Illinois Governor Arrested On Corruption Charges

Update 1
Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) and John Harris, his chief of staff, were arrested Tuesday by the FBI on corruption charges of "staggering" breadth. Charges were filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who prosecuted the Valerie Plame case.

Among the charges: a quid-pro-quo for appointing a "union-preferred candidate" to Obama's vacant Senate seat. Prosecutors alleged that Blagojevich was seeking to trade that appointment for an appointment in the Obama Administration -- secretary of Health and Human Services, secretary of the Energy Department or an ambassadorship -- or "a lucrative job with a union... An Obama spokesman had no immediate comment."

Illinois citizens appear cursed. Blagojevich, who turns 52 on Wednesday, succeeded Republican Governor George Ryan, who did not run for re-election in 2002 due to corruption whispers. Those whispers materialized into convictions in 2006. The prosecutor? Fitzgerald.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan seems to agree: "Once again, the people of Illinois have learned that a Governor has engaged in a shockingly flagrant scheme to sell his power and authority to the highest bidder." (tip)

Fitzgerald has been investigating Blagojevich for three years for alleged hiring fraud. However, after the November 4 election, the "investigators secretly placed a tap on the governor's home phone and bugs in his campaign office."

On the quid-pro-quo, wiretaps caught this:

"I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden," he said of his authority to appoint Obama's replacement, "and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

The quid-pro-quo on the Senate appointment is only one of the corruption charges. Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co. "in an attempt to strong-arm the newspaper into firing editorial writers who had criticized him."

Fitzgerald states there is no sign of any involvement by president-elect and former Sen. Barack Obama. However, Obama did endorse Blagojevich for election.

Reportedly, Blagojevich has rejected calls to resign or step aside. This is a typical political response.

Ironically, last month Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he was "considering asking President George W. Bush to commute" Ryan's prison sentence. Ryan, 74, was Illinois governor, 1999-2003, and secretary of state, 1991-1999. A Republican, he was convicted in 2006 of 18 corruption-related charges stemming from an FBI investigation into allegations that unqualified truck drivers could secure driver licenses in exchange for a bribe. Rasmussen reports that two-thirds of Illinois citizens don't want to see Ryan pardoned. A pardon wipes the conviction off a person's record; commuting a sentence merely reduces time served.

People mentioned as possible appointees to the now-vacant Senate seat include several U.S. Representatives -- Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez; Illinois Senate President Emil Jones; and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth. Under state law, the Illinois Governor has the sole power to appoint a replacement.

Blagojevich was the first Democrat to be elected governor of Illinois in 30 years. Under Illinois law, Blagojevich will remain Governor through January 2011 unless he resigns or is impeached by the Illinois House and then tried and convicted by the Illinois Senate.

Watch the Fitzgerald news conference where "he reads entire portions of the intercepted conversations."

See a guide to political sex scandals in America and controversial presidential pardons.