CHICAGO—Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were arrested Monday morning without incident in Chicago, charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and solicitation of bribery in a criminal complaint filed by the FBI’s Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on Sunday and unsealed today after their arrests.
The charge of solicitation of bribery comes from a one month investigation including court authorized wire tapped communications where Gov. Blagojevich was conspiring to sell or trade President-elect Obama’s Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave,” US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a press conference hours after the arrest.
Possible benefits that were mentioned in the 76-page brief that Gov. Blagojevich sought include a lucrative position at either a non-profit or union affiliated job, having his wife placed on paid corporate boards, where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year, or a cabinet or ambassadorship for himself.
These and other forms of benefits were discussed by Gov. Blagojevich and others in exchange for the US Senate seat appointment which was and still is at his sole discretion under Illinois state law.
There were also numerous other “Pay to Play” schemes involving contractors and others who were close to the Governor and his Chief of Staff. Pay to play schemes involve certain state contractors who are in solicitation for government contracts, and Gov. Blagojevich allegedly attempted to extort them for certain kinds of contributions.
In one conspiracy, Gov. Blagojevich awarded eight million dollars in reimbursement funding to the Children’s Memorial Hospital, but privately sought a $50,000 personal contribution from the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital. A few weeks later when the personal contribution did not come in, Gov. Blagojevich was intercepted on the phone checking to see if he could pull back the funding.
Another allegation of corruption concerns the Chicago Tribune, and how Gov. Blagojevich tried to use his office to influence the editorial board by denying the sale of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field unless certain editors were fired for criticizing Gov. Blagojevich.
This is not the first time an Illinois Governor has been charged with corruption. Most recently, former Governor George Ryan was convicted less than two years ago on corruption charges, and is now currently spending time at a federal corrections facility serving out a five-and-a-half year sentence. Ryan was also ordered to pay $603,048 in restitution.
Investigation of Gov. Blagojevich was part of an on-going five year public corruption investigation named “Operation Board Games.” The US Attorney’s office thanked the Chicago offices of the Internal Revenue Services’ Criminal Investigation Division, The US Postal Inspection Service and the US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General for their assistance in the on-going investigation.
The charge of solicitation of bribery comes from a one month investigation including court authorized wire tapped communications where Gov. Blagojevich was conspiring to sell or trade President-elect Obama’s Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave,” US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a press conference hours after the arrest.
Possible benefits that were mentioned in the 76-page brief that Gov. Blagojevich sought include a lucrative position at either a non-profit or union affiliated job, having his wife placed on paid corporate boards, where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year, or a cabinet or ambassadorship for himself.
These and other forms of benefits were discussed by Gov. Blagojevich and others in exchange for the US Senate seat appointment which was and still is at his sole discretion under Illinois state law.
There were also numerous other “Pay to Play” schemes involving contractors and others who were close to the Governor and his Chief of Staff. Pay to play schemes involve certain state contractors who are in solicitation for government contracts, and Gov. Blagojevich allegedly attempted to extort them for certain kinds of contributions.
In one conspiracy, Gov. Blagojevich awarded eight million dollars in reimbursement funding to the Children’s Memorial Hospital, but privately sought a $50,000 personal contribution from the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital. A few weeks later when the personal contribution did not come in, Gov. Blagojevich was intercepted on the phone checking to see if he could pull back the funding.
Another allegation of corruption concerns the Chicago Tribune, and how Gov. Blagojevich tried to use his office to influence the editorial board by denying the sale of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field unless certain editors were fired for criticizing Gov. Blagojevich.
This is not the first time an Illinois Governor has been charged with corruption. Most recently, former Governor George Ryan was convicted less than two years ago on corruption charges, and is now currently spending time at a federal corrections facility serving out a five-and-a-half year sentence. Ryan was also ordered to pay $603,048 in restitution.
Investigation of Gov. Blagojevich was part of an on-going five year public corruption investigation named “Operation Board Games.” The US Attorney’s office thanked the Chicago offices of the Internal Revenue Services’ Criminal Investigation Division, The US Postal Inspection Service and the US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General for their assistance in the on-going investigation.
