[Rod ] Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both men were expected to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich, a Democrat, was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:
A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
Promises of campaign funds ”“ including cash up front; and
A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
Update: Here is a video of Patrick Fitzgerald’s statement on this matter today.
Mountie: Mr Ness! I do NOT approve of your methods.
Ness: Yeah? Well, you’re not from Chicago.
Who votes for these people?
Don
Chicago? Democrats? Crooks? I am shocked!!!
Having lived in Illinois for 50+ years I am dismayed, but not shocked. The Illinois politicians are all in cahoots, especially the Dems. To paraphrase a famous question, “WHAT did Obama know, and WHEN did he know it ?”
I would say Illinois in general; Republicans also suffered from this vice in the not so distant past.
The whole thing seems strangely reminiscent of the Gilded Age, when few people would have been surprised at such wheeling and dealing.
It’s both parties in Illinois. They don’t call it “The Combine” for nothing. It’s just that the Democrats are so much better at it.
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!
“”In a government of law, the existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” ~ Justice Louis Brandeis, dissenting in Olmstead v. United States (1928)
The subject of Anarchy has not really been an issue of discussion as 100 years ago the Anarchists were totally put to shame. Since the 1960s, however, they have been on the rise and it would serve a good educational purpose if at least a few people brushed up on the subject.
Anarchists LOVE these situations.
Don
No wonder that the “Change” that we can believe in turned out to be a resurrection of cronyism from the Clinton era. Mr. Obama still has a chance to distance himself from these tawdry Chicago people and the Clintonistas and…well…produce “Change”.
Choir Stall: The early reports indicate that Obama’s hands are clean; in fact, Obama’s team was being shaken down by Blagojevich over who would take the President-elect’s vacant senate seat. Obama’s chief of staff complained to the Feds, who were already closing in Blagojevich for a dozen other violations.
According to the article, the governor was not happy with the Obama team’s approach:
[blockquote] In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.” [/blockquote]
This does not surprise me at all. I know when I lived in Chicago a few years back, the investigations into stuff like this crept creeping closer and closer to the Governor’s office. I knew it was only a matter of time before Blagojevich was implicated.
It’s a sad day for the people of Illinois. Even in a state with a reputation for corruption in the Democratic Party machine this is a breathtaking indictment. Assuming that the U. S. Attorney’s Office is not collectively smoking something illegal and hallucinating in their evidence, this is an open and shut case.
The Governor should resign without delay. If he refuses then the State Legislature should be recalled in special secession and impeachment proceedings begun as expeditiously as possible.
Under the mercy,
[url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]
An [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj4pUphDitA]Orthodox [/url] Christian
With all these bribes, I wonder who was the leading candidate for Obama’s seat? Hopefully, Jesse Jackson, Jr can get appointed to Obama’s Senate seat.
Vincent
As some have pointed out on this thread, the Dems do not have a patent on this kind of thing. It does however, seem to me that when Reps are caught the party throws them under the bus and when the Dems are caught, the party circles the wagons.
If convicted, he will join the previous who is scheduled to be released when he is 79.
Old Soldier, Repubs circled the wagons around Ted Stevens and also David Vitter to try and protect those respective seats in the Senate.
Dead Chicagoans have more voting power than the living of downstate Illinois. And the democrats are way better at this “Chicago-style politics” than the Repubs, though both parties stink to high heaven, up there.
Lest we so easily forget – – our President-elect is a Cook County democrat. I hope he was able to remain “above the stench” of Chicago politics; but I also understand probability. We shall see.
It used to bother me when I left the excellent interstate Highways of Wisconsin to pay the fees on the interstate Highways (tollways) in Illinois. The roads in Illinois were terrible and I used to wonder what they did with the toll money they collected. it did not appear that the fees were used to repair the roads. There was also no comparison in snow removal on those same roads.
Dcn Dale (#19),
Yep. Agreed. I always noticed that even the back roads of Wisconsin had better snow removal and were kept in better repair than those in Illinois. The Illinois toll and expressway systems usually had patches on patches for their road repairs.
The previous governor of Illinois George Homer Ryan entered Federal prison in November 2007 on corruption conviction charges. So please let us not make this about one party or the other.
It is just a sad day for Illinois and for America that we even had to contemplate that these charges might be true. Ugh.
I have a prediction, time will tell whether I am prophetic or full of baloney: as of this morning, we just saw the Watergate broken into, once again. The story will develop; heads will roll. Newspapers have a special reason right now to dig and dig deep; their future is at stake, and hanging out a President-elect to dry would be just the thing to save a large newspaper or two.
So keep an eye on the development of this story. The Watergate break-in was the beginning; so is the downfall of this Chicago-politician governor, and very likely others yet to come.
The pitch for the seat must have been great:
“Guess what this seat got for the last guy that had it.”
That said I can hear politicians all over Chicago saying:
“That’s illegal?”
I saw most of the news conference by the US attorney general. He had numerous quotes of Mr Blagojevich. He apparently dropped the F-bomb quite liberally like in, “You don’t just give away something like this for bleepin’ free” (speaking of the Senate seat). The Chicago Tribune apparently was trying to sell Wrigley field and needed government approval. Mr. Blagojevich was negotiating government approval quid pro quo for firing critical editors. Scary.
He was asked repeatedly whether there was anything implicating Mr Obama. He simply said there was nothing in the indictment that involved Mr Obama and the indictment was the only thing that he was talking about in the press conference. Will we see any smoking guns after people start talking in order to get reduced sentences?
The attorney general said that Mr Blagojevich was fairly specific on his price for the Senate seat: a better paying job for his wife and he wanted an ambassadorship for himself. Hmmm, I thought it was the President who made ambassador appointments.
To #15 – Jesse Jackson Jr. and John McCain’s wife have something in common: They both own Budweiser distributorships.
First, I sincerely hope Obama is not involved in any Chicago corruption. One wonders if the extensive wiretaps have anything to do with the ongoing investigation surrounding Tony Rezko. Corruption is a way of life in Chicago politics. It is possible to work with and around a bunch of crooks and be clean; let us hope for this.
However, I can’t say that I thought something would happen this soon. If it turns out that Rahm Emanuel called the FBI, then good for him.
Vincent #15, I don’t know about Jesse Jackson Jr. [url=http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTA0NTEwYzE5OTBjZGZjOTEzNjA3MTNlMGNkNjRmMzA=]This was before the arrest:[/url] “Following a 90-minute audition meeting today with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. said he was confident in the process the governor is using to make his choice for a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama..”
Nothing is proved, of course, but given what followed it is reasonable to think that Jackson may have been involved in bidding for the job. For your sake, I hope not.