JD Journal » Rod Blagojevich

Blagojevich Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

aostler — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:52:27 +0000

Disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces 14 years in prison. U.S. District Judge James Zagel sentenced Blagojevich Wednesday, according to WBBM-AM.

He was convicted at a second trial on 18 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion, the Chicago Tribune reports. Blagojevich’s misdeeds include trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat, which President Barack Obama once held.

The former governor—who was impeached—could have gotten as many as 20 years in prison. However, Zagel weighed Blagojevich’s admission of guilt. Blagojevich had been pleading his innocence, while accusing federal prosecutors of targeting him.

“I have nobody to blame but myself for my stupidity and actions and the things I did and I thought I could do. I’m not blaming anybody,” the ex-governor said, as he pleaded for mercy.

With that said, Zagel stressed using the governor’s office for personal gain was wrong. He said Blagojevich’s actions decimated the public confidence in and trust of government.

“When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily or quickly repaired,” Zagel said, as quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times. “You did that damage.”

Blagojevich refused to answer questions from the gaggle of reporters outside the courtroom.

“This is a time for me to be strong for my children, strong for Patti, and this is also a time for Patti and me to get home so we can explain to our kids, our babies Amy and Annie, what happened, what all this means, and where we go from here,” he said. “So we’re going to keep fighting through this adversity and we’ll see you soon.”

The 54-year-old Blagojevich must report to prison on Feb. 16, according to the Associated Press. Federal rules require he serves at least 12 years—or 85 percent—of his sentence. Zagel also fined Blagojevich $20,000.

He’ll probably serve his sentence in a minimum-security facility outside Illinois, possibly in Indiana or Wisconsin.

In related news, counsel for Blagojevich’s former fundraiser Tony Rezko plan to appeal his corruption conviction and more than 10-year sentence, also according to the Associated Press.

Rezko was sentenced in November for convictions for fraud, money laundering and extorting more than $7 million from companies seeking to do state business during Blagojevich’s term. Legal observers believe Blagojevich’s sentence was determined based on Rezko’s.

The 56-year-old Rezko was a politically-connected Chicago fast-food entrepreneur and real estate developer. Prosecutors claimed he raised over $1 million for Blagojevich. That earned him enough power to control two powerful state boards.

Rezko was also accused of attempting to get payoffs from money management firms, which hoped to invest Teachers Retirement System assets and plotted to get a bribe from a contractor who wanted state approval to build a hospital.

Rezko raised money for both President Barack Obama’s campaigns for an Illinois U.S. Senate seat—the seat which Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell. Obama was implicated in either Blagojevich or Rezko’s cases.

A U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman refused to comment on Tuesday.

Allan Ackerman to Leave Blagojevich Defense Team

sara — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:39:24 +0000

Chicago defense attorney Allan Ackerman filed papers in federal court asking permission to withdraw from former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s defense team on Thursday.

Ackerman said he is “No longer able to stridently participate in the defense of the accused.” In an interview with WLS-TV in Chicago Ackerman said that he had differences with others on the legal team, mainly concerning the “means and methods” of preparing for a “complex, multi-count trial”. Ackerman joined the legal team last November.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to trying to sell then President Elect Barack Obama’s U.S. senate seat in late 2008 among other offenses. Blagojevich is set to go to trial on June 3, 2010.

University of Illinois Law School Scandal – the Bill is Due

joshua — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:47:55 +0000

Back in Julof y we learned about a scandal at the University of Illinois. Former Governor Rod Blagojevich used his influence to gain admission to the law school for several well connected candidates, in exchange for finding high paying jobs for five graduates regardless of their academic record or bar exam results. Having already taken a nasty publicity hit, the school is about to take a hefty financial hit as well. In response to several Freedom Of Information Act requests, the school has released several invoices from firms serving as outside counsel on the matter – including invoices for legal services relating to compliance with the FOIA request itself.

The largest chunk of change is going to Latham & Watkins, who will receive nearly $400,000 for preparing the school to cooperate with the state commission investigating their admissions practices. Several other firms have billed the school from $10k to $15k. According to the school, the money will come out of the University’s general fund.

University of Illinois Law “Jobs-for-Entry” Scheme Revealed [Update]

Erik Even — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:08:49 +0000

The Chicago Tribune has uncovered a “jobs-for-entry” scandal at the University of Illinois College of Law, in which the law school admitted politically-connected applicants, some unqualified, in exchange for guarantees of jobs for law graduates.

