[Gaxiciverfere]

FBI: Illinois Governor Sought To "Sell" Obama's Senate Seat
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/st...6424985&page=1

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich wanted President-elect Barack Obama "to put something together…something big" in exchange for going along with Obama's choice to fill his vacant U.S. Senate seat, according to a FBI affidavit unsealed following the governor's stunning arrest.

"I've got this thing and it's f***ing golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f***in' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there," Blagojevich said in a phone call secretly recorded by the FBI on Nov. 5, the day after the election, according to the affidavit.

"It is conduct that would make Lincoln roll over in his grave," said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in announcing the charges today in Chicago.
He said the governor's efforts to "sell" the Senate seat was the "most sinister and appalling" of a range of alleged corrupt acts detailed in today's case.
Fitzgerald said "there's no reference in the complaint to any conversations involving the president-elect or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it, and that's all I can say." His comment did not close the door on the possibility that Obama or someone on his staff may have known of some aspect of the governor's demands.

Obama addressed the scandal over his Senate seat Tuesday afternoon, saying, "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."

The president-elect, who was speaking to reporters following a meeting with Al Gore about green energy and climate change, also said, "Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by news that came out of the U.S. Attorney's office today, but as this is an ongoing investigation into the governor, I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to comment at this time."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called on the Illinois State Senate to set a special election to fill Obama's vacant Senate seat, claiming that "No appointment by this governor under these circumstances could produce a credible replacement."

There are strong indications that Candidate 1 may be Valerie Jarrett, Obama's close confidante who has since been named a special presidential adviser. Senate Candidate 1 is identified in the federal documents as an adviser to the president-elect.

Durbin in his news conference said Blagojevich was considering Jarrett until she withdrew her name from consideration. "The governor asked me if I thought she [Jarrett] was serious about not being appointed and I said 'Yes, she told me point blank that she was,'" Durbin said.
The federal complaint also states that Candidate 1 eventually withdrew from consideration.

In addition, Durbin declined to speculate whether Senate Candidate 5 could be in peril.

The FBI says Blagojevich wanted an appointment to the Obama cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services, a well-paying job, or huge campaign contributions as the price for naming Obama's successor.
Blagojevich was overheard by the FBI saying "I want to make money," complaining he was "financially hurting."

Blagojevich also sought a high paying job for his wife, according to the FBI. "Is there a play here, with these guys, with her" to work for a firm in Washington or New York, he reportedly asked.

The FBI affidavit said Blagojevich had been told by an adviser "the president-elect can get Rod Blagojevich's wife on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the president-elect's pick to the Senate."
Told by two other advisers he has to "suck it up" for two years, the FBI says it heard Blagojevich complain he has to give this "motherf***er [the president-elect] his senator. F*** him. For nothing? F*** him."

The governor is heard saying he will pick another candidate "before I just give f***ing [Senate Candidate l] a f***ing Senate seat and I don't get anything."

According to the affidavit, one candidate for the senate seat, identified as Senate Candidate 5, promised to "raise money" for Blagojevich. The governor described, in a recorded call, an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate 5.

"We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator," Blagojevich was quoted as saying.

The affidavit said Blagojevich was interested in a high-paying position with an organization affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), called Change to Win, and that he suggested in a conversation with a SEIU official on Nov. 12, 2008 that Obama wanted other people to be considered for the Senate seat besides Senate Candidate 1. Previous phone conversations indicated that Blagojevich knew the SEIU official "was an emissary to discuss Senate Candate 1's interest in the Senate seat," the affidavit said.

"HARRIS suggested that SEIU Official make ROD BLAGOJEVICH the head of Change to Win and, in exchange, the President-elect could help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level," noted the affidavit.
SEIU has denied any involvement, saying in a statement, "We have no reason to believe that SEIU or any SEIU official was involved in any wrongdoing."

"We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator," Blagojevich was quoted as saying.

The affidavit said Blagojevich was interested in a high-paying position with an organization affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), called Change to Win, and that he suggested in a conversation with a SEIU official on Nov. 12, 2008 that Obama wanted other people to be considered for the Senate seat besides Senate Candidate 1. Previous phone conversations indicated that Blagojevich knew the SEIU official "was an emissary to discuss Senate Candate 1's interest in the Senate seat," the affidavit said.

