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BREAKING: Blagojevich Convicted

Posted on | June 27, 2011 | 29 Comments

Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, has been convicted of several counts in his corruption and bribery trial in Chicago.

UPDATE: Blagojevich was found guilty on 17 counts, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

UPDATE II: The Chicago Tribune reports:

Blogojevich showed no reaction as the jury found him guilty on 17 of 20 counts against him. . . .
Blagojevich was arrested in December 2008, after the FBI had wiretapped hundreds of his telephone calls at work and home. The Illinois Legislature impeached him a month later.

UPDATE III: Chris Bury of ABC News reports:

For seven days, Blagojevich took the stand in an attempt to counter hundreds of FBI wiretaps that, prosecutors argued, demonstrated his maneuvering to peddle the vacated Senate seat of the newly elected Barack Obama. In perhaps the most infamous recording, the then governor is heard saying, “I’ve got this thing and it’s f—— golden. And I, I’m just not giving it up for f—— nothing.”
Other wiretaps recorded Blagojevich musing aloud about possible senior jobs in the new administration he might get should he appoint Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett. “How about Health and Human Services, can I get that?” “How about U.N. Ambassador?”
Jurors also heard recordings that, prosecutors said, showed Blagojevich scheming to sell the Senate Seat to allies of U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. in exchange for more than $1 million in campaign contributions. Jackson has insisted he had no knowledge of any “unauthorized” efforts on his behalf.

UPDATE IV: Linked at The Lonely Conservative — thanks! — and there’s now a Memeorandum thread.

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Category: Chicago, Corruption, Crime, Democrats, Illinois

Comments

  • DaveO

    Don’t think the Witness Protection program is going to work all that well for Blago should he turn State’s Evidence and decide to name names.

  • Anamika

    Who cares? (Unless you have any updates about Obama’s/Rahm’s involvement.)

  • JeffS

    You’re just disappointed that there are no penises involved. 

    Well, Blago is a dick, but not the sort you’re looking for.

  • Pingback: Blago Found Guilty on 17 Out of 20 Counts of Corruption | The Lonely Conservative

  • JeffS

    Good to see that even crooked Illinois politicians (but I repeat myself) can get convicted of corruption. 

    I’m sure that the appeals will be long and spirited.  Unless he decides to rat on other politicians…..which could make things really interesting.

  • Joe

    Of course, Barack Obama has nothing to worry about now that Blago is convicted…

    Don’t worry, Chicago has ways of dealing with rats.  Blago should consider upping his life insurance. 

  • CalMark

    …and Obama, big-time Illinois Democrat player whose Senate seat was being auctioned, was completely unaware of any of this. 

    Just like Barney Frank and the whorehouse in his home, just like Teddy Kennedy and the girl drowning in his car, just like…

    Scooter Libby, who couldn’t remember a minor incident from a few years before. 

    No, wait.  Libby was the only criminal among them.  (George W. Bush crowed that it was so.  It’s great being a Republican–you can REALLY count on your friends.) 

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Blago was a crooked son-of-a bitch, but I doubt he’d know anything that would get anybody else in trouble. He just wasn’t one of the cool kids. If he was he never would have been prosecuted.

  • Anonymous

    Scratch a Democrat, find a criminal.  Every. Single. Time.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dell-Hill/1360026881 Dell Hill

    I can smell a grave procedural error looming at the appellate court level, voiding all 18 convictions.  This is, after all, Cook County Chicago.  And, should the appeal somehow stand, there’s always the Illinois Supreme court, with three Democrats from Cook County are seated among the four on the seven member court.   All Illinois Supreme Court members are elected officials and serve ten year terms.  It pays to be a Democrat from Chicago; you can get away with murder.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1385852725 Richard Mcenroe

    Of course you realize this makes Blago one of the few Democrats you’ll ever meet with any real convictions at all.

  • Joe

    This PW exchange sums it up: 

    Joe posted on 6/27 @ 2:27 pmSorryt to go off topic, but is Blago going to flip on Obama now that he is facing 20 plus years in government housing?

    Ernst Schreiber posted on 6/27 @ 2:34 pm
    is Blago going to flip on Obama now that he is facing 20 plus years in government housing?
    We’ll know he tried after he’s suicided.

  • Joe

    These are federal charges and convictions…which means the Chicago Dem Machine has less control.  I see Blago’s health taking a sudden decline in the not too distant future.  

  • http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7629157.html Rod Blagojevich

    I like my eggs over easy. 

  • Anonymous

    Either that or a Presidential pardon…

  • http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7629157.html Rod Blagojevich

    I am not holding my breath, the wheels on the [Obama] bus go thump, thump, thump…

  • Anonymous

    That’s two Illinois govs in a row.

  • Anonymous

    At least he didn’t do anything truly evil like appoint Valerie Jarret to the senate.

  • Anonymous

    Well played sir!

  • http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7629157.html Rod Blagojevich

    I like my pancakes flipped over. 

  • http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7629157.html Rod Blagojevich

    I like it when I go to Benihanas and they flip the shrimps in the air. 

  • http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7629157.html Rod Blagojevich

    Maybe we can play cards in the joint!  Of course we sure as hell won’t trust each other dealing. 

  • jwallin

    Given the degree of corruption that goes on in Illinois, it make me wonder just who did Blago p!ss off? And what did he do to do it?

    Musta been a real doozy for them to let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind like they did.

    HEH.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    They, meaning Fitzgerald’s office, had him under surveillance for a long, long time. I always thought Fitzgerald was angling for a high level cabinet appointment, like maybe Attorney General, or possibly FBI Director. Blagojevich was an acceptable target, as he was not a well-liked man. I don’t remember now exactly what it was all about, but I think it had something to do with the Chicago Transit system. He made a lot of enemies over that.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    The Playa thought he had become bigger than The Game.

    Game 1, Playa 0.

    What a fool to be so blatant on the phone.  Those sort of solicitations are made by trusted aides, often lawyers with Democratic ethics, on a quiet walk in the park or on a pier. 

    I suspect Blago will be running a discount contraband operation in the joint within a few months.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    The Chicago Transit Authority? – really!  I always liked Color My World.  Who knew?  They seemed like such nice dudes.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    As the infamous, but wise, Boston Ward 8 ward boss Martin Lomasney said: Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Blago did something that went against the establishment, but I forgot now what it was. I want to say he cut taxes, or something that really pissed off either the Illinois legislature, or the Chicago Aldermen, or maybe (probably) both. All I know for certain is it had something to do with funding for the transit system. Whatever it was it was really controversial at the time, but no one outside of the state would likely be conscious of it, because it was more of a state and local issue that had no bearing outside of that. But to the Chicago and Illinois political establishment it was a big deal. And it wasn’t long afterward that Fitzgerald’s office started his investigation. I’ll look into it later and probably do a blog post about it. One thing you can be sure of, this didn’t happen because Fitzgerald is such a staunch upholder of government ethics. This is the same guy that tried to crucify Scooter Libby.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    I was right. The CTA was having massive budget problems and Blago was pressuring the legislature to stay on the job until they solved the problem instead of going on vacation. They had like eighteen days from the time they returned before the whole CTA enterprise would have to implement significant cuts in services and rate increases. Also, Blago was pressuring Mayor Daily to supply CTA with funds from the sale of Chicago city property, specifically the sale of something called “Skyway” (whatever that was).

    http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2007/12/blagojevich-no.html

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