In one example, recorded in emails obtained by the paper, University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman coerced the law school in accepting an unqualified applicant backed by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich. The governor’s representative promised Herman that in exchange, five law school graduates would get jobs.

In other emails, Law School Dean Heidi Hurd insisted that the law firms hire the graduates regardless of academic performance.

Governor Pat Quinn has called for a state commission to investigate the University of Illinois admissions process, after the Chicago Tribune reported that more than 800 undergraduate applicants in the last five years received special consideration because they were backed by University trustees and legislators.

The University of Illinois College of Law is the law school of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the public University of Illinois university system. The College is located in Champaign, Illinois. It is ranked 23rd in the nation for 2009 by US News & World Report.

UPDATE

Law School Dean Heidi Hurd issued this statement:

Contrary to recent headlines, the [University of Illinois] College of Law did not seek or receive any jobs from anyone in exchange for the admission of students. It did not enter into a “jobs-for-entry scheme” or engage in quid-pro-quo exchanges of admissions favors for employment favors. Indeed, it takes very little to make clear that the employment challenges of students who are not academically successful could never be overcome by anyone’s promises to furnish the College with job opportunities, as the recently published exchanges should have made clear. While my sarcasm was clearly lost on the tin ears of some, my e-mail exchanges in response to queries about this were on their face facetious.

Also, a group of UI law professors has published a nine page letter disputing the charges.

Six Lawyers Hired for Blagojevich Defense Team

Erik Even — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:24:45 +0000

Six Chicago lawyers have been hired by the Blagojevich defense team as pretrial contract lawyers, to examine the 3.5 million pages of documents provided by the prosecution.

Former Illinois Governor Milorad “Rod” Blagojevich has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

The six attorneys are Michael Di Natale, Aaron Goldstein, Robyn Molaro, Elliott Riebman, Keenan Saulter and Rob Walker.

Atlantic City Fires Municipal Lawyers, Hires Outside Firms

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:40:05 +0000

Mayor Lorenzo Langford of Atlantic City, New Jersey, has announced that two days after taking office in November, he fired all six municipal attorneys, then rehired two of them, apparently saving the resort city $296,520.

But Langford has introduced to the City Council for approval six contracts for private law firms, totaling more than $500,000, to replace the work done the four fired municipal attorneys.

The contracts far outweigh the costs of city-employed attorneys and are part of the administration’s new strategy to outsource legal cases to private firms. The list of contracts includes some hefty contributors to Langford’s 2008 campaign.

Can somebody get this guy Blago’s number?

The firm of Decotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole and Wisler, based in Teaneck, was recommended for a $150,000 contract. The firm gave $15,000 to Langford’s general election campaign through a PAC then run by Langford’s sister, Cheryl Banks.

The Philadelphia-based firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens and Young, also up for a $150,000 contract, contributed $30,000 through the same PAC for Langford’s primary race. According to state documents, leadership of the PAC was recently shifted from Banks to Rita Weber, wife of an attorney with the Stradley firm.

The City Council tabled a vote on the contracts after a councilperson raised questions about whether local firms were considered for the work first. It remains unclear if the mayor has enough votes to get the deals passed.

Via The Press of Atlantic City

Defense Attorneys Say Blagojevich is Digging Himself Into a Hole

todd — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:00:21 +0000

Defense lawyers are claiming that Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich’s recent high profile interviews will probably hurt him when his case comes to trial as any statement he makes regarding the case could be used against him by prosecutors.

Since last week, the Illinois Governor has been on various radio and national television shows such as “The View” and “Larry King Live.” Blagojevich has compared his case to the jailing of peace and civil rights leaders.

“Given that he doesn’t know all the evidence against him, there’s tremendous risk in what he’s doing,” said defense lawyer Joel Levin, who prosecuted ex-Governor George Ryan. “Some of the statement… might fit nicely into the theories [that prosecutors] are laying out.”

Levin said that prosecutors are probably recording every word that the governor says.

“No defense attorney in his right mind would sanction this campaigh,” said defense lawyer Ron Safer. “It’s a horrible, horrible idea. No matter how innocent you think the statements are. No matter how good it feels. It’s a bad idea, and apparently intolerable to one of the finest criminal lawyers I know.”