"HARRIS suggested that SEIU Official make ROD BLAGOJEVICH the head of Change to Win and, in exchange, the President-elect could help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level," noted the affidavit.

SEIU has denied any involvement, saying in a statement, "We have no reason to believe that SEIU or any SEIU official was involved in any wrongdoing."

The FBI affidavit says Blagojevich thought he might get something "tangible up front" from Senate Candidate 5.

Aware that he was under FBI investigation, Blagojevich apparently considered appointing himself to Obama's Senate seat, the affidavit says. He is quoted as saying "he will be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting senator as opposed to a sitting governor."

He was arrested this morning on a two count criminal complaint and is expected in court later today.

"If Illinois isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it sure is one hell of the competitors," said the head of the FBI's Chicago office, Robert Grant.

He said veteran FBI agents were "disgusted, sick" as they listened to the intercepted conversations of the Illinois governor.

The governor was taken into custody in handcuffs from his home by two FBI agents just after six this morning, according to Grant.

Grant said he had first called the governor to tell him there was a warrant for his arrest.

"Is this a joke?" the governor responded, according to Grant.

[VDAu5p33]

December 9, 2008
Blagojevich free on $4,500 bail
Posted: 03:11 PM ET

From CNN's Drew Griffin

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to hear corruption charges against him. Bail was set at $4,500, and Blagojevich was then released on his own recognizance.

He also had to forfeit his passport.


© 2008 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved

[Frjrbefd]

ROD BLAGOJEVICH
Quotes from Gov. Rod Blagojevich


Jan. 13, 2003, inaugural address:

"We will meet our challenges head on and we will do it by rejecting the politics of mediocrity and corruption. You voted for change; I intend to deliver it. ... I will govern as a reformer."


January 2003:

"The Ryan administration ended their days in office by using the power at their discretion to put friends and associates in high-paying jobs," he said. "I intend to use every power I have and my discretion as governor to eliminate unqualified, unnecessary and overpaid individuals wherever I find them in state government."


June 2003:

"We have to seize this moment and enact meaningful ethics reform. After all we've been through, we cannot expect the people just instinctively to trust their government. We can't just pay lip service to the need for ethics reform and expect them to go along."


December 2003:

"Today I am signing a bill into law that finally gives Illinois revolutionary ethics reform. We are not just tinkering at the edges, tweaking here and tightening there. Today we are re-establishing the primacy of principle over politics, and in Illinois that constitutes real change."


May 2005, accusing his father-in-law of trying to cash in on his position:

"Do you have the testicular virility to make a decision like that, knowing what's coming your way and then stick to it, which is what I did, and knowing all of this that we're dealing with now is what we have to deal with? I say I do."


September 2005, asked about fundraisers Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Christopher Kelly:

"I have confidence that they do things right. They don't break the law or make any promises or deals or quid pro quos. Those are obvious and I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to figure out you shouldn't do those things."


October 2005, on state and federal investigations:

"This kind of examination isn't a bad thing if you're confident that your systems are working and that you know that you try to do things honestly, ethically and responsibly."


February 2006, kicking off re-election:

"We do everything right."


March 2006, to the congregation of Salem Baptist Church before the primary:

"Let me ask you one question: Are you with me? Or am I. By. My. Self!"


June 2006:

"We won't tolerate wrongdoing and that we will work to ferret out wrongdoing and work with those who are on the same side of trying to make sure that people do their work, they do it well, and that we're responsible to the taxpayers."


August 2006, asked about hiring violations in his administration:

"Hey, let me ask you a question? Do you think I get up every single day wasting my time doing that? I get up trying to get health care done for people, education funding, create jobs--the stuff that people care about, doing things for people."


September 2006, on accusations that have led to investigations:

"It's absurd, ludicrous, ridiculous, outlandish, OK? Accusations by scoundrels, OK?"


March 2007, when asked about the federal probe during a meeting with the Tribune editorial board:

"I'm happy to make an appointment, talk to you guys about that. But I feel real good about all the different things that we do because we follow the rules and we do things right and at the end of the day, as they say in the Bible, the truth shall set you free. The truth is what it is. And the truth is we do things right."


