Strom and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, called Lott's remarks racist and urged his censure by the Senate.
Let us see if the media, and his colleagues, are as tough on Reid as they were on Lott.
Pat Buchanan is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, "The Death of the West,", "The Great Betrayal," "A Republic, Not an Empire" and "Where the Right Went Wrong."
Tremendous political controversy ensued following remarks Lott made on December 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday party of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Thurmond ran for President of the United States in 1948 on the Dixiecrat (or States' Rights) ticket. Lott said: "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."[citation needed]
Thurmond had based his presidential campaign largely on an explicit racial segregation platform. Lott had attracted controversy before in issues relating to civil rights. As a Congressman, he voted against renewal of the Voting Rights Act, voted against the continuation of the Civil Rights Act and opposed the Martin Luther King Holiday.[citation needed] The Washington Post reported that Lott had made similar comments about Thurmond's candidacy in a 1980 rally.[11] Lott gave an interview with Black Entertainment Television explaining himself and repudiating Thurmond's former views.[12]
Under pressure from Senate colleagues, and having lost the support of the White House, Lott resigned as Senate Republican Leader on December 20, 2002.[citation needed] Bill Frist of Tennessee was later elected to the leadership position. In the book Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig argues that the resignation of Lott would not have occurred had it not been for the effect of Internet blogs. He says that though the story "disappear[ed] from the mainstream press within forty-eight hours", "bloggers kept researching the story" until, "[f]inally, the story broke back into the mainstream press."[13]
Wiki opens saying Lott was "racist" in his remarks. But David Brooks and Mark Shields on the PBS News Hour, in reviewing the controversy, were agreed that Lott's toast was not intended as anything more than a warm tribute to a 100-year-old Senator on his birthday, not some deep endorsement of Thurmond's 50-plus year old 1948 political platform. But it was used to marginalize Lott just the same.
Incidentally, can one imagine the firestorm if Mitch McConnell, GOP leader, was reported to have called members of the Republican National Committee and told them all the candidates for party chair were acceptable, except for Ken Blackwell of Ohio and Michael Steele of Maryland, the two African-Americans?
McConnell would suffer the fate of Trent Lott, the GOP leader who in 2002 had to resign his post over a toast to 100-year-old Strom Thurmond. Lott observed that Strom had run for president on the Dixiecrat ticket in 1948, that Mississippi had voted for him and that, had Strom been elected, we might not have all these problems.
Lott was maliciously accused of endorsing the segregationist stand Strom had run on, 54 years before, though Lott never voted for segregation, and Strom's voting record had been consistent for decades with that of other Southern conservatives.
Al Gore, whose father, Sen. Albert Gore Sr., stood beside Strom and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, called Lott's remarks racist and urged his censure by the Senate.
Let us see if the media, and his colleagues, are as tough on Reid as they were on Lott.
Now that Rod Blagojevich's scandal-ridden tenure as governor is over, Gov. Pat Quinn said Friday he's ready to get to work and "mend the flaws" in state government.
"This is a time for governance and reform. Politics — we can do that next year," Quinn told WLS Radio's "The Don and Roma Morning Show."
The 60-year-old Democrat was elevated to Illinois' chief executive on Thursday when the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term Democrat. In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.
Quinn said he would be busy on his first full day as governor and that his job is to "mend the flaws" in state government. He pledged to work with lawmakers and other state officials as a team to get the job done. Among the challenges he faces is a state budget deficit of more than $3 billion.
Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, became the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.
On Thursday, he addressed his Senate impeachment trial and offered familiar lines: He was innocent. The trial rules were unfair. His goal always was to help people.
But senators were unswayed.
"He failed the test of character. He is beneath the dignity of the state of Illinois. He is no longer worthy to be our governor," said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Republican from suburban Chicago.
Blagojevich's troubles are not over. Federal prosecutors are drawing up an indictment against him on corruption charges.
Outside his Chicago home Thursday night, Blagojevich vowed to "keep fighting to clear my name," and added: "Give me a chance to show you that I haven't let you down."