Revered defense attorney Ed Genson quit the Blagojevich case last week partly due to the recent media campaign.

Blago Says He Will “Boycott” His Own Impeachment

Erik Even — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:32:59 +0000

Comparing himself to a cowboy facing a hanging, Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich condemned the state Senate for preparing to remove him from office, so it could raise taxes on the middle class and serve the special interests.

“The heart and soul of this has been a struggle of me against the system,” he said.

Blagojevich’s lead attorney, Edward Genson, has chosen to no longer defend the governor in the criminal case he faces over alleged corruption. “I wish the governor good luck and God speed,” Genson said.

The Illinois House voted to impeach Blagojevich after the US Attorney arrested him under a federal criminal complaint, alleging he conspired to auction off the US Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

This week the governor characterized himself as a victim who has been targeted by a political power structure he has tried to reform. He said he will boycott the senate impeachment trial, set to begin on Monday, because the rules make it impossible for him to defend himself.

“I am being denied fundamental fairness and due process,” Blagojevich said in 20-minute press conference. “Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?”

Matt Murphy, a state Senator who was on the Senate panel that made the rules, said the governor was engaging in the “theater of the absurd.” He said the idea of “presumption of innocence” doesn’t apply to an impeachment proceeding.

“We’ve just got to determine if the allegations warrant his removal,” he said.

This week Blagojevich ignored a deadline to request witnesses to be called in his defense at the state senate trial. He said the senate rules prevented him from calling witness who would testify that he did not conspire to sell Obama’s seat. Among the witnesses he said he intended to call: Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel; one of Mr. Obama’s senior advisers, Valerie Jarrett; and Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

Four Firms Got Blago Payouts in Last 6 Months

Erik Even — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:00:53 +0000

The Am Law Daily reports on four law firms that have done quite well from client Rod Blagojevich, the embattled Illinois Governor, over the last six months.

According to documents released on Tuesday to the Illinois State Board of Elections by Blago’s campaign fund, Friends of Blagojevich, four firms have received payments totaling nearly $1.4 million for legal services performed over the last six months.

Winston & Strawn… received 11 payments on July 15 totaling $750,000 in “debt payments for legal expenses…”

[Chicago's] Hinshaw & Culbertson received $13,628.82 during the second half of 2008 and roughly $46,000 before June 30. The Am Law Daily reported earlier this year that Hinshaw corporate partner Anthony Jacob was representing Friends of Blagojevich…

Campaign disclosure forms show that Blago’s fund paid $500,000 to Edward Genson’s firm, Genson & Gillespie, on December 18. That same day the fund also paid $100,000 to Sheldon Sorosky’s firm, Kaplan & Sorosky.

None of these lawyers will be representing Blagojevich in his impeachment trial.

Via Am Law Daily.

Impeachment Prosecutor Calls 12 Witnesses Against Blago

Erik Even — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:19:52 +0000

The prosecutor in Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s pending impeachment trial in the state Senate said today he will call more than a dozen witnesses.

Blagojevich, however, did not respond to a discovery deadline seeking witnesses, documents and other materials that would be used in his defense, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The impeachment trial is scheduled to begin Monday. If found guilty of corruption charges — including trying to peddle President Barack Obama’s then-vacant US seat — Blagojevich would be removed from the Governor’s office.

David Ellis, the designated House prosecutor, asked the state Senate to approve subpoenas for a witness FBI agent Daniel Cain, author of the federal affidavit filed along with federal criminal charges against Blagojevich resulting in his Dec. 9 arrest.

The governor has maintained his innocence of both federal charges and charges contained in the state House articles of impeachment.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Blagojevich spent $2.6 million of his campaign funds on legal fees, most to pay criminal defense lawyers. His most recent expenditures — a $500,000 payment to the firm of lawyer Edward Genson and $100,000 to the firm of Sheldon Sorosky — was made Dec. 18, a campaign finance report filed late Tuesday revealed.

The governor also paid nearly $1.8M to Winston & Strawn since December 2003, records show. About half of that was spent last July for overdue bills.

In response to the prosecutor just hours ago, Blagojevich released a statement that the Senate impeachment trial is unfair and denies him the right to due process.