March 2008, on being "Public Official A" in the federal investigation:

"I'm simply going to say, whatever letter of the alphabet you want to put on something, what's described there does not describe how I operate or how I do things, and all I'm going to say about a court case that I'm not involved in is that there's not anything for me to say."


June 2008, after Antoin "Tony" Rezko was convicted:

"I will continue to get up every single day to work as hard as I possibly can for the people, starting tomorrow, where I hope to meet with the legislative leaders so that we can balance the budget in a way that's fair and helps people, and to pass a capital construction program that will stimulate our economy and create more than 500,000 jobs."


July 2008:

"I'm not worried about anything. What I'm a little concerned about is the lack of integrity and the sensationalism of some of the reporters who exaggerate and with hysterical sensationalism overstate and are dishonest about how they report some of the things."


October 2008, after a Tribune poll showed him with a 13 percent approval rating:

"I love the people of Illinois more today than I did before. And if it's a case of unrequited love at this point, I'll just have to work extra hard to get them to love me again."


December 2008, after the Tribune reported that federal investigators had secretly recorded him:

"I should say if anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly and notoriously, and those who feel like they want to sneakily, and wear taping devices, I would remind them that it kind of smells like Nixon and Watergate."


Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune

[Wmshyrga]

What a slime. I hope he rots in jail.

[8cyVn4RJ]

The nasty side of the Illinois/Chicago political scene -

[Qnpqbpac]

Chicago has been corrupt for many years, but now it's a statewide issue. Glad to see Obama distancing himself from the corruption.

[GogaMegaPis]

Chicago has been corrupt for many years...

...and yet it's also known as "the city that works."

What's the lesson there?

[Cofeeman]

Compare it to Louisiana, which is totally corrupt and wildly dysfunctional.

[Carol]

Imagine if this had come out before the election.

Hello President McCain.

We all dodged a bullet.

(And now it's really no wonder Bill + Hill had concerns about electibility of BO, given the cast of characters back home)

[ladleliDypenue]

Mr. Obama used leverage that he had seldom employed — publicly, anyway — and strongly urged Mr. Jones to bypass Mr. Blagojevich and approve the ethics bill, banning the so-called pay-for-play system of influence peddling in Illinois. When asked at the time how Mr. Obama had come to be involved, Mr. Jones replied, “He’s a friend.”

Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall


Tannen Maury/European Pressphoto Agency

Senator Barack Obama was joined by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, left,
and Mayor Richard M. Daley in Chicago in April 2007.

By MIKE McINTIRE and JEFF ZELENY
Published: December 9, 2008


In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.



Associated Press

State Senator Emil Jones Jr.,
a mentor of Mr. Obama.

Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama. One official whose name has long been mentioned in Chicago political circles as a potential successor is Mr. Jones, a machine politician who was viewed as a roadblock to ethics reform but is friendly with Mr. Obama.

Beyond the irony of its outcome, Mr. Obama’s unusual decision to inject himself into a statewide issue during the height of his presidential campaign was a reminder that despite his historic ascendancy to the White House, he has never quite escaped the murky and insular world of Illinois politics. It is a world he has long navigated, to the consternation of his critics, by engaging in a kind of realpolitik, Chicago-style, which allowed him to draw strength from his relationships with important players without becoming compromised by their many weaknesses.

By the time Mr. Obama intervened on the ethics measure, his relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, always defined more by political proximity than by personal chemistry, had cooled as the governor became increasingly engulfed in legal troubles. There is nothing in the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday to indicate that Mr. Obama knew anything about plans to seek money and favors in exchange for his Senate seat; he has never been implicated in any other “pay to play” cases that have emerged from the long-running investigation of the Blagojevich administration.

But like those previous cases, this latest one features political characters who figure in various stages of Mr. Obama’s climb from little-known state senator to presidential candidate, and who have since become politically radioactive because of corruption scandals. Some of those relationships posed a threat to Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign, forcing him to return tens of thousands of dollars in tainted campaign contributions and providing fodder for attack ads by rival candidates.

Though extreme examples, they were emblematic of the path cut by Mr. Obama through Chicago politics, where he became known for making alliances of convenience with personalities that seemed antithetical to his self-image as a progressive reformer. His political roots were in the left-leaning neighborhood of Hyde Park, but at key moments in his career he did not hesitate to form relationships with politicians who were fixtures of the Democratic machine.

