Illinois Politics
Illinois Politics is a special breed of animal.
The phrase "even the dead get to vote" was started here.
We had Al Capone, John Gotti and George Ryan, Dan Walker and Otto Kerner Jr. governors convicted of wrong doing.
We also have the "pay to play" as to how Illinois contracts are awarded.
My favorite phrase is in regards to voting in Illinois. "Remember to vote and vote often."
This is Illinois politics at its best and worst.
Secret Tapes Helped Build Graft Cases In Illinois
Hospital CEO Reported Shakedown, Wore Wire
By Carrie Johnson and Kimberly Kindy
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 22, 2008; Page A01
CHICAGO -- The wide-ranging public corruption probe that led to the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich got its first big break when a grandmother of six walked into a breakfast meeting with shakedown artists wearing an FBI wire.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team
Blagojevich Apparently Hoped for Job Leading Labor Group
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 10, 2008; Page A08
Among the revelations contained in the complaint brought against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich yesterday was the description of an official with the Service Employees International Union acting as an apparent intermediary between the governor and Barack Obama's camp in discussions over Obama's Senate seat.
A FIVE-YEAR INVESTIGATION
Brazen Words on Tape Left Agents 'Shocked'
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 10, 2008; Page A01
CHICAGO. Dec. 9 -- As the noose tightened, month by month, Gov. Rod Blagojevich seemed to know he was in trouble.
"You gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody's listening. The whole world's listening," Blagojevich said in a conversation secretly taped by the FBI. "I would do it in person," he said to someone else. "I would not do it on the phone."
Complaint Cites Plan To Silence Journalists
Help With Ballpark Tied to Firing Editors
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 10, 2008; Page A08
On Sept. 29, a Chicago Tribune editorial ripped Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for his "notorious pay-to-play politics" and said the legislature should investigate whether to impeach him.
Five weeks later, Blagojevich told a deputy governor that they should target some of the paper's editorial page editors by telling Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell to "get rid of those people. . . . Fire those [expletives]."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE:
Fundraiser seeks immunity in Blagojevich probe
Blagojevich allegedly pressured 'Individual D' for cash to pick Jackson
By David Kidwell and John Chase | Tribune reporters
December 22, 2008
A key figure in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged scheme to sell a U.S. Senate seat has sought immunity from federal authorities in return for his cooperation in their ongoing probe, the Tribune has learned.
Raghuveer P. Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman and political fundraiser, is the unnamed "Individual D" who prosecutors say was being squeezed by the governor for campaign cash in return for appointing U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, sources said.
Rod Blagojevich pal Christopher Kelly to plead guilty in tax fraud case
Chicago Tribune staff report
December 17, 2008
Christopher Kelly, one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's most trusted advisers and fundraisers, has decided to plead guilty, court records show, while negotiations appear to be on again for the cooperation of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, another Blagojevich confidant, in the federal probe.
U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo, saying in court papers that she acted at the request of lawyers in the case, set a hearing for Jan. 16 for Kelly's change of plea. Kelly was scheduled to go on trial on Jan. 20 on tax fraud charges.
Obama delays release of Blagojevich report
Rahm Emanuel attends this news conference but doesn't answer questions
By Bob Secter | Tribune reporter
December 16, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that his transition office was delaying release of a report on contacts with the Blagojevich administration until next week because the U.S. attorney's office in Illinois asked for more time to conduct interviews about the controversial Senate vacancy.
At a news conference, Obama did not respond directly to a question about a Tribune report linking his chief of staff designee, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, to discussions over the Senate pick with a top Blagojevich aide. Emanuel, on the sidelines for this conference, declined to answer questions.
A portrait of a politician: vengeful and profane
'I was speechless and sickened,' says a critic of disgraced Gov. Blagojevich
By Susan Saulny
The New York Times
updated 10:46 a.m. CT, Wed., Dec. 10, 2008
CHICAGO - Little in Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s background prepared the people of Illinois for the man who was revealed in the criminal complaint that dropped like a bombshell here on Tuesday. Delusional, narcissistic, vengeful and profane, Mr. Blagojevich as portrayed by federal prosecutors shocked even his most ardent detractors.
