Illinois governor arrested in "Corruption crime spree"

CHICAGO — Tuesday's predawn rousting of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich marked a stunning climax to a tale of alleged public corruption unmatched in the state's storied history and thrust the state into an unprecedented political crisis.

Illinoisans awoke to news that their governor had been arrested, handcuffed and hauled before a federal magistrate on sweeping charges he conspired to sell his office many times over — including putting a price on the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama.

In taped conversations with advisers, Blagojevich, a Democrat, seemed alternately boastful, flip and spiteful about the Senate choice, which he likened at one point to that of a sports agent shopping around a free agent for the steepest price, a federal affidavit said. At times, he weighed aloud appointing himself to the job, prosecutors said.

"I've got this thing," Blagojevich said on one tape, according to the affidavit, "and it's (expletive) golden. And I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not going to do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there."

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the governor's actions forced his office to intervene.

"Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree," he said. Fitzgerald said Blagojevich's "conduct would make (Abraham) Lincoln roll over in his grave."

Under state law, Blagojevich is assigned to name a replacement for Obama, who recently resigned as Illinois' junior senator with two years remaining in his term.

Obama, who Fitzgerald said was not implicated in the case, sought to put distance between himself and the governor, telling the Chicago Tribune that he did not discuss his Senate seat with Blagojevich.

"I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening," Obama said. "And as I said, it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

Throughout the day, the halls of state government in Springfield and Chicago were humming with calls for his resignation or impeachment, and lawmakers planned an emergency session to schedule a special election and to strip the governor of his authority to fill the Senate post.

Even for a public with a jaded view of Illinois politics, the arrest of a sitting governor on such audacious charges left many questioning who was in charge of a dysfunctional state government.

New low for state

A city that little more than a month ago celebrated one of its own winning the pinnacle of American politics now finds itself struggling to understand how its two-term Democratic governor had been accused of taking public service to a new low.

"If it isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor," said Robert Grant, special agent in charge of Chicago's FBI office. "Even the most cynical agents in our office were shocked."

Most shocking are the details that emerged Tuesday in a 76-page arrest affidavit — mostly in the governor's own secretly recorded and profane words — that authorities say laid bare his most tightly held and incriminating conversations.

Blagojevich, who turns 52 today, was elected twice on vows to reform the culture of corruption that engulfed his predecessor, Republican George Ryan. But after years of well-publicized federal corruption investigations that touched almost every aspect of his administration, in the end it was 45 days of explicit wiretaps that spurred authorities to act swiftly.

The governor and his chief of staff, John Harris, were simultaneously charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation to commit bribery as part of a wide-ranging alleged scheme to shakedown campaign donors and politicians for high-paying posts and millions of dollars in campaign contributions.

Allegedly for sale: state jobs, state contracts and regulatory favors. In one surreal development, prosecutors alleged Blagojevich even tried to get editorial writers from the Chicago Tribune fired in exchange for helping parent Tribune Co. with a state plan to purchase Wrigley Field.

"At the end of the day, the conduct we have before us is appalling," said Fitzgerald, showing little of his characteristic restraint in detailing the government's charges.

Recorded calls

According to the affidavit, in recorded phone calls at his home and campaign office, Blagojevich considered numerous ways that he might personally and politically gain from the various candidates to succeed Obama, none of whom were identified by name in the court filing.

One possible choice might be able to help him secure a post with the new administration as secretary of health and human services or energy; a "three-way" deal involving a union and another candidate might win him a union-leadership post; or perhaps, he could secure the high-paying helm of a nonprofit organization that could be created for him.

Blagojevich, whose administration has for years been known to be the subject of a federal corruption investigation, also spoke of his family's financial woes and said he had three criteria for selecting the new senator: "Our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation — this decision, like every other one, needs to be based on that."

In several scenarios, the affidavit says, Blagojevich seemed to refer to plans already under way to make money or win a job (for him or his wife, Patti) in exchange for a particular Senate selection, raising the specter that there might be others, including some of the unnamed Senate candidates, who were participating or at least considering participating in such deals.

Prosecutors made it clear their investigation is continuing and cautioned against drawing any conclusions about candidates' or anyone else's true roles in Blagojevich's plans, stressing repeatedly that the affidavit made "no allegations against the president-elect whatsoever."

Several among the half-dozen people whose names have been suggested publicly as Senate possibilities did not respond to requests for interviews; others, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Emil Jones, the retiring state Senate president who has been one of Blagojevich's few allies in Springfield, issued statements expressing shock over the allegations against Blagojevich, but did not answer requests for interviews.

"If these allegations are proved true, I am outraged by the appalling, pay-to-play schemes hatched at the highest levels of our state government," said Jackson, who had openly expressed interest in Obama's old job and who met with Blagojevich, to whom he is not known to be close, for 90 minutes Monday to discuss the post.

In November, Blagojevich asserted to an adviser, the affidavit says, that he knew who Obama wanted — described in the affidavit as Senate Candidate 1, an apparent reference to Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama — but cursed Obama in apparent frustration that "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."

Jarrett later took her name out of consideration for the post, but at one point, Blagojevich spoke to a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) official, the affidavit says, with the "understanding that the union official was an emissary" to discuss the possibility of a "three-way deal" that would put Jarrett in the Senate seat, Blagojevich at the leadership of Change to Win, a union-affiliated group, and "in exchange, the president-elect could help Change to Win with its legislative agenda."

SEIU officials said they had no reason to believe any union officials were involved in wrongdoing, and a spokesman for Change to Win said the group had no involvement or discussion with the governor.

Information from McClatchy Newspapers is included in this report.