When he ran for the United States Senate in 2004, he aggressively courted Mr. Jones, a sewer inspector turned legislator who had clawed his way up through ward politics and was viewed as something of a kingmaker in the Illinois Democratic Party. He also formed a good working relationship with Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, a symbol of establishment politics with whom Mr. Obama had never been close.

Mr. Obama was an adviser to Mr. Blagojevich’s first campaign for governor, in 2002, and endorsed him again in 2006, even though by that time questions had been raised about the possible selling of state jobs. Mr. Obama has also credited one of Mr. Blagojevich’s closest confidants, Antoin Rezko, a businessman who was convicted of corruption charges this year, with helping him get his own start in politics.

Mr. Rezko was among the first to contribute to Mr. Obama’s earliest State Senate race, in 1995, and later became a major fund-raiser for his campaign for the United States Senate. Mr. Rezko was known around Chicago as a collector of politicians, and he did not hesitate to make the most of his high-level contacts. The New York Times reported last year that when he was entertaining Middle Eastern financiers at a Four Seasons hotel in Chicago, he arranged for Mr. Blagojevich and Mr. Obama to drop by, separately and on different occasions, to impress his guests.

Mr. Rezko derived his political influence mainly from his close relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, who relied on him to recommend loyal campaign contributors for state appointments to boards and commissions, according to the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. But as Mr. Rezko’s legal troubles escalated, Illinois politicians who had previously found him useful, including Mr. Obama, disavowed him and started returning his campaign donations.

Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Blagojevich was not much better when he made the decision to call Mr. Jones in September about the stalled ethics bill. For Mr. Obama, the move marked an unusual return to Illinois politics, turf from which he had studiously worked to distance himself throughout the presidential race. At the time, one week before the first presidential debate of the general election campaign, Republicans were trying to tarnish him in the eyes of voters by attempting to link him to Chicago’s history of corrupt politics.

Mr. Obama used leverage that he had seldom employed — publicly, anyway — and strongly urged Mr. Jones to bypass Mr. Blagojevich and approve the ethics bill, banning the so-called pay-for-play system of influence peddling in Illinois. When asked at the time how Mr. Obama had come to be involved, Mr. Jones replied, “He’s a friend.”

When the Illinois Senate passed the measure by 55 to 0 on Sept. 22, with Mr. Jones reversing his position, Mr. Obama praised the move as one creating “a tougher ethics law that will reduce the influence of money over our state’s political process.” Mr. Obama’s intervention deepened a rift between him and Mr. Blagojevich that had been growing for some time.

When Mr. Blagojevich left Congress in 2002, he talked openly about the notion of running for president one day. After he was elected governor, and after Senator John Kerry lost the presidential race in 2004, he began eyeing a potential run in 2008.

It was short-lived. The federal corruption investigation that eventually led to Mr. Rezko’s indictment, and Tuesday’s charges against Mr. Blagojevich, had already begun to taint the governor’s administration. And by 2006, Mr. Obama had eclipsed the governor as a plausible national candidate, dashing his presidential aspirations.

The criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday underscored the acrimony between the two men. Recorded telephone calls showed Mr. Blagojevich being far less than respectful when discussing the president-elect and voicing frustration at his inability to advance beyond the governor’s office.

“If I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself,” the governor said, according to the criminal complaint. Later, he said the Senate seat was a “valuable thing — you just don’t give it away for nothing.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Blagojevich was busily trying to shake loose up to $2.5 million in campaign donations, much of it from contributors with business before the state, according to federal prosecutors. The governor’s goal was to bring in the money before the end of the year, the complaint said, “before a new state ethics law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.”


Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[MADwanker]

“It’s a rough-and-tumble life. Politics in Chicago is like a blood sport. I’m looking forward to the day [my husband is] not in politics."

Patricia Blagojevich

Illinois First Lady Faces Scrutiny


By PAM BELLUCK
Published: December 10, 2008


In the six years since she became first lady of Illinois, Patricia Blagojevich, now 43, has not played a highly public role in her husband’s administration.



Brian Kersey/Associated Press

Patricia Blagojevich, the wife of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois,
is the daughter of a longtime Chicago alderman and the sister of a
recently elected state representative.

