Bob McCarty Writes

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald opened his news conference late this morning by describing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as having been “in the middle of a political corruption crime spree.”

Click to view U.S. Attorney's news release.

During the extended session that followed, Fitzgerald went on to highlight four activities in which the Democrat is alleged to have been involved.  Below are key paragraphs related to each of those activities as pulled from the 12-page news release which outlined the charges against Blagojevich:

Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago

On October 8, Blagojevich told Individual A that he wanted to obtain a $50,000 contribution from Hospital Executive 1, the chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, which had recently received a commitment of $8 million in state funds.  When the contribution was not forthcoming, Blagojevich discussed with Deputy Governor A the feasibility of rescinding the funding.

Horse Racing

Another alleged example of a pay-to-play scheme was captured in separate telephone conversations that Blagojevich had with Fundraiser A on November 13 and Lobbyist 1 on December 3.  Lobbyist was reporting to Blagojevich about his efforts to collect a contribution from Contributor 1 and related that he “got in his face” to make it clear to Contributor 1 that a commitment to make a campaign contribution had to be done now, before there could be some skittishness over the timing of the contribution and Blagojevich signing a bill that would benefit Contributor 1.  Blagojevich commented to Lobbyist 1 “good” and “good job.”  The bill in question, which is awaiting Blagojevich’s signature, is believed to be legislation that directs a percentage of casino revenue to the horse racing industry.

Chicago Tribune

According to the affidavit, intercepted phone calls revealed that the Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs, has explored the possibility of obtaining assistance from the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) related to the Tribune Company’s efforts to sell the Cubs and the financing or sale of Wrigley Field.  In a November 6 phone call, Harris explained to Blagojevich that the deal the Tribune Company was trying to get through the IFA was basically a tax mitigation scheme in which the IFA would own title to Wrigley Field and the Tribune would not have to pay capital gains tax, which Harris estimated would save the company approximately $100 million.

Intercepted calls allegedly show that Blagojevich directed Harris to inform Tribune Owner and an associate, identified as Tribune Financial Advisor, that state financial assistance would be withheld unless members of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board were fired, primarily because Blagojevich viewed them as driving discussion of his possible impeachment.  In a November 4 phone call, Blagojevich allegedly told Harris that he should say to Tribune Financial Advisor, Cubs Chairman and Tribune Owner, “our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get ‘em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support.”

U.S. Senate Seat Appointment

Regarding the Senate seat, the charges allege that Blagojevich, Harris and others have engaged and are engaging in efforts to obtain personal gain, including financial gain, to benefit Blagojevich and his family through corruptly using Blagojevich’s sole authority to appoint a successor to the unexpired term of the President-elect’s former Senate seat, which he resigned effective November 16.  The affidavit details numerous conversation about the Senate seat between November 3 and December 5.  In these conversations, Blagojevich repeatedly discussed the attributes of potential candidates, incuding their abilities to benefit the people of Illinois, and the financial and political benefits he and his wife could receive if he appointed various of the possible candidates.

Developing…

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See also:

‘Nothing but sunshine’ and Corruption Charges Hanging Over Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich

U.S. Attorney Outlines Charges Against Blagojevich

Governor Rod Blagojevich in Federal Custody