Blagojevich, 52, had boycotted the first three days of the impeachment trial, calling the proceedings a kangaroo court. But on Thursday, he went before the Senate to fight for his job, delivering a 47-minute plea that was, by turns, defiant, humble and sentimental.
"You haven't proved a crime, and you can't because it didn't happen," Blagojevich (pronounced blah-GOY'-uh-vich) told lawmakers. "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?"
The verdict brought to an end what one lawmaker branded "the freak show" in Illinois. Over the past few weeks, Blagojevich found himself isolated, with almost the entire political establishment lined up against him. The crisis paralyzed state government and made Blagojevich and his helmet of lush, dark hair a punchline from coast to coast.
Many ordinary Illinoisans were glad to see him go.
"It's very embarrassing. I think it's a shame that with our city and Illinois, everybody thinks we're all corrupt," Gene Ciepierski, 54, said after watching the trial's conclusion on a TV at Chicago's beloved Billy Goat Tavern. "To think he would do something like that, it hurts more than anything."
In a solemn scene, more than 30 lawmakers rose one by one on the Senate floor to accuse Blagojevich of abusing his office and embarrassing the state. They denounced him as a hypocrite, saying he cynically tried to enrich himself and then posed as the brave protector of the poor and "wrapped himself in the constitution."
Blagojevich did not stick around to hear the vote. He took a state plane back to Chicago.
He did, however, use his last day in office to grant clemency to a prominent Chicago real estate developer and a former drug dealer, just hours before the vote to oust him.
The verdict capped a head-spinning string of developments that began with his arrest by the FBI on Dec. 9. Federal prosecutors had been investigating Blagojevich's administration for years, and some of his closest cronies already have been convicted.
The most spectacular allegation was that Blagojevich had been caught on wiretaps scheming to sell an appointment to Obama's Senate seat for campaign cash or a plum job for himself or his wife.
"I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden, and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it," he was quoted as saying on a government wiretap.
Sen. James Meeks, a Chicago Democrat, mocked Blagojevich during debate: "We have this thing called impeachment and it's bleeping golden and we've used it the right way."
Prosecutors also said Blagojevich illegally pressured people to make campaign contributions and tried to get editorial writers fired from the Chicago Tribune for badmouthing him in print.
Obama himself, fresh from his historic election victory, was forced to look into the matter and issued a report concluding that no one in his inner circle had done anything wrong.
"Today ends a painful episode for Illinois," the president said in a Thursday night statement. "For months, the state had been crippled by a crisis of leadership. Now that cloud has lifted."
Even as lawmakers were deciding whether to launch an impeachment, Blagojevich defied the political establishment by appointing a former Illinois attorney general, Roland Burris, to the very Senate seat he had been accused of trying to sell. Top Democrats on Capitol Hill eventually backed down and seated Burris.
As his trial got under way, Blagojevich launched a media blitz, rushing from one TV studio to another in New York to proclaim his innocence. He likened himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and to a cowboy in the hands of a Wild West lynch mob.
The impeachment case included not only the criminal charges against Blagojevich, but allegations he broke the law when it came to hiring state workers, expanded a health care program without legislative approval and spent $2.6 million on flu vaccine that went to waste. The 118-member House twice voted to impeach him, both times with only one "no" vote.
Seven other U.S. governors have been removed by impeachment, the most recent being Arizona's Evan Mecham in 1988. Illinois never before impeached a governor, despite its long and rich history of graft.
By Thursday night, Blagojevich's name and picture had disappeared from the state's official Web site. Instead, an unobtrusive "Pat Quinn, Governor" was in the upper right corner.
U.S. Sen. Roland Burris has acknowledged trying to raise money for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich before being appointed to the Senate.
According to a transcript posted on the Chicago Tribune's Web site, Burris told reporters in Peoria Monday night that he talked to some friends about putting together a fundraiser after being called by the ex-governor's brother.
But Burris says he told Rob Blagojevich shortly after the November election that he couldn't get any friends to contribute and suggested he might be able to find others.
Burris testified last month to a committee that recommended impeaching Rod Blagojevich that he had told only one Blagojevich associate he was interested in being senator.
