« previous | MUCK HOME | next »

Feds: Blago And Cronies Were Scheming To Make Money From The Start
Here are the major new allegations contained in the indictment of Rod Blagojevich, his brother Robert Blagojevich, and four associates (from a very detailed DOJ press release (pdf)):
[B]eginning in 2002 and continuing after Blagojevich was first elected governor, Blagojevich and Monk, along with Kelly and previously convicted co-schemer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, agreed that they would use the offices of governor and chief of staff for financial gain, which would be divided among them with the understanding that the money would be distributed after Blagojevich left public office.
And:
[I]n 2003, Blagojevich, Monk, Kelly, Rezko and other co-schemers implemented this agreement by directing lucrative state business relating to the refinancing of billions of dollars in State of Illinois Pension Obligation Bonds to a company whose lobbyist agreed to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rezko out of the fee the lobbyist would collect, and Rezko in turn agreed to split the money with Blagojevich, Monk and Kelly.
And:
After it became public that Kelly and Rezko were under investigation and ceased playing a significant role in raising campaign funds, Blagojevich personally continued to trade his actions as governor for personal benefits, including, for example, delaying a state grant to a publicly-supported school while trying to leverage a U.S. Congressman, who supported the school, or the Congressman's brother, to hold a campaign fundraiser for Blagojevich.
And:
[I]n an interview on March 16, 2005, Blagojevich lied to FBI agents when he said that he maintains a separation, or firewall, between politics and state business; and he does not track, or want to know, who contributes to him or how much they are contributing to him.
Advertisement

















He's toast!
April 2, 2009 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Buh-Bye Blago. RICO means long time.
April 2, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not easy to get a conviction under the RICO statute, but if they do get one, he's toast. RICO might just be a bargaining chip for a lesser plea.
April 2, 2009 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
2002? Obama's going to get grabbed into it then. Meaning, I don't think he's going to charged for anything, but he's going to be subpoena'd
April 2, 2009 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
From what I understand is that Obama had nothing to do with pay to play.
April 2, 2009 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama really had nothing to do with the 2002 campaign. I know he had some honorary title, but he really was completely out of the picture.
April 2, 2009 11:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Before we start hearing how wonderful Fitzgerald is I'd like to let you all know Illinois is now less than 4 days away from our consolidated elections for all the local school boards, village councils, park districts, townships, not to mention Emanuel's seat in IL-05. Fitzgerald asked for a 90 day extension on Jan. 9 on his Blago indictment. I guess he didn't need the whole 90 days afterall. A Thursday afternoon press release gives them ample time to make a stink all weekend. Just before the election.
Our local ABC affiliate just gave Joe Birkett, DuPage County's godawful state's attorney and leading Republican candidate for governor next year about 20 minutes to pontificate about all this. Birkett just got his own kid off on a DUI charge and a clerk in his own office embezzled half a million bucks a few a yrs ago from the victim's restitution fund without him even knowing it.
April 2, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Illinois really is from a different place, a different time. We're screwed up in California, Dog nose...but we're more or less honest about it.
April 2, 2009 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Honest about it? Tell it to Gray Davis.
April 2, 2009 11:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gray Davis wasn't a great governor, but pray tell when was he one one-hundredth as crooked as an Illinois pol? Or crooked at all? Schwarzy replaced him and wasn't able to do one damn bit better with our cockeyed budgeting process and gerrymandering of districts.
April 6, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops.
April 2, 2009 11:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope this doesn't end up being another Stevens' quality prosecution.
April 2, 2009 11:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't count on it. Something tells me Fitzgerald will closely supervise those prosecutors....
April 3, 2009 12:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yet Burris sucked up to him like a baby to a mother's tit.
April 2, 2009 11:50 PM | Reply | Permalink