“I almost fell over,” said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and a frequent critic of the governor. “I was speechless and sickened. In all of the millions of indictments I’ve read over the last years, I can’t remember anything as vile as this.”
‘A Senate Seat on Ebay’
Inside the case against Illinois Gov. Blagojevich
By Dirk Johnson | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 9, 2008 | Updated: 6:58 p.m. ET Dec 9, 2008
About 6 a.m. today, a ringing telephone woke Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. It was a top agent the Federal Bureau of Investigation, telling the governor that he was being arrested.
"Is this a joke?" asked Blagojevich.
Unfortunately for the governor, it was serious business—a case that could send Blagojevich to prison on corruption charges. It has also thrown into disarray the selection of a replacement for the U.S. Senate seat for Illinois being vacated by President-Elect Obama, a spot that is to be filled by the governor.
Corruption in the Land of Lincoln
These should be heady days in Springfield, but state politicians have been jolted by unseemly accusations.
By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
Published Nov 15, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Nov 24, 2008
When the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library in Springfield opened its doors three years ago, the newly commissioned paintings on display were like Where's Waldo? games for the Illinois political cognoscenti. One painting depicted a celebration of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, but among the celebrants was a woman many recognized as Julie Cellini, the contemporary head of the state agency that funds the museum. Another painting portrayed President Lincoln looking at returns on election night in 1864, while an associate stood over him making a hand gesture and offering advice. To those in the know, the adviser bore a striking resemblance to William Cellini—Julie's husband, and one of modern Illinois's most influential power brokers, political fundraisers and lobbyists.
(Original Article)
Corruption in the Land of Lincoln
These should be heady days in Springfield, but state politicians have been jolted by unseemly accusations.
By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
Published Nov 15, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Nov 24, 2008
When the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library in Springfield opened its doors three years ago, the newly commissioned paintings on display were like Where's Waldo? games for the Illinois political cognoscenti. One painting depicted a celebration of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, but among the celebrants was a woman many recognized as Julie Cellini, the contemporary head of the state agency that funds the museum. Another painting portrayed President Lincoln looking at returns on election night in 1864, while an associate stood over him making a hand gesture and offering advice. To those in the know, the adviser bore a striking resemblance to William Cellini—Julie's husband, and one of modern Illinois's most influential power brokers, political fundraisers and lobbyists.
Life on Blago's enemies list
Chicago Tribune
By John P. McCormick
December 14, 2008
At my first newspaper job in Iowa, an angry labor leader said he wanted to castrate me because of something I'd written. During 18 years as a correspondent for Newsweek, the only threat of dismissal that reached my ears came from a New York editor who thought I insufficiently admired two of her precious writers. So you can imagine the surprise last week when I learned that the governor of Illinois allegedly was threatening to withhold $100 million or more in state financing help from the Chicago Tribune's parent company unless the paper fired me.
The 'Governor-In-Law’
How the power behind Blagojevich turned on him
By Dirk Johnson | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 18, 2008
Long before the Feds cuffed Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the politician—known for his carefully cultivated black mane, and, more recently, for his foul mouth—had another vocal critic: his father-in-law.
It was Richard Mell, a powerful Chicago alderman, who introduced his daughter, Patti, to the young, ambitious lawyer at a fundraiser in the early '80s. Mell would orchestrate the young man's rise to the state legislature, the United States Congress and the governor's office.
When Mell boasted about being "the governor-in-law," as Dick Simpson, a former Chicago City Council member put it, Blagojevich would seethe.
But it remains conventional wisdom in Illinois that Blagojevich would never have become a big deal politician without Mell—a man who would later, after a rift with his son-in-law, publicly accuse the governor of trading state jobs for financial contributions.
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Cynthia Janak