The two-term governor of Illinios, Blagojevich says he is being denied the right to call witnesses. The governor has repeatedly denied federal allegations that he sought to profit politically and personally from official acts.

House prosecutor David Ellis said he would withdraw his subpoena to FBI agent Cain if the U.S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald objects.

The House and Senate have agreed not to seek witnesses or information that could compromise the ongoing federal investigation. A Fitzgerald spokesman declined further comment.

Ellis, whose primary job is legal counsel to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), also asked to call eight House lawmakers as witnesses.

Visit Law Crossing for more legal news, employment and other resources.

Illinois House Impeaches Blago

Erik Even — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:44:54 +0000

The Illinois House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach the Pepperdine University School of Law’s most prestigious alum, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, this Friday morning on the grounds of abuse of power as the state’s chief executive.

He is the first governor in Illinois’s history to be impeached, and his case now goes to the state Senate for trial.

The House deliberated for less than an hour and a half before voting 114 to 1 to oust the governor, just one day after a 21-member House investigative committee unanimously recommended impeachment. The only member to vote against impeachment was Blago’s mother Milton Patterson, a Democrat from Chicago.

As a formality, when the new Illinois General Assembly is sworn in next week, it must vote again before sending the impeachment resolution to the Senate.

For the governor to be removed from office, a two-thirds majority of the Senate must vote to convict him.

Obama Aides Lawyer Up for Blago Probe

Erik Even — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:30:07 +0000

Top aides to President-elect Barack Obama are lawyering up, in anticipation of questioning in the probe of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s alleged attempt to sell Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, has hired W. Neil Eggleston, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. Eggleston and Emanuel briefly served together in the Clinton administration in the early 1990s, when Eggleston was associate counsel to the president and Emanuel was a senior adviser. Eggleston specializes in securities litigation, white-collar defense and internal investigations.

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, has hired Vincent Connelly, a partner in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office. Connelly is a former prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

Emanuel and Jarrett expect to be interviewed this month by the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago and by Gregory Craig, the incoming White House counsel and a partner at Williams & Connolly.

Prosecutors have not accused either Emanuel or Jarrett of wrongdoing.

ATL Readers Choose “Lawyer of the Year,” and It’s Exactly Who You’d Expect

Erik Even — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:52:08 +0000

Above the Law has announced its Lawyer of the Year, based on a reader poll. And it’s exactly who you’d expect.

The lowest tally of votes? I would have expected Marc Dreier (485 votes), but it was Rod Blagojevich with 96 votes. One hopes Blago’s voters were either joking, or else bucking for a US Senate seat.

There was no mention of my favorite disgraced lawyer, Jack Thompson, who was finally disbarred this year.

So who won? Which runner up from last year got the top vote of 753? I hope you can figure it out — but if not, check out the original post.

Congrats to the winner! Your Lawyer of the Year prize? A free house to live in, and the responsibility of repairing the economy, defeating terror, restoring civil liberties, halting global warming, and repairing 300 years of racial tension. Good luck!

Bradley Lerman Leaves Winston & Strawn Because of Drugs

Erik Even — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:45:47 +0000

Bradley Lerman, a partner at Chicago’s Winston & Strawn who has represented Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan, is leaving the law firm to join Brooklyn-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Lerman will be a senior VP in charge of litigation.

Lerman has been with Winston since 1988, working on product liability and white-collar defense matters. He spent years on Ryan’s legal defense team and also handled legal work for Blagojevich’s political campaign, which paid Winston nearly $2 million in legal fees.

The firm no longer represents Blagojevich, who was recently arrested on corruption charges.

Prior to joining Winston, Lerman was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis; and he served as an assistant US attorney in Chicago for eight years.

Lerman received a BA in Economics, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1978, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received a JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1981.

Via The Chicago Tribune.

Lawyers in Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”

Erik Even — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:11:51 +0000

Time Magazine has published its Person of the Year issue, and has shocked the world by choosing the come-from-behind candidate, Barack Obama.

The issue includes Obama, four runners-up, and twenty “People Who Mattered,” including, unfortunately, that chick who wrote Twilight. (On the other hand, they included a tribute to Gary Gygax, who deserves one.)