But he released an affidavit over the weekend indicating he had spoken to four others, including the calls from Rob Blagojevich.
Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's plan to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat marked the culmination of years of scheming for personal gain that included trying to extort a congressman and pressuring businesses to hire his wife, prosecutors alleged Thursday.
A sweeping 19-count federal indictment alleges that Blagojevich discussed with aides the possibility of getting a Cabinet post in the new president's administration, substantial fundraising assistance or a high-paying job in exchange for the Senate seat.
Obama's deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the White House would not comment on the indictment, which does not allege any wrongdoing by Obama or his top aides.
Prosecutors also accused Blagojevich and members of his inner circle of plotting to line their pockets with millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains. They are accused of squeezing contractors, hospital owners and others seeking state business for kickbacks they planned to split after the governor left office.
"I'm saddened and hurt but I am not surprised by the indictment," Blagojevich, who was in Walt Disney World with his family, said in a statement. "I am innocent. I now will fight in the courts to clear my name."
Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was the congressman, attorneys familiar with the case said Thursday. The attorneys spoke on condition of anonymity because the congressman isn't named in the indictment and the information is secret grand jury material.
The indictment says the congressman asked about a $2 million grant included in the state budget for a school. But Blagojevich allegedly told a state official to tell the lawmaker his brother would have to raise campaign funds or the grant wouldn't go through.
At the time, Emanuel represented the 5th District on Chicago's North Side. Some of the funds were later released, even though no fundraiser had been held.
The indictment does not say which of Emanuel's two brothers was involved. Emanuel's brother Ari is a Hollywood agent and the inspiration for Ari Gold, the Type-A superagent on the HBO series "Entourage." His brother Ezekiel is an oncologist.
The indictment also alleges that Blagojevich:
_Was involved in a corrupt scheme to get a massive kickback in exchange for the refinancing of billions of dollars in state pension funds.
_Told an aide he didn't want executives with two financial institutions getting further state business after he concluded they were not helping his wife get a high-paying job.
_Withheld state aid sought by the Tribune Co. unless the company fired unfriendly editorial writers at the Chicago Tribune.
Also, convicted fixer Tony Rezko paid Patti Blagojevich a $14,396 real estate commission "even though she had done no work" to earn it and later hired her at a salary of $12,000 a month plus another $40,000 fee, the indictment said.
Others charged were brother Robert Blagojevich; former chief of staff Alonzo Monk; one-time chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly; Springfield lobbyist-millionaire William F. Cellini; and another former chief of staff, John Harris. Prosecutors said Harris has agreed to cooperate.
Robert Blagojevich is chairman of the Friends of Rod Blagojevich campaign fund.
"We were hoping that it wouldn't happen but now we go to trial and win," said his attorney, Michael Ettinger.
Cellini attorney Dan Webb said his client never had a substantive conversation with Blagojevich, much less conspired with him. Messages were left for attorneys for Monk, Kelly and Harris.
Blagojevich faces 16 counts of wire fraud, racketeering and extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and making false statements. Most of those charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Prosecutors said at least $188,370 belonging to Friends of Blagojevich is subject to forfeiture. If the money can't be found, Blagojevich might have to forfeit his Washington, D.C., apartment and Chicago home.
Blagojevich, 52, was arrested Dec. 9 on a criminal complaint and U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald had faced a Tuesday deadline to supplant it with an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury. The Democrat's arrest led to his political downfall: The Illinois House impeached him Jan. 9. The Senate convicted him and removed him from office Jan. 29.
Illinois lawmakers had considered stripping Blagojevich of his Senate-appointment powers after his arrest, but couldn't agree on legislation. Blagojevich shocked everyone by naming former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat Dec. 30.
Burris has since come under fire for changing his story about the circumstances surrounding his appointment. He also acknowledged trying, unsuccessfully, to raise money for Blagojevich.
Burris would not comment on the indictment, spokesman Jim O'Connor said. Earlier in the day, Burris told reporters with The Hill as he came off the Senate floor that it "has nothing to do with me."
