According to the Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today in Chicago amid charges of political corruption. The two were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. According to the Justice Department, the two men allegedly engaged in “ongoing criminal activity” including:
–Conspiring to obtain personal financial gain through the appointment to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. According to the indictment, Blagojevich sought a highly paid job at either a nonprofit foundation or labor organization, as well as a job for his wife on a corporate board where she would earn at least $150,000 a year.
–Blagojevich told an adviser he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from an unnamed “Senate Candidate 5” if he named that candidate to the Senate. The candidate allegedly pledged to raise money for the governor’s re-election.
–An associate of “Senate Candidate 5” approached Blagojevich. “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a senator,” Blagojevich said in a taped recording.
–In a Nov. 10 phone call with advisers, Blagojevich discussed getting a lucrative labor job in exchange for appointing an unnamed candidate whom he believed was favored by Obama. In a Nov. 11 conversation, Blagojevich acknowledged that Obama wanted an unnamed “Senate Candidate 1” for the seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything but appreciation. [Expletive] them.”
–Blagojevich also allegedly weighed appointing himself to the seat, complaining of being “stuck” as governor, as well as the belief he would be able to have more resources in the senate if he was indicted as a sitting senator versus governor. “if…they’re not going to offer anything fo any value, then I might just take it,” he said in a recorded Nov. 3 phone conversation, adding in a later conversation that day that he would “drive a hard bargain” for the seat.
–Blagojevich expressed a desire to remake his image for a potential 2016 presidential run. In the days following the election, he also discussed his potential appointment as either secretary of health and human services or energy, or various ambassadorships.
–Threatening to withhold assistance to the Tribune Co. regarding the sale of Wrigley Field to get members of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board who had been critical of Blagojevich fired. Blagojevich informed Harris that state assistance would be withheld unless the editorial board writers were fired. He told Harris to tell Tribune officials that “our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get ‘em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support.”
–The Tribune’s deputy editorial page editor John McCormick was singled out by Harris as “the most biased and unfair.”
–A Tribune financial adviser assured Harris that changes would be made on the editorial board; as a result Blagojevich allegedly then held a series of talks with officials to provide financial assistance for Wrigley Field.
The mail and wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while solicitation of bribery carries a 10-year maximum. Each count carries a maximum $250,000 fine.
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