Of those 25 people, six graduated from law school:

Barack Obama:

He has come to dominate the public sphere so completely that it beggars belief to recall that half the people in America had never heard of him two years ago — that even his campaign manager, at the outset, wasn’t sure Obama had what it would take to win the election. He hit the American scene like a thunderclap, upended our politics, shattered decades of conventional wisdom and overcame centuries of the social pecking order.

Nicolas Sarkozy:

Nicolas has the hallmark of any true leader: a capacity to take decisions and implement them. He sees a problem and wants to solve it. What’s more, he believes he can.

Second, he is prepared to think outside the box. … His Foreign Minister — the immensely capable Bernard Kouchner — is a Socialist, as are several other ministers. Nicolas has adopted bipartisanship with not only a natural grace but also a wholehearted and sincere embrace. He stands in the modern postideological mold. He wants to get things done, and he wants the best people to do them.

Rod Blagojevich:

The Blagojevich case left Chicago — and the whole state of Illiinois — reeling. Just as the city was celebrating its hometown boy’s unlikely victory, the shocking charges against the already unpopular Governor provided uncomfortable reminders of the Windy City’s reputation for cronyism and shady backroom dealing.

Hillary Clinton:

Even in a life that has seen its share of tumult — she has been, among other things, a Watergate-scandal staff attorney, the First Lady of Arkansas and the nation, an ogress to the right, a New York Senator and a leading presidential contender — Clinton endured a 2008 of spectacular highs and lows. After a surprise victory in New Hampshire, it looked as though Clinton might defeat Barack Obama nationwide…. Now she is poised to begin a whole new life of ferment as Secretary of State.

Robert Mugabe:

It’s hard to remember now, but Robert Mugabe was once a heroic figure in Africa. Because of his work to end colonial rule, he spent more than a decade in prison in the 1960s and ’70s. But now he presides over a vicious kleptocracy in which the wives of political opponents are gang-raped, eight in 10 citizens can’t find work, and much of the country is on the brink of starvation or cholera infection — even as Mugabe’s wife declares that her narrow feet can fit into nothing but Ferragamos.

Note: all of Mugabe’s law degrees were earned in prison, or through “distance learning.”

Mikheil Saakashvili:

He poked the Russian bear, and his tiny nation got mauled. But Saakashvili, President of Georgia, stood out as a beacon of hope for former Soviet states now menaced by the imperial ambitions of 2007′s Person of the Year, Vladimir Putin. Outgunned on the battlefield, Saakashvili, a U.S.-trained lawyer (above, on a recent visit to New York City), used superior media savvy to cast himself as a modern-day democratic David, fending off the monster from Moscow.

Via Time Magazine.

Blago’s Lawyer to Challenge “Illegal” Wiretaps

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:57:34 +0000

Indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich’s attorney will challenge the lawfulness of the court-ordered wiretaps offered as evidence in federal corruption allegations against the Illinois Democrat.

Chicago attorney Ed Genson criticized FBI wiretaps that prosecutors say record Blagojevich scheming to deal President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat for campaign cash or a plum job.

Genson told an Illinois House panel investigating impeachment that its consideration of the recorded excerpts he characterized as meaningless “jabbering” was inappropriate, if not illegal. “I think you’re using evidence that was illegally obtained,” he said.

Members of the House panel pledged to do nothing that would interfere with the investigation by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. If Fitzgerald asks lawmakers not to interview certain witnesses, the panelists will abide by that, they said.

Federal prosecutors’ case could be undermined if Illinois lawmakers compel certain witnesses to testify. Following the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s, the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter were thrown out after the courts determined that the cases against them were built too much on testimony they gave to Congress under a promise of immunity.

Unlike the US Constitution, which allows impeachment in cases of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the Illinois Constitution does not define an impeachable offense. No Illinois governor has ever been impeached.

Blagojevich’s first substantial public comments on the scandal will probably come today, according to Genson.

Blagojevich Admits to Being “No Legal Scholar”

Erik Even — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:20:35 +0000

Apparently, indicted Illinois Governor MIlorad “Rod” Blagojevich is a lawyer, but not a very good one.

From US News & World Report’s “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rod Blagojevich”:

Blagojevich went to law school at California’s Pepperdine University, from which he graduated in 1983. Years later, he joked that he was no legal scholar; he reportedly told an audience that he “barely knew where that law library was.”

It seems he was never a good student:

Addressing a group of high school students in 2006, Blagojevich called the D he received in high school algebra “a classic case of grade inflation.”

