The LAW & LAWYERS Blog

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested this morning on federal corruption charges.

The complaint generally alleged that the two had conspired to defraud the people of Illinois of their honest services, and contained a second count specifically alleging that Blagojevich and Harris had attempted to exchange government business and other benefits for the firing of Chicago Tribune writers who had been critical of Blagojevich.

The complaint was supported by a 76-page affidavit from FBI Agent Daniel W. Cain, outlining evidence obtained through, among other things, recording of conversations at the Friends of Blagojevich offices in Chicago.

For many, the most shocking aspect of the allegations was the revelation that Blagojevich had allegedly been planning to “sell” the appointment to fill the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.   In conversations related in the affidavit, Blagojevich is alleged to have mentioned having his wife appointed to paid corporate board positions, garnering a lucrative non-profit position for himself, and obtaining promises for campaign funds in exchange for an appointment to the vacant Senate seat.

Blagojevich also reportedly considered the potential benefits of appointing himself to fill the vacancy, including the resources that would be available to him if he were to be indicted.  For a man concerned about indictment, Blagojevich appears to have been remarkably unconcerned about the possibility of wiretapping or a close associate offering testimony against him.

If convicted and sentenced to prison, Blagojevich will be the fourth Illinois governor in recent years to serve jail time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.