corruption – News Stories About corruption - Page 23

$500K in Legal Bills May Have Motivated Blago

Dec 11, 2008 4:26 PM CST

$500K in Legal Bills May Have Motivated Blago

Guv could have hoped Senate seat could bail him out of debts

(Newser) - Disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich owes a Chicago law firm more than $500,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. In intercepted conversations released as part of the current complaint against him, Blagojevich repeatedly mentions his poor financial situation; earlier this year, he stopped paying Winston & Strawn, which had counseled...

Crazy? Nah, Just a Chicago Pol

OPINION

Dec 11, 2008 2:40 PM CST

Crazy? Nah, Just a Chicago Pol

Blagojevich just doing what machine politicians do, warts and all

(Newser) - Amateur psychologists are calling Rod Blagojevich “crazy,” just because he dropped some F-bombs while allegedly trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Obviously, these guys “have never talked to a Chicago machine politician in their lives,” writes John Kass in the Tribune. “How do...

Patti Is Not a 'Potty Mouth,' Family Says

Dec 11, 2008 1:22 PM CST

Patti Is Not a 'Potty Mouth,' Family Says

Feds' wiretap recording paints off-color image of Mrs. Blagojevich

(Newser) - Illinois’ first lady is not the “potty mouth” the feds and Barbara Walters make her out to be, Patti Blagojevich’s family tells the Chicago Sun-Times. While conceding that Patti can be “standoffish," state legislator Deborah Mell said yesterday, “that is absolutely not my sister,”...

Feds: Blago
Extorted
Hospital
Honcho

Dec 11, 2008 12:47 PM CST

Feds: Blago Extorted Hospital Honcho

Guv planned to seek campaign cash in return for state funding

(Newser) - The Rod Blagojevich scandal extends beyond politics to medicine, the Chicago Tribune reports. He threatened to withhold $8 million in state funding for a pediatric health initiative unless the head of Children’s Memorial Hospital gave his campaign $50,000, according to the federal criminal complaint against the Illinois governor....

Blago:
To Impeach,
Quit, or Stay?

Analysis

Dec 11, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Blago: To Impeach, Quit, or Stay?

What happens if he quits, is impeached, he's removed, or stays—and if there could be a special Senate election

(Newser) - Many politicians, including President-elect Obama, have called on Rod Blagojevich to quit as Illinois governor, but Ray Long writes in the Chicago Tribune, there are other possible scenarios: He’s impeached, he’s removed, or he stays—and there’s also the chance of a special election to fill Obama’...

Obama: I Had
No Contact
With Blago

Dec 11, 2008 10:55 AM CST

Obama: I Had No Contact With Blago

(Newser) - Barack Obama went before reporters to introduce Tom Daschle as his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services today, but the real attention was on his reaction to the Rod Blagojevich scandal. “I was as appalled and disappointed as anyone,” he said, sayinghe's still gathering...

Timing of Blago Call, Jarrett's Senate Retreat Questioned

ANALYSIS

Dec 11, 2008 10:05 AM CST

Timing of Blago Call, Jarrett's Senate Retreat Questioned

Obama aide reported out of consideration Nov. 10, same day as marathon bull session

(Newser) - The timing of reports that Valerie Jarrett, a top aide to Barack Obama, was out of the running to succeed him in the Senate, and the Nov. 10 conference call on which Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich discussed selling that seat is raising questions, the Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI...

Questions Obama Should
Answer About Blago

ANALYSIS

Dec 11, 2008 8:26 AM CST

Questions Obama Should Answer About Blago

(Newser) - Barack Obama says he hasn't spoken with Rod Blagojevich about his successor, but that's not all we need to know, writes Politico. Some suggested ice-breakers for today's Obama press conference:

"Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the US Senate?” Blago's wiretapped conversations

...

This Dude Is Late-Night Comedy Gold

Dec 11, 2008 7:00 AM CST

This Dude Is Late-Night Comedy Gold

Letterman, Stewart, et al, pounce on Blago name, hair, idiocy

(Newser) - America's comics have rushed to mine the vein of comedy gold opened by Rod Blagejovich's arrest on corruption charges, the Chicago Tribune reports. "It's one count of bribery, one count of fraud, and one count of Blagojeviching," David Letterman said. Jon Stewart quipped that the governor "has...

Obama Loyalists Block Questions About Blago From Website

Dec 11, 2008 5:00 AM CST

Obama Loyalists Block Questions About Blago From Website

Fans flag mentions of ties as 'inappropriate'

(Newser) - Supporters of Barack Obama appear to be doing their best to wipe questions about indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich from the president-elect's new "Open for Questions" website, Politico reports. The site, designed to allow citizens to submit questions for Obama and vote on one another's questions, allows users...