Also, apparently, the University of Tampa wasn’t enough of a party school:

“The University of Tampa was an odd college choice for a kid ‘from the neighborhood,’ as Blagojevich puts it, but his brother had gone there two years before to play baseball,” the article says. “With a lackluster grade point average and an 18 or 19 on his ACT, Blagojevich admits, ‘schools like Northwestern, I couldn’t get into.’ After two years, Rod got into Northwestern as a transfer student and majored in history.”

We wouldn’t make fun of Blagojevich this way, except maybe if he had done better in school, he would have learned it’s not a good idea to telegraph your client’s (in this case his own) ethical lapses in loud, profane tirades. You know, just in case the Feds are wiretapping your office.

Or, alternately, he could have skipped college and just watched The Sopranos.

“Devil’s Advocate” Joins Blagojevich Defense Team

Erik Even — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:29:14 +0000

Embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will retain Edward Genson, of Chicago’s Genson & Gillespie today, according to news sources.

Genson is best known for defending former Hollinger CEO Conrad Black on fraud charges, and R&B star R. Kelly on child pornography charges. He also represented Chicago businessman Lawrence Warner, a codefendant of former Illinois Governor George Ryan, Sr., during their 2006 corruption trial.

Genson was famously referred to as “The Devil’s Advocate” by Chicago Magazine.

Genson suffers from a neuromuscular condition called dystonia, which requires the litigator to ride a scooter to court and use a cane.

“If I’m trying the case, it’s going to be a fight,” Genson told reporters Monday morning. He said he needed to run a conflicts check, but expected to be formally retained by the governor shortly. “I think the case that I’ve seen so far is significantly exaggerated. It’s not what people think it is.”

Illinois Legislature to Consider Blagojevich Impeachment

Erik Even — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:01:40 +0000

The speaker of the Illinois house is convening a special panel to determine if Governor Rod Blagojevich should be impeached on corruption charges.

Also, an internal review by the Obama transition team concluded there was no improper contact between the President-elect’s camp and Blagojevich’s office. Blagojevich is accused of trying to barter Obama’s vacated US Senate seat for political and personal favors.

Blagojevich was charged Dec. 9 with trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama. The governor also was charged with trying to force the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial page editors who opposed him, in exchange for help with the sale of properties by the company, which entered bankruptcy protection last week.

In recent days Republican operatives have speculated publicly, without evidence, about the role Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s incoming chief of staff, may have played in hypothetical negotiations over the disposition of the Senate seat.

Persons speaking on Emanuel’s behalf have acknowledged that he discussed who might be appointed to the Obama seat, but insist that nothing untoward had taken place.

At a news conference last week, Obama said he had no dealings with Blagojevich about whom to appoint to the Senate. He also said his staff had not had any inappropriate contacts, but Obama ordered the internal investigation.

Meanwhile, at a televised news conference, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said he has formed a committee of senior legislators to examine whether Blagojevich should be removed from office.

Depending on the committee recommendation, the full House will decide whether to file impeachment charges, the speaker said. Madigan said the committee will work every day except holidays.

Blagojevich’s top aide, also charged in the scandal, resigned last week.

“We have given the governor six days to resign,” said Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who has frequently clashed with Blagojevich. Madigan’s daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, has asked the state’s top court to rule that the governor is unable to carry out his duties, thus clearing the way for Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn to take over the post. Lisa Madigan is considered a potential candidate for governor.

Blagojevich Owes Winston Strawn Over Half A Million Dollars

Erik Even — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:14:11 +0000

We reported yesterday that embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was no longer using Chicago’s Winston Strawn to defend him against Federal charges.

Today the Chicago Business News reports that Blagojevich owes more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills to Winston.

Mr. Blagojevich racked up millions of dollars in legal fees over several years but stopped paying the Chicago firm earlier this year…. The firm stopped representing the governor after his payments dried up…

Winston Strawn has been the governor’s main counsel since the federal government began its investigation five years ago into pay-to-play politics within his administration… It named Winston partner Bradley Lerman as the governor’s main legal counsel.

In October CBN reported that over the last two years, Winston had billed Citizens for Blagojevich, the governor’s campaign committee and the group defending the governor against the Federal probe, nearly $2 million, and that the committee still owed the law firm $965,000.

