Illinois Governor and Chief of Staff Arrested on Federal Corruption Charges
Thursday, December 11th, 2008We’ve all heard the news by now. “Illinois Governor and Chief of Staff Arrested on Federal Corruption Charges”. The FBI arrested a sitting govenor for allegedly putting up a US Senate Seat for sale.
Illinois Governor and Chief of Staff Arrested on Federal Corruption Charges
This is according to the FBI release on Tuesday December 9, 2008
- Illinois gov. Rod r. Blagojevich and his chief of staff john harris arrested on federal corruption charges
- Blagojevich and aide allegedly conspired to sell u.s. Senate appointment, engaged in “pay-to-play” schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to tribune company for wrigley field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers.
- Illinois gov. Rod r. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, john harris, were arrested today by fbi agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity
- Conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a united states senator;
- Threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the tribune company in connection with the sale of wrigley field to induce the firing of chicago tribune editorial board members sharply critical of blagojevich;
- To obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions
- A 76-page fbi affidavit alleges that blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade illinois’ u.s. Senate seat vacated by president elect barack obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife.
What is next?