“She has kept a very low profile as first lady,” said Paul Green, a political science professor at Roosevelt University. “She literally could walk down Michigan Avenue and if she didn’t have security, 9 out of 10 people would not know who she was.”

So the extent of her involvement in the brash telephone conversations that resulted in charges of corruption against her husband, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, on Tuesday came as a surprise to many.

In the 76-page federal complaint, Ms. Blagojevich appears to be an influential and demanding partner to her husband’s schemes to trade the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for money-making or politically aggrandizing opportunities.

The complaint also shows her participating in a phone call in which the governor discusses trading his influence over the Senate seat appointment to earn money and find Ms. Blagojevich seats on paid corporate boards.

And, in a blast of vulgar language, Ms. Blagojevich eggs on her husband when he reportedly threatens to prevent the Tribune Company from selling the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field unless The Chicago Tribune fired editorial writers who had called for the governor’s impeachment. Ms. Blagojevich is quoted in the complaint as saying that the state should “hold up that [expletive] Cubs [expletive] ... [expletive] them.”

Federal officials have declined to discuss the role of Ms. Blagojevich in the case. She has not been charged in the case. But officials have suggested that she and others involved in the taped phone calls would be looked at as part of the continuing investigation.

Ms. Blagojevich has a deep-rooted political pedigree as the daughter of Richard Mell, the longtime Chicago alderman and a leader in Cook County Democratic politics, who is considered to have been instrumental in getting Mr. Blagojevich in politics.

“Rod’s marriage to her is really what begins his political career,” said John P. Pelissero, a political science professor at Loyola University. “It was really through connections with his father-in-law’s influence that he got elected.”

The Web site for the governor’s office says that in addition to raising the couple’s two daughters, Ms. Blagojevich occupies herself with typical first lady issues: raising awareness on children’s health, food allergies and literacy, and starting the State Beautification Initiative, which planted native wildflowers along state roads.

But in recent years, Ms. Blagojevich, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a real estate broker’s license, has attracted attention through the dealings of her home-based real estate company. Her clients have included people who were awarded state contracts or made political contributions to the governor.

The Chicago Tribune, in an analysis, reported that her firm, River Realty, had earned more than $700,000 in commissions since her husband began raising money in 2000 for his first run for governor. The Tribune reported that more than three-quarters of those commissions came from “clients with connections,” not including commissions she earned from Antoin Rezko, a developer and fund-raiser for the Blagojevich campaign, who was convicted of fraud and bribery this summer.

According to news reports over the last year, federal law enforcement officials have been investigating Ms. Blagojevich’s real estate dealings. Officials in the federal prosecutor’s office would not comment Tuesday on whether Ms. Blagojevich was under investigation for the real estate dealings or anything else.

In September, she became development director for the Chicago Christian Industrial League, which helps poor and homeless families. A spokeswoman, Jenny Brandhorst, said Ms. Blagojevich has “a good knowledge of, obviously, Chicago and the development community. She’s done a great job since she’s been here.”

Chicago newspapers have reported that tax records show that in 2007, the Blagojevich family’s income dropped 17 percent, to $214,580 in combined wages. (He earns $177,412 as governor.) In the transcript of the charges against the governor, finding avenues for his family to get more money is a constant theme.

If Mr. Blagojevich owes some electoral success to his father-in-law, their relationship frayed over Mr. Blagojevich’s 2005 decision to close a landfill owned by a cousin of Mr. Mell’s wife, saying that it had environmental problems. Mr. Mell accused the governor of carrying out a vendetta against him and his relatives. Mr. Blagojevich said he had the male “virility” to stick with his decision.

Ms. Blagojevich’s sister, Deborah Mell, a gay rights activist, was elected a state representative in Illinois last month. She first indicated that she would run for Representative Rahm Emanuel’s Congressional seat when he becomes Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, but decided against it.

Ms. Mell’s spokeswoman, Leah Cunningham Pouw, said her own impression of Ms. Blagojevich was that “she is extremely dedicated to her kids,” adding: “I’ve seen her laughing and playing with them. She’s funny; she’s light. When you go in their house, there’s pictures of their drawings posted on the stairwell.”

Asked if she was surprised by the words attributed to Ms. Blagojevich in the transcript, Ms. Pouw said, “Well, Rich Mell is sort of known for his colorful language.”