Sit Tight: Blago Isn't Going Anywhere Yet

Dec 11, 2008 1:32 AM CST

Sit Tight: Blago Isn't Going Anywhere Yet

Dismissing calls for resignation, guv says it's 'business as usual'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich is innocent—or so says his attorney, as the Illinois governor returned to work for what his office called "business as usual." In the face of unanimous disgust and calls to resign from across the Democratic party, Blagojevich has no plans to step down. According...

Jackson
Rejects
Blago
Allegations

Dec 10, 2008 4:02 PM CST

Jackson Rejects Blago Allegations

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr. vigorously denounced Gov. Rod Blagojevich today and insisted he did nothing unethical to try to win appointment to Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. "I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics," said Jackson, who was identified earlier today as the so-called "Senate Candidate No. 5" in...

Lawsuits Allege Minn.'s Coleman Diverted Funds

Dec 10, 2008 1:45 PM CST

Lawsuits Allege Minn.'s Coleman Diverted Funds

FBI investigating claims a friend steered cash toward senator

(Newser) - The FBI is looking into a pair of lawsuits that claim a friend of Norm Coleman tried to channel funds to the Minnesota senator, the Pioneer Press of St. Paul reports. A Houston suit says financier Nasser Kazeminy aimed to divert money to Coleman through Coleman's wife’s employer; another...

Feds to Question
Jackson Jr in
Blago Case

Dec 10, 2008 1:37 PM CST

Feds to Question Jackson Jr in Blago Case

Senate candidate's emissaries reportedly offered $1M for post

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr is "Senate Candidate No. 5" in the feds' case against Rod Blagojevich, the one whose emissary reportedly offered to raise up to $1 million for the busted governor in exchange for the seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Illinois rep says he'll comply with prosecutors' request...

Obama
to Blago:
Resign
Already

Dec 10, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Obama to Blago: Resign Already

NOTE: Headline is intentional callback to the Tribune editorial earlier

(Newser) - President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign. An Obama spokesman says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

What the Heck Is the Matter With Corrupt Illinois?

ANALYSIS

Dec 10, 2008 12:00 PM CST

What the Heck Is the Matter With Corrupt Illinois?

Still, it's hardly the only state with a long, sordid history of politicians on the take

(Newser) - Everyone knows Illinois pols are the dirtiest … except for maybe those in New Jersey and Louisiana. Though Illinois is notorious, with four modern governors convicted, a study of public corruption actually ranks it as the sixth-worst state. But no single factor explains a crooked culture, Eamon Javers and Fred...

Blago Dialogue
Worthy of Mamet

OPINION

Dec 10, 2008 11:42 AM CST

Blago Dialogue Worthy of Mamet

(Newser) - An astute reader of the criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich will notice that, with shockingly little tweaking, the wiretapped conversations between the Illinois governor and his co-conspirators could be dialogue from a David Mamet play. Choire Sicha demonstrates in Salon, turning it into a quick one-acter. From the trash-talking femme...

Complaint Shows Blago's
Wife Plotted With Him

Dec 10, 2008 11:15 AM CST

Complaint Shows Blago's Wife Plotted With Him

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's wife was deeply involved in his alleged scheming, the Chicago Tribune reports, based on details in the federal complaint against the Illinois governor. Though Patricia Blagojevich has not been charged with a crime, she was a vocal party to wiretapped conversations. In one recording, she can be heard...

Abramoff's Golfing Buddy Gets a Mulligan

OPINION

Dec 10, 2008 10:49 AM CST

Abramoff's Golfing Buddy Gets a Mulligan

Official's second trial is 'fine final parable' of Bush years: Milbank

(Newser) - Ex-Bush administration official David Safavian began a second trial yesterday, “or, as his golfing buddies might call it, a mulligan,” Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post. When Safavian’s original 2006 corruption conviction in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal was overturned, prosecutors indicted him again. Their case...

Tribune to Blago:
Resign Already

OPINION

Dec 10, 2008 10:17 AM CST

Tribune to Blago: Resign Already

Governor really can't govern after indictment

(Newser) - It's not news that Rod Blagojevich has been a “governor who cannot govern,” writes the Chicago Tribune in a furious editorial, but any ability he did have to serve Illinois has been swept away by this indictment. “The governor must resign immediately,” the paper declares, or...