Blagojevich's administration has been under federal investigation for years and Kelly and Rezko already have been convicted of federal crimes and are awaiting sentencing.
Thursday's indictment said that in 2003 — the former governor's first year in office — Blagojevich, Monk, Kelly and Rezko agreed to direct big-money state business involved in refinancing billions of dollars in pension bonds as part of a deal with a lobbyist who promised a massive kickback in return. The lobbyist wasn't identified.
Rezko raised more than $1 million in campaign contributions for Blagojevich and also was a major Obama fundraiser.
Illinois residents said they were tired of the corruption.
"I'm so disgusted," said Linda Dowdy, a 59-year-old Belleville tavern manager who calls herself a hardcore Democrat. She lamented that even well-intentioned politicians don't last long in office.
"He may have every intention of going in and trying to change things and of making things better," she said. "But once he's in, he doesn't have any choice but to be as crooked as they are or he's not gonna stay in there."
The Chicago Tribune reports that Rahm Emanuel has some questions to answer about his involvement in the Blagojevich case:
The former North Side congressman, picked by Obama in November as his top staff member, was allegedly the subject of extortion in 2006 after he inquired about a $2 million state grant to benefit a school in his district. Prosecutors say Blagojevich instructed a top aide to block the release of the money, even though it had been included in the state's budget.
Blagojevich also allegedly told a high-ranking state official that Emanuel's brother needed to host a fundraiser for him. The indictment does not say which of two brothers was mentioned, but the White House aide said it was Ari Emanuel, a high-powered Hollywood agent active in political fundraising.
Prosecutors said a fundraiser was never held. The aide would not say whether Emanuel ever actually learned of the request.
That's an important detail. If Emanuel knew he was the target of an extortion plot, shouldn't he have reported it?
CHICAGO — In the span of a few months, Rod Blagojevich could trade the Illinois governor's office for the Costa Rican jungle.
NBC says it wants Blagojevich, who pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and fraud charges Tuesday, to appear on its upcoming show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!"
A network statement says 10 celebrities will be dropped into the Costa Rican jungle "to face challenges designed to test their skills in adapting to the wilderness."
But Blagojevich's legal problems could end the venture before it begins.
The ousted governor's bond does not allow him to leave the United States.
An attorney close to his legal defense says Blagojevich is seeking permission from a judge to leave the country to appear on the show.
Oopsie...today we learn from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that surprise! Obama "dispatched" Emanuel to "to begin talking up Mr. Obama's preferred candidates."
So once again, Obama's initial "I had no contact" answer is proven to be inaccurate, or in a less sympathetic interpretation, a lie.
With jury selection beginning Thursday in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, observers say the flamboyant defendant may be aided by reports of White House horse-trading.
After all, if the White House can do it, why can't he?
Blagojevich is accused of a litany of hard-nosed political schemes ranging from kickbacks to intimidation. The complaint against him suggests the White House refused to be a part of his alleged attempts to extract favors in exchange for appointing certain people to replace the newly elected president in the U.S. Senate.
But the White House has admitted to engaging in a similar kind of political gamesmanship -- in two races, it tried to lure challengers out of their primary races against administration-backed incumbents by suggesting the possibility of an administration job opening.
Defense attorney Barry Agulnick said it will be hard to have a trial within a trial -- in other words, the judge is unlikely to allow blatant references to the White House controversy in a courtroom devoted to examining Blagojevich's dealings. But he said the stories about White House intervention in the Pennsylvania and Colorado Senate races have got to make the prosecution nervous as jury selection begins.
"It shows that it's something that's commonly done and I'm sure his defense is going be that he was selectively prosecuted," Agulnick said. "If they're intelligent jurors, they read newspapers, they watch 24-hour cable, they're on the Internet, they're going to get the message. ... It's got to be something that's going to be helpful to the defense."
He said the defense team would be able to plant the seed during jury selection, submitting questions to jurors that ask them about the White House job offer coverage. From there, he said, "a skillful attorney can bring it in indirectly" during the course of the trial.