Ms. Blagojevich told Chicago Parent magazine last month that she did not want her daughters, Amy, 12, and Annie, 5, to go into politics.

“It’s a rough-and-tumble life. Politics in Chicago is like a blood sport,” she said, adding that in her husband’s case, “I’m looking forward to the day he’s not in politics.”


Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[Abofedrorobox]

in her husband’s case, “I’m looking forward to the day he’s not in politics.”

Comin' right up, ma'am !

[Zzvukttz]

This is going to make a fantastic movie.

[singleGirl]

Comin' right up, ma'am !

Beat me to it.

she is extremely dedicated to her kids,” adding: “I’ve seen her laughing and playing with them. Thanks for the rare insight.

[RotsLoado]

This is going to make a fantastic movie.

Or maybe Broadway

[boltondd]

Anyone else notice that Obama and Blagojevich sport an almost identical nose?....

[citalopram]

Calls to impeach embattled Illinois governor grow


By DEANNA BELLANDI and CHRISTOPHER WILLS
Associated Press Writers
12 December 2008


CHICAGO – As calls for his impeachment intensified, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich opened his front door to let three clergymen into his home on Friday, waving to the media before returning inside.

The governor has been alternately holed up in his home or his downtown office since his arrest Tuesday on federal corruption charges, accused of scheming to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

The lieutenant governor has joined a bevy of lawmakers in demanding that Blagojevich be impeached, saying he has become an embarrassment to the state and can no longer lead. His approval rating plummeted to a shockingly low 8 percent.

"When you have no confidence from the people, in a democracy there's nowhere else to go but to resign," Lt. Pat Quinn said Thursday.

The impeachment push was part of a riveting political drama that extended from Illinois to Washington.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday that businessmen with ties to both Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for the governor to help persuade him to appoint Jackson to Obama's Senate seat.

Citing unidentified sources, the Tribune reported that businessman Raghuveer Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise the money for the governor to ensure Jackson's appointment.

"Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," an unidentified source who attended the meeting told the Tribune. Blagojevich also attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman.

A message left at a listing for Raghuveer Nayak in Oak Brook was not immediately returned early Friday. No published listing for Bedi could be found.

According to the FBI complaint, the Oct. 31 meeting took place the same day federal prosecutors intercepted a conversation in which Blagojevich claims he'd been approached by a representative for an unnamed "Senate Candidate 5" who offered cash in exchange for the Senate seat.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Jackson was the candidate.

Jackson spokesman Rick Bryant told the Tribune that while Jackson discussed the Senate seat with Nayak, he never asked him to do anything.

The scandal also drew Obama into the fold. He made his first public comments about it Thursday, calling charges that Blagojevich put Obama's U.S. Senate seat up for sale appalling and saying neither he nor his aides had any involvement in the governor's alleged scheming.

Blagojevich seems to be in no hurry to leave office. The besieged Democratic governor spent a second day ignoring demands that he quit, showing up to work and dealing with legislative business.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero described the governor's mood as "upbeat" and "positive" and said "there's a sense of trying to return to normalcy." He said he knew of no decision about Blagojevich's political future or what the governor might do with Obama's seat.

His refusal to step down has struck some as odd given that wiretaps portrayed him as bored with his job, saying he was "struggling financially" and did "not want to be governor for the next two years."

But staying in office provides a financial benefit amid the turmoil: He continues to draw a $177,000-a-year salary. Some observers also wondered whether he might be seeking a deal with prosecutors to use the governor's office as a bargaining chip, possibly agreeing to step down in exchange for leniency.

There was also worry that the governor might still pick a senator, although it doesn't appear that anyone would accept his nomination.

The decision to launch impeachment proceedings largely rests with House Speaker Michael Madigan, who faces a strong desire among his members for quick action. They said voters are demanding it, and lawmakers are transmitting that message to Madigan.

Four House Democrats sent a letter to their colleagues Thursday seeking support for a motion to impeach Blagojevich. The letter asks members to indicate whether they oppose the idea or support it, or even whether they want to co-sponsor the motion.

Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who has often clashed with Blagojevich, said he will meet Monday with House Republican Leader Tom Cross to discuss impeachment. Cross said when they talk, he will urge Madigan to act immediately.