Via BlogWonks.

Blagojevich’s Troubles Deepen [Update]

Erik Even — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:54:28 +0000

Today in Rod Blagojevich news:

The Washington Post reports that the mysterious “senate candidate” that Blagojevich is recorded on tape saying offered $500,000 in campaign funds to the governor in exchange for Barack Obama’s senate seat, may be none other than Illinois representative Jesse Jackson Jr.

In a press conference late today, Jackson said, “I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing. … I did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich on my behalf. I never sent a message or an emissary.”

The National Law Journal says that over the course of the five-year probe that led to Blagojevich’s arrest this past Sunday, the governor was defended by a high-powered criminal defense attorney from Chicago’s Winston & Strawn.

But when Blagojevich showed up in court this week, he was represented by an old friend from a little-known Chicago criminal defense firm. Attorney Sheldon Sorosky of Kaplan & Sorosky represented Blagojevich during the federal court bond hearing.

Sorosky was probably a stand-in to give the governor more time to choose counsel with more resources, other attorneys said. Better-known Chicago defense attorneys Michael Monico and Terry Gillespie were both mentioned as possibilities. The governor’s chief of staff, John Harris, was also charged in the complaint. He has hired Terry Ekl, a prominent suburban litigator with Lisle, Ill.-based Ekl Williams.

UPDATE:

Douglas E. Schoen at Forbes.com suggests what some have already been saying — that Blagojevich didn’t do anything that doesn’t go on all the time, political “horse trading.”

Yes, the wiretaps reveal clear and unambiguous evidence that Blagojevich hoped to get something in exchange for the appointment. But this kind of horse trading, in my experience, goes on all the time. It usually isn’t articulated as bluntly as it apparently was here, though–and there usually aren’t as many wiretaps marshaled as evidence.

Dennis McCauley at GamePolitics points out the “delicious irony.” Blagejovich was a vocal critic of the video game series Grand Theft Auto, which features criminal acts and profanity. He tried to pass a state law banning sales of “violent” video games to minors.

…in a yummy twist of fate, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, who ruled in 2005 that Blagojevich’s video game law was unconstitutional, was one of two federal judges who authorized recent FBI wiretaps that led to Blagojevich’s downfall.

Now that Blagejovich has been exposed as a key proponent of criminal acts and profanity, we can ask him who’s more responsible for scholl shootings — video game creators or corrupt politicians.

Keep watching this space for further developments.

Fitzgerald: Blagojevich’s “conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave”

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:38:41 +0000

Via The New York Times, a transcript of the Justice Department news briefing regarding the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The juicy bits, from Patrick Fitzgerald, US attorney general for the Northern District of Illinois:

Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a truly new low. [He] has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.

The most appalling conduct Governor Blagojevich engaged in, according to the complaint filed today or unsealed today, is that he attempted to sell a Senate seat, the Senate seat he had the sole right to under Illinois to appoint to replace President-elect Obama. … The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.

…

One [example] involves Children’s Memorial Hospital… the governor awarded funding, reimbursement funding to that hospital to the tune of $8 million. But he also indicated privately that what he wanted to get was a $50,000 personal contribution from the chief executive officer of that hospital.

In the ensuing weeks, that contribution never came. And Governor Blagojevich was intercepted on the telephone checking to see whether or not he could pull back the funding for Children’s Memorial Hospital.

…

The Chicago Tribune … had written editorials that called for his impeachment. And Governor Blagojevich and defendant John Harris, his chief of staff, schemed to send a message to the Chicago Tribune that if the Tribune Company wanted to sell its ballfield, Wrigley Field, in order to complete a business venture, the price of doing so was to fire certain editors, including one editor by name.

In the governor words, quote, “Fire all those bleeping people. Get them the bleep out of there. And get us some editorial support,” close quote. And the bleeps are not really bleeps.

…

…the governor talked about appointing himself to the Senate seat for reasons not having to do with the better welfare of the citizens of Illinois.

He wanted to do it to avoid impeachment in the Illinois legislature for his conduct. He wanted to do it to have access to greater financial resources, if he were indicted. He wanted to do it to see if he could help his wife work as a lobbyist. He wanted to do it to remake his image to run for office in 2016, and he wanted to do it to see if he could generate speaking fees.