Oopsie...today we learn from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that surprise! Obama "dispatched" Emanuel to "to begin talking up Mr. Obama's preferred candidates."
So once again, Obama's initial "I had no contact" answer is proven to be inaccurate, or in a less sympathetic interpretation, a lie.
And that wasn't the first time that Rahm traded favors with Blagojevich:
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel tried trading favors with Rod Blagojevich, according to e-mails revealed yesterday.
Within hours of agreeing to sign a letter of support for Blagojevich -- the former governor of Illinois now on trial facing corruption charges -- in the Chicago Tribune during one of his many controversies, then-Congressman Emanuel asked for help releasing a $2 million grant payment to a school in the district Emanuel represented at the time.
CHICAGO -- An ex-aide to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich testified this week that President Obama knew Blagojevich wanted a plum job in the administration in exchange for appointing a politically palatable person to fill Obama's vacated Senate seat.
John Harris, Blagojevich's former chief of staff, testified in the ex-governor's corruption trial in federal District Court here this week that Obama was aware Blagojevich was working to leverage the Senate seat into a cabinet position for himself.
He also said Blagojevich believed that if he appointed to the Senate Obama's longtime friend Valerie Jarrett, Blagojevich would get a top job. Jarrett had been working on the Obama presidential campaign before accepting her current position as a senior White House advisor.
"The president understands that the governor would be willing to make the appointment of Valerie Jarrett as long as he gets what he's asked for," Harris told the court Wednesday.
The White House declined to comment Thursday on testimony regarding Obama and Jarrett. Blagojevich's attorneys will cross-examine Harris next week.
In court filings, Blagojevich's defense team asked presiding Judge James B. Zagel to order the government to hand over interviews the Federal Bureau of Investigation "conducted with President Obama regarding this case."
The defense team's filings said that, contrary to White House statements, Obama had "direct knowledge and communication with emissaries and others regarding the appointment to his Senate seat."
Blagojevich's lawyers tried to subpoena Obama earlier this year but Judge Zagel refused to allow it. Other White House aides, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, have been subpoenaed.
Well. Well. Well.
Obviously, these are just allegations at this point. But I'm looking forward to watching the left--the same people who demanded an investigation for every allegation against President Bush and who made it a point to try and tie him to every high-profile crook from Jack Abramoff to the Enron executives--either ignore this or try and spin it as nothing to see.
Blagojevich verdict may be close: It’s unclear what’s going on, but reporters have been waiting all morning to learn the results of a note from jurors now in their 11th day of deliberations in the former governor’s corruption trial.
This reporter thinks the jury might be deadlocked.
Blago Jurors Say They Agree on 2 Counts: The jury in former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial tells the judge it has reached agreement on two of 24 counts against him, as judge tells them to go back and deliberate more
Blagojevich really belongs in pound-me-in-the-ass maximum security federal prison.
As do Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank, and many others who aren't even being investigated, and quite the opposite, have more power than ever, to do even more damage to our country.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Three years after he was arrested outside his Chicago home on federal corruption charges, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Blagojevich is the fourth former Illinois governor to be convicted of criminal charges since 1973, and received the longest sentence.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he "could not comprehend" the defense position that even if Blagojevich were guilty, the governor's conduct caused no harm to the state of Illinois.
"The harm is the erosion of public trust in government," Zagel said, adding that when the governor's office is tainted, the fabric of all government "is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired. You did that damage."
Blagojevich, who will turn 55 on Saturday, was convicted in June of multiple corruption counts for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by then president-elect Barack Obama and for using his office to extort campaign contributions and jobs for himself and his wife.
From the time of his arrest until his conviction, he launched a national campaign to proclaim his innocence, appearing on television talk and entertainment shows, even being a contestant on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."
Wednesday was the first time Blagojevich expressed contrition, telling the judge he was "unbelievably sorry," but stopping short of admitting guilt.
"I'm here convicted of crimes," Blagojevich said. "The jury decided I was guilty. I'm accepting of it. I acknowledge it and of course I'm unbelievably sorry for it."