"I think you start next week. Why wait?" Cross said. The governor's "ability to lead is gone and its irreparable."

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the daughter of the House speaker, threatened again to file a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to have Blagojevich declared unfit to hold office if he doesn't resign soon or get impeached.

"Obviously right now, in the best of all possible worlds, the governor would do what's right for the people of the state of Illinois. He would resign," said Madigan, a longtime Blagojevich foe considering a run for governor in 2010.
But "at this point he appears to be staying put," and Madigan wants a signal from lawmakers about whether they will move quickly on impeachment proceedings.

Quinn said the impeachment process should begin when the Legislature convenes. If lawmakers don't take action, he would support Madigan going to the Supreme Court.

Legislative leaders planned a special session Monday to strip Blagojevich of his power to pick a new U.S. senator, putting the decision in the hands of Illinois voters instead.


___

Christopher Wills reported from Springfield, Ill.


Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

[Cogebrego]

B's nose is more upturned, and O's nose is flatter.

[euylvaygdq]

Madigan launches legal attack to oust Blagojevich


December 12, 2008
BY DAVE McKINNEY
Springfield Bureau Chief


SPRINGFIELD -- Attorney General Lisa Madigan today opened an unprecedented legal attack against a sitting Illinois governor, taking the formal steps to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Gov. Blagojevich unfit to hold office.

Madigan filed paperwork with the state high court this morning, invoking what is known as Rule 382 that would ask justices to rule on "the ability of the governor to serve."

Madigan is seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, urging the state high court to oust Gov. Blagojevich "due to disability."

"Before this court reaches a final decision on the merits of this action or otherwise determines that such disability has been removed, Mr. Blagojevich should be temporarily and preliminarily enjoined from acting as governor because his continued occupation of that office could irreparably damage the state's interests," states the motion, which was prepared by former White House counsel and congressman Abner Mikva and lawyers in Madigan's office.

After Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, Madigan signaled her intent to move ahead on this untested legal front if the governor refused to resign or the Legislature did not launch impeachment proceedings against him.

A message to Blagojevich's office seeking comment on Madigan's filing was not returned this morning.

Only 15 states, including Illinois, grant their state's highest courts authority to remove a governor from office. The last time one of those states invoked that special power was in Indiana in 2003, when former Gov. Frank O'Bannon was removed from office after having suffered a stroke.


© Copyright 2008 Digital Chicago, Inc.

[jakitula]

Indian businessmen, a reporter and politician, were involved in Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell and U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. scheme to buy that vacated Senate seat of Barack Obama, according to the following Chicago Tribune Exclusive.

So if you are just getting use to Rod "Blago" Blagojevich, you can now add a list of names such as Jatinder and Rajinder Bedi, Harish Bhatt, Satish "Sonny" Gabhawala, Raghuveer "Raghu" Nayak, Babu Patel, and Iftekhar Shareef. Not all are enablers in this game of pay-to-play in Illinois, but they are all part of the unfolding story.






Blagojevich has referred to [Rajinder] Bedi, who wears a turban, as "My Sikh warrior."

TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday


By David Kidwell, John Chase and Dan Mihalopoulos
Tribune reporters
December 12, 2008



Tribune photo by Christopher Booker / December 12, 2008

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. speaks with members of the
press on Friday morning in response to the continued
investigation surrounding his involvement with the political corruption
allegations made against Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois' next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned.

Blagojevich made an appearance at an Oct. 31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in Schaumburg sponsored by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business ties to the Jackson family, according to several attendees and public records.

Two businessmen who attended the meeting and spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity said that Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi privately told many of the more than two dozen attendees the fundraising effort was aimed at supporting Jackson's bid for the Senate.

Among the attendees was a Blagojevich fundraiser already under scrutiny by federal investigators, Joliet pharmacist Harish Bhatt.

That meeting led to a Blagojevich fundraiser Saturday in Elmhurst, co-sponsored by Nayak and attended by Jesse Jackson Jr.'s brother, Jonathan, as well as Blagojevich, according to several people who were there. Nayak and Jonathan Jackson go back years and the two even went into business together years ago as part of a land purchase on the South Side.

