Governor, Chief of Staff Arrested

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Prosecutors Allege He Tried to Sell U.S. Senate Seat

by Lisette Livingston

Yesterday, at around 6:30 a.m. Governor Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North side home and brought up on federal corruption charges stemming from allegations that he put the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Presidentelect Barack Obama up for sale, in an pay-for-play federal investigation scheme.

In the two-count criminal complaint, Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff are charged with conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits by leveraging the Governors sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Chicago Tribune Newspaper in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field unless certain editorial board members critical of the Governor were fired. The allegations also include obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other politicalfavors. According to the Department of Justice, the Governor pushed for these things before a new state ethics law could take effect on January 1, 2009. The men are alsocharged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud plus solicitation of bribery. Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while solicitation of bribery carries a maximum of 10 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

This is a very sad day in Illinois government. Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a totally new low. You might have thought that in that environment, that pay-to-play would slow down. The opposite happened. It sped up, said U.S. States AttorneyPatrick Fitzgerald. Governor Blagojevich was working feverishly to get as much money to contractors, shaking them down to pay-to-play, before the end of the year, he said.

According to the allegations, Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris schemed with othersincluding previously convicted defendants Antoin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and otherssince becoming governor in 2002 to obtain financial benefits for himself,his family and third parties including his campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich.

In a 76-page affidavit released by the United States Attorneys Office, Blagojevich, among other things, is accused of withholding an $8 Million commitment in state funds from the Chicago Memorial Hospital when he failed to receive a $50,000 contribution. The Governor and Harris are also accused of meeting with two other individuals one of whom sought state help with a business venture. Blagojevich allegedly told Individual A to approach the other person, Individual B about raising $100,000 for Friends for Blagojevich. Individual A allegedly said he later learned that the Governor reached out directly to Individual B, and asked about holding the fund-raiser himself. According to Fitzgerald, there is no evidence to suggest that President elect Barack Obama was aware of the alleged schemes.

The complaint also alleges that the Governor promised to raise state money to fund a tollway projectbeyond $1.8 billion that he announced on October 15but was waiting to see how much money a contractor in the case had raised for his campaign committee first.

The complaint further alleges that Governor Blagojevich was intercepted on wiretaps that in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining a substantial salary for himself at either, a nonprofit foundation or an organizationaffiliated with labor unions, according to a released statement. The allegations also involve granting political favors if his wife was placed on paid corporate boards where he allegedly speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year. There are also promises of campaign funds, including, cash up front, alleged in the complaint. In addition, the governor allegedly considered bargaining for himself a cabinet post or ambassadorship position.

In the earliest intercepted conversations caught on tape regarding the Senate seat, Blagojevich reportedly told an official on his staff, iftheyre not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it. Later, the Governor is taped assaying, Im going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. He later added that the seat is a [expletive]valuable thing, you just dont give it away for nothing.

The day after the election, the Governor was captured discussing with another individual in his office about whether he could obtain a cabinet position, such as Secretary ofHealth and Human Services or the Department of Energy. In a conversation with Harris on November 4, Blagojevich is accused of analogizing his situation to that of a sportsagent, shopping, a potential free agent, to the highest bidder.

The day after the election, Harris allegedly suggested to Blagojevich that the President-elect could make him (the Governor) the head of a private foundation. On November 10th, there are also accusations that Blagojevich, his wife, Harris, the Governors General Counsel, an advisor and other Washington-based advisors participated at different times in a two-hour phone call in which they allegedly discussed among other things, a deal involving the Service Employees International Union. (SEIU).

Allegedly, Harris said they could work out a deal, with the union and the President-elect, where SEIU could help the President-elect with the Governors appointment of oneof the candidates being considered. In exchange, the Governor would allegedly use this as a way to obtain a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign, anorganization affiliated with various union groups, including SEIU. In exchange for the deal, SEIU allegedly would get something favorable from President-elect in the future.However, the complaint states that Blagojevich agreed it was unlikely that the President-elect would name him Secretary of Health and Human Services or give him an ambassadorship because of all of the negative publicity surrounding him.

The charges come on the heels of a push by several local groups, including Concerned Clergy of Illinois, to name an African American to the position. Several other groups havealso endorsed various other candidates including Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Congressman Danny Davis and Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., all of whom wereunavailable for comment. Other candidates the Governor was considering before the arrests, included Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill); Tammy Duckworth, director of Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Under the law, the Governor has the sole responsibility of appointing a replacement. The United States Department of Justice refused to comment on how the new revelationscould affect the appointment process or any modifications in the law.

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