Zagel said Blagojevich had now taken responsibility for his conduct and said he considered that in calculating his sentence. But ultimately, the apology came too late, Zagel said.
Zagel also disputed the defense theory that Blagojevich was misled by his staff.
"The governor was not marched along the criminal path by his staff," Zagel said. "He marched them and ruined a few of their careers."
Blagojevich was also fined $20,000. Under federal sentencing rules, Blagojevich must serve 85 percent of his sentence, or about 12 years, said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
"It's profoundly sad that we are here for the second time in five years to discuss the conviction and sentencing of a governor of Illinois," said Fitzgerald, referring to the conviction of Blagojevich's predecessor, George Ryan.
Fitzgerald said at a news conference that the 14-year sentence sends a strong message "that the public has had enough and that judges have had enough. This has to stop."
Richard Kling, a clinical professor at Chicago Kent College of Law, contrasted Blagojevich's case with Ryan's, noting that Ryan was convicted of crimes that occurred prior to his holding the governor's office, while he was Illinois' secretary of state.
Blagojevich, a flamboyant two-term Democrat, was known for his love of Elvis Presley, his tendency to quote poetry and his full head of carefully tended thick black hair. He was criticized while in office for rarely being in the state capital of Springfield, and letting legislation stall.
He was ousted from office in 2009 after impeachment proceedings by the state legislature.
The White House declined comment on Blagojevich's sentence.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Blagojevich sought $1.5 million in campaign contributions from supporters of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., in exchange for appointing him to the Senate seat. They also said Blagojevich sought a cabinet post or a high paying Washington job in exchange for appointing Obama's choice for the Senate seat, Valerie Jarrett, now a White House aide.
Federal authorities, who had been taping Blagojevich's profanity-laced conversations with aides, arrested him in December 2008, before he could complete the crime, prosecutors have argued.
He was also convicted of attempting to shake down the head of a children's hospital for campaign cash in exchange for authorizing an increase in doctor reimbursement fees, and for shaking down the head of Illinois racetracks in exchange for approving legislation favorable to the industry.
Blagojevich was tried twice -- first in August 2010, when he was convicted of one charge of lying to investigators and jurors deadlocked on 23 other counts. After a second trial this year, he was convicted of 17 of 20 counts.
The guy still posting about Rick "single digits" Perry is bitching at someone else about "old news"?
What happened to you? You used to be one of the deeper thinking posters here. I realize that WB is often an easy target but you've turned into some sort of unholy spawn of rex and Promod.
My Perry posts, at least, pertains to his attempt at snatching up some last minute votes in the final few days leading up to the Iowa caucuses. Newt is falling in the polls and those votes have to go to someone in the "Anybody but Mitt" list. If he--or any of the others that have taken an Iowa or bust approach--can pick up a few spots better than expectations then they can possibly stay in the running and are, by still standing, still relevant.
I'm still willing to think deeply about things when posting, but I refuse to waste the time and effort it requires on mister "my factual books/articles are more factual than your factual books/articles." He's like the real life version of Stephen Colbert's Stephen Colbert character without the humor. He's like that guy with the stank breath and feels the need to always step into your personal bubble talk to you and spray you with his toxic fumes. You try to be nice and tell him to back off a bit. He keeps doing it so you finally punch him in the god-damned face. This is me virtually punching Wondy in the god-damned face.
I'm still willing to think deeply about things when posting, but I refuse to waste the time and effort it requires on mister "my factual books/articles are more factual than your factual books/articles." He's like the real life version of Stephen Colbert's Stephen Colbert character without the humor. He's like that guy with the stank breath and feels the need to always step into your personal bubble talk to you and spray you with his toxic fumes. You try to be nice and tell him to back off a bit. He keeps doing it so you finally punch him in the god-damned face. This is me virtually punching Wondy in the god-damned face.
Funny how it's a running theme in David's life, with people trying to explain to him about his own extremist sheep mentality. Yet, in his world, each and every person that does this is obviously "wrong". Or "blind". Or "biased". Or a "Marxist Liberal Socialist". Or a "terrorist".
Watch out. As you know, he's not above death threats.
Your Perry posts are about something that you, personally, find interesting and others might not. Fair enough. We all post things that others may or may not care about.
My object is merely that, because we all do it, it is grossly unfair of you to get so...abusive...towards WB (or any other poster) simply because it's not something that you, personally, care about. That does nothing to make the board more interesting. It's just you venting.
Quote:
I'm still willing to think deeply about things when posting, but I refuse to waste the time and effort it requires on mister "my factual books/articles are more factual than your factual books/articles." ...
But you ARE "wast[ing] the time and effort" when you choose to respond as you did instead of just ignoring the post.
As Rob has said, the board is what we make it. If people want posts that interest them they need to bring interesting things to the table, not just bitch about the posts others make or engage in silly personal attacks that quickly denigrate into "rubber and glue."
Finally, I apologize if it seems as if I am singling you out. I do so simply because I find you a very interesting person when you're on your "a" game and know you are capable of discussing things in a way that certain other posters might not be.
1. I actually have no interest in Rick Perry at all. My interest is in the last minute pushes toward sinking or swimming in Iowa. Also of interest in that regard is the fact that Bachmann's campaign manager in Iowa just quit and endorsed Paul yesterday. Further, Rick "You Can't Google My Name" Santorum has risen above the Newt! But, I get your point.
2. I'm sure I'll get over my playing virual whack-a-mole with WB soon enough. IMO, it was three years of only jesting with him about Glen Beck and whatnot before I finally conceded that he isn't misunderstood. Most people here understand him perfectly. On the other hand, I think I have cooled on taunting most others. I got a wild hair up my ass and it was fun while it lasted.
3. Wasting the time and effort taunting him is one thing. Wasting the time and effort replying to him in a well-reasoned manner is completely different.
4. Fair enough.
5. No apologies needed. I like you and I thank you for the compliment so I'll try to tamp down on the WB abuse for the betterment of the boards and my posts.
Rod Blagojevich, hours after returning from prison a free man, publicly thanked President Trump for commuting his sentence as he delivered a detailed account of his life behind bars with his trademark dramatic flair. “I’m a Trump-o-crat,” the former Illinois Democratic governor declared Wednesday, in a lively press conference outside his Chicago home with his family by his side.
The event began later than originally scheduled, which he chalked up in part to difficulty shaving – as he repeatedly dabbed blood on his chin as he spoke. “It’s been a long, long journey. I’m bruised, I’m battered, and I’m bloody,” Blagojevich said, patting his chin with a napkin. “It’s been a long time since I’ve shaved with a normal razor. I’ve gotta keep dabbing the blood.”
The brash politician whose corruption-case sentence of 14 years was cut short a day earlier by Trump's decision went on to say, “We want to thank and give our most profound and everlasting gratitude to President Trump.” He thanked Trump for giving back the freedom he said was "stolen" from him.
I was pretty open in my earlier posts about Blagojevich deserving jail time, that it was a blatant case of corruption. But at this point, he was prosecuted and spent 8 years in jail for it, and definitely paid the price for his crimes. I don't think it's less of a deterrant that he only served 8 years instead of 14 years for it. He certainly spent more time in jail than any of the Watergate conspirators.
And I hope that the deep state agents and their faked evidence and FISA warrants against Trump spend a similar amount of time in jail. What James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, John Brennan, Bill Priestap, Susan Rice, Bruce and Nellie Ohr, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, James Clapper, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Kevin Clinesmith and so many others did was far more corrupt, abusive and damaging to the country than what Blago did. They should pay a heavy price. And yet Democrats run cover for them, and it's very possible none of them will ever see a single day in jail.
It's also interesting to see those who criticize Trump's commutation of Blagojevich, amy of whom should rightly be in jail and yet escape justice because the Democrat party has flown cover for them. And the Republicans who are regular critics of Trump and use this occasion to pile on with the Dems. It lets Trump, and his voters, know who Trump's friends are, going into November 2020.
this is all just speculation, and IMHO you are just blowing it out of proportion with your partisan smears. 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 