Blagojevich and the congressman met to discuss the Senate seat on Monday, one day before federal prosecutors arrested Blagojevich and charged him with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. As part of the charges, prosecutors alleged that Blagojevich was considering awarding the seat to a politician identified as "Senate Candidate 5" because emissaries for that candidate were promising to raise as much as $1.5 million for Blagojevich's campaign fund.

The Tribune has identified Jesse Jackson Jr. as "Senate Candidate 5." Jackson has denied knowing anything about efforts by emissaries or anybody close to him promising to raise money for Blagojevich in exchange for being appointed to the Senate. He has been contacted by federal prosecutors as part of the probe and has agreed to meet with them.

Jackson's congressional spokesman Rick Bryant said Thursday that Nayak is a "family friend and supporter" of the congressman as well as his well-known father, Rev. Jesse Jackson. The congressman and Nayak have spoken about Jackson's desire to succeed Obama.

"He has talked to [Nayak] about the Senate seat and he has mentioned his interest," Bryant said of his boss. "But he never asked him to do anything."

Jackson's newly retained attorney, James Montgomery, said Wednesday he could not rule out that such possibilities were discussed with Blagojevich by people who did not have his client's blessing.

Despite the parallels, it could not be determined if the actions outlined by the Tribune were the same as those discussed in the FBI affidavit that accompanied the pay-to-play charges against Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris. But the details, gathered from more than a dozen interviews, make clear that some political operatives were connecting support for Blagojevich to his choice for the Senate seat.

Iftekhar Shareef, past president of the influential Federation of Indian Associations, said he attended the Saturday fundraiser for the governor at the invitation of Bedi and Nayak. Shareef said the congressman's brother Jonathan also attended.

"Raghu [Nayak] is always talking about how we need to appoint Jesse to the Senate," Shareef said. "They are very close. Raghu is close with all the Jacksons. He even asked me to write a letter to the governor supporting Jesse Jackson for the Senate." Shareef said he wrote the letter.

A half-dozen other attendees at the two events said they never heard talk about trying to get Jackson placed into the Senate. Bedi's brother, Jatinder, who is an editor at the Indian Reporter newspaper, acknowledged being at the India House event but said "there was no discussion of the Senate seat."

Rajinder Bedi couldn't be reached for comment.

Reached by telephone at his home, Nayak declined to comment.

Nayak, 54, is a political and community leader in Chicago's Indian community who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Blagojevich, including more than $200,000 from Nayak, his wife and his various corporations. Nayak and his wife have donated more than $22,000 to Jackson, federal records show, and raised more for the congressman.

Nayak owns a series of surgery centers on Chicago's North Side. He also founded and until recently retained an ownership stake in a drug testing laboratory with millions of dollars in Illinois public aid contracts.

Satish "Sonny" Gabhawala, owner of the Chicago Park Hotel in Harvey, said he was at the Oct. 31 meeting and saw Nayak and Rajinder Bedi approach another Blagojevich fundraiser, Babu Patel.

"They were trying to convince Babu to use his influence to get the governor to appoint Jesse Jackson to the Senate," Gabhawala said.

Patel, contacted Thursday evening, acknowledged the conversation but said he never spoke with Blagojevich about the Senate appointment.

Bedi is the managing director for the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity's Office of Trade and Investment, overseeing nine foreign trade offices around the world from China to Israel. He has also been a key fundraiser for Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has referred to Bedi, who wears a turban, as "My Sikh warrior."

The two businessmen who spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity said they did so because they were afraid of repercussions in the close-knit and politically active Indian business community.

One said Nayak and Bedi told him and others of their plan to help Jackson.

The second said he overheard Nayak and Bedi discussing plans with Bhatt, the Joliet pharmacist..

"Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," the second businessman said. "He said, 'I can raise half of it, $500,000.' The idea was that the other two would help raise the rest."

Bhatt, whose two Basinger's Pharmacy outlets were searched by the FBI last week, has been the focus of a state and federal investigations into whether campaign donations were made in exchange for regulatory favors.

Bhatt is a prominent Indian businessman who helped the state's top pharmacy regulator win his job. The Tribune reported last year that state pharmacy auditors probing allegations of Medicaid fraud at Basinger's complained that their bosses thwarted the investigation, allegations Bhatt has adamantly denied in interviews with the Tribune.

Tribune reporter Ray Gibson contributed to this report.


Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune