TweetIt has been a long time comin! Just another great politician from Chicago. What a great place for our new president to say he is from!

Ill. Gov. arrested in Obama successor probe

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer – 3 mins ago

AP – In this April 18, 2007 file photo, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks at the 45th Annual Illinois Governor's …



CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.
The affidavit said Blagojevich discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.
It said that Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees.
He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president's cabinet or an am****adorship once he left the governor's office.
"I want to make money," the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation.
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that "the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering."
"They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator," Fitzgerald said."
Among those being considered for the post include U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Jesse Jackson Jr.
Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.
His chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested.
Both men were expected to appear later Tuesday before a federal magistrate in Chicago.
Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state. Federal prosecutors have acknowledged they're also investigating "serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich.
Political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko who raised money for the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, Christopher G. Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.
Blagojevich took the chief executive's office in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up former Gov. George Ryan's mess.
Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation began with the sale of driver's licenses for bribes and led to the conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and governor.

TweetNext is obama sing gov sing

TweetI hear his foriegn policy team is already arguing

TweetIn his own words

I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there."

"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I'm saying. And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself."

"It is not coming for free.... It's got to be good stuff for the people of Illinois and good for me."

Obama's preferred replacement was an unnamed "candidate 1," but according to the complaint, neither Obama nor "candidate 1" had made an offer of the type Blagojevich was looking for:

"They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them."

It appears that Blagojevich was not the only one to think of selling the seat:

"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."

While Blagojevich was brazen in his conversations, he was not entirely unaware that somebody might be listening, saying in a taped conversation with a fundraiser:

"You gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody's listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?"

Blagojevich was fretting about his own financial security:
"The immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family."

Blagojevich discussed stopping a deal with the state that would have allowed the Tribune Company to save as much as $100 million on the sale of Wrigley Field unless Chicago Tribune owner Sam Zell fired certain editorial board members who had criticized him:

"Our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support."

"$100 million is nothing to sneeze at. That's still worth something, isn't it?"

Tweetmakes you really think about our new president..

TweetBirds of a feather flock together

Tweetdummy got caught....

TweetI'm an Illinois resident and it made my day to see him arrested. My biggest hope is he'll start naming lots of names in the democratoc party.

Tweet

Originally Posted by Merc

makes you really think about our new president..

YOUR DAMN RIGHT MERC BECAUSE CHICAGO IS DIRTY AND NOW YOU KNOW OBAMA WAS DIRTY AND I HOPE BLOJOBAVICH SINGS LIKE A BIRD AND REZCO,LOL