Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested today on charges of conspiring to financially benefit by using his authority to appoint a replacement for Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat and for abuse of power while attempting to solicit campaign contributions, prosecutors said.
Blagojevich was also charged with
illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to the
owner of the Chicago Tribune in the sale of Wrigley Field if the paper's management did not fire its editors that had been critical of him.
"Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a
federal Operation Board Games 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,'" the Associate Press reported.
Ironically, Blagojevich, a Democrat, ran for office under the promise of cleaning up after former Governor George Ryan, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for racketeering and fraud.
The Chicago Tribune reported:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested
by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at
about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were
awakened in their residences and transported to FBI headquarters in
Chicago.
In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack
Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for
himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama
administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for
appointing a union-preferred candidate.
Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain
financial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his
campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and
commissions, state jobs and state contracts, according to the charges.
"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
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