The Washington Independent » Patrick Fitzgerald

Teaser of the Week: Chicago Edition

Mike Lillis — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:23:43 +0000

Approaching the end of a week already dominated by judiciary events, The Associated Press is running an intriguing story announcing that Chicago-based U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is poised this afternoon to announce new public corruption charges against an unnamed elected official.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, there are two separate criminal cases. One involves public corruption and the other involves racketeering, armed robberies, arson and illegal gambling.

The announcement is set to come at 2 p.m. CDT. No mention if the cases involve federal, state or local officials. The AP is quick to point out that federal officials have been investigating all three.

FBI Agent: Illinois High in Running for Most Corrupt State

Matthew DeLong — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:57:46 +0000

Actually, the direct quote is much more colorful. During a riveting news conference on the federal corruption charges being brought against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, FBI Special Agent Robert Grant described the state of Illinois politics thusly:

“If [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in the U.S., it’s certainly one hell of a competitor.”

Indeed, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who you may remember from such criminal investigations as the outing of former CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame, said Blagojevich was involved in “what can only be described as a political crime spree.”

In addition to the charges related to Blagojevich’s alleged conspiracy to “sell” President-elect Barack Obama’s recently vacated Senate seat, as well as an alleged scheme to exchange state money to aid the sale of Wrigley Field for the firing of several members of The Chicago Tribune’s editorial staff, Fitzgerald outlined other plots.

According to Fitzgerald, wiretap recordings revealed that Blagojovich allegedly attempted to secure large campaign contributions from the CEO of a Chicago children’s hospital, after the state awarded an $8 million in funding to the hospital. When the hospital administrator didn’t comply, Fitzgerald said, Blagojevich expressed in recorded telephone conversations a desire to withdraw the state funding from the hospital.

In another instance, Fitzgerald said, Blagojevich sought and received campaign contributions from individuals who supported a bill that would divert a percentage of casino revenue in the state to support horse racing tracks.

Fitzpatrick repeatedly stressed that there are no allegations of the President-elect’s knowledge of any of Blagojevich’s activities.

Perhaps most incredible, Fitzgerald said that the recordings reveal that Blagojevich envisioned a role for himself in the Obama administration, as either the secretary of health and human services or an ambassadorship. Failing that, Fitzgerald said Blagojevich also discussed granting the Senate seat to a labor union-friendly appointee, in exchange for a cushy, highly-paid union position.

And we thought Alaska politics were wacky.

Blagojevich: ‘I Want to Make Money’

Matthew DeLong — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:50:08 +0000

Politico does the heavy lifting in digging through the 78-page federal criminal complaint (PDF) against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, and man, there’s some good stuff in there.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was captured on tape saying that unless he received “something real good” for the appointment of a top adviser to Barack Obama to fill the president-elect’s Senate seat he would appoint himself, according to a criminal complaint.

“Unless I get something real good [for Senate candidate 1], s***, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying?” Blagojevich was taped saying on November 3, the day before Election Day.

Blagojevich added that the Senate seat “is a f***ing valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.”

The complaint does not mention her name, but the description makes clear that Blagojevich is referring to Valerie Jarrett, a senior campaign adviser to Obama who has been tapped as a top White House aide.

“By this time, media reports indicated that Senate Candidate 1, an advisor to the President-elect, was interested in the Senate seat if it became vacant, and was likely to be supported by the President-elect,” the complaint states.

Blagojevich also was caught on federal wiretaps saying he was interested in the job as secretary of health and human services in an Obama administration, a well-paid position on a foundation board, or millions of dollars for a nonprofit organization that he would run after leaving office, according to a 78-page federal criminal complaint.

Blagojevich also schemed to shake down a union in exchange for appointing a senator who was favorable to the union, prosecutors allege.

As if that weren’t incriminating enough, the complaint asserts that Blagojevich stated his goals even more bluntly in the wiretapped conversations with Tony Rezko, a convicted real estate developer and longtime Obama fund-raiser.

“I want to make money,” the affidavit quotes the governor as saying.

According to Politico, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that “the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,” and Blagojevich is accused of putting “a for sale sign on the naming of a U.S. senator.”

Obama canceled a schedule briefing with the FBI in Chicago, but it is unclear whether this is related to this morning’s events. According to this morning’s pool report, Obama’s meeting with former Vice President Al Gore remains on the slate.

A news conference on the arrests is expected shortly. We’ll continue to follow events as they develop.