Bloggers React to Dreier, Blagojevich Arrests

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:58:04 +0000

At Portfolio.com, blogger Felix Salmon sees a larger trend in the Dreier and Blagojevich scandals:

Yesterday, the idiot was Marc Dreier; today, it’s Rod Blagojevich. Both of them powerful men near the very top of their professions; both of them sworn to uphold the law; both of them resorting to the kind of desperate criminality which is almost certain to be caught and prosecuted.

Is this the beginning of a pattern? First it was subprime mortgages, then credit markets, then the financial system, then the economy. Now it’s civil society in the crosshairs.

At ICantBelieveItsNotADemocracy.com, class anger over the Dreier “tragedy”:

My stomach turned when I read that a lawyer who worked with the miscreant, Marc S. Dreier, years ago called this sordid tale “a tragic story.” … Dreier was a Yale man with a Harvard degree, and he rose to be the head of litigation at a major law firm, etc. He also liked having lots of shiny toys, to wit: [Dreier] has a triplex apartment on the East Side of Manhattan, along with a house near the beach in Southampton, N.Y., and a 120-foot yacht. The walls of his Park Avenue office drip with expensive modern art, and he kept three personal assistants busy. That is, tragic story, my ass. Greedy, sociopathic [expletive deleted] got caught and now he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Sounds more like a good old-fashioned morality tale.

At BearingDrift.com, on Blagojevich:

Before the 17th Amendment, this likely happened all the time. State legislators appointed all US Senators, and except for the many times that they deadlocked and didn’t send anyone to the Senate, accusations of bribery and corruption abounded.

There have been several calls to end the popular election of US Senators, arguing that with that change went the last vestiges of states rights and any state check on federal power.

But the brazen actions of Democrat Rod Blagojevich (”I want to make money”), and the fact that he can still exert his power, tells me that while the 17th amendment on balance was a good thing.

Conservatives are suggesting, sans evidence, that someone on Obama’s team may have been involved with selling the Senate seat. On the other hand, Abe Greenwald helpfully points out it’s pronounced “bluh-GOY’-uh-vich.”

And finally, Carrie Shepherd at the Chicago Public Radio Blog is watching the Twitter feed, and reports this gem about Blagojevich:

“I really see this as more of an indictment of bad pompadours and turtlenecks.”

Breaking: IL Governor Blagojevich Arrested by FBI [Update 2]

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:50:19 +0000

FBI agents have arrested Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, on charges stemming from what a US attorney calls a “staggering,” wide-ranging criminal conspiracy.

Amongst other charges, the Feds have accused Blagojevich of trying to sell or trade the US Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Blagojevich was taken into custody at his home at 6:15 this morning. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. Harris was arrested simultaneously at his home.

The controversial governor has been in the news in the last few days for his attempts to force Bank of America to deal with laid off workers occupying a shuttered factory in Chicago.

UPDATE:

Some more tidbits:

A search warrant has been executed on Blagojevich’s offices.

The full complaint against Blagojevich contains the following charges:

BLAGOJEVICH has also been intercepted conspiring to sell the Senate seat in exchange for his wife’s placement on paid corporate boards…
BLAGOJEVICH has also been intercepted conspiring to sell the Senate seat in exchange for millions of dollars in funding for a non-profit organization…
BLAGOJEVICH told Deputy Governor A that if he is not going to get anything of value for the open Senate seat, then ROD BLAGOJEVICH will take the Senate seat himself: “if . . . they’re not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it.”
BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Deputy Governor A regarding positions that ROD BLAGOJEVICH might be able to obtain in exchange for the soon-to-be vacated Senate seat. Among the potential positions discussed were Secretary of Health and Human Services and various ambassadorships. Deputy Governor A noted that the cabinet position of Secretary of the Energy is “the one that makes the most money.”

UPDATE 2:

According to HuffPo:

The FBI has searched two Joliet pharmacies owned by a fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice said agents took records from Basinger’s Pharmacy stores but declined to say what they were investigating. Rice said no arrests were made.

The pharmacies are owned by Harish Bhatt. Bhatt was investigated by Illinois State Police after Chicago pharmacy owner Jatin Patel claimed Bhatt encouraged him in 2005 to make a campaign contribution so his pharmacy would be treated fairly in a Medicaid fraud dispute. The investigation went nowhere.

We will post more as the story develops.