A telling moment in the Trib interview:
On one hand, the governor said he doesn’t believe voters perceive his administration as suffering from ethical lapses. On the other hand, Blagojevich acknowledged a need to avoid negative perceptions of favoritism when he instructed his budget director in 2003 to not give any of the state’s $10 billion pension bond business to a firm that had retained a close friend.
He said he knew John Wyma, a close adviser and his former congressional chief of staff, was representing Lehman Bros. in the sale.
“The last thing I wanted was anybody close to me even remotely near something like that. And so, the only thing I told [John] Filan, our budget director … was, `Pick the best company, but if it’s Wyma’s firm or anybody close to me, we don’t want them,’” Blagojevich said.
“I think I acted beyond what I’m supposed to do because I just knew that that was a situation [in which] I didn’t want the folks close to me to be involved in that,” the governor said.
Asked why he didn’t require that the same hands-off policy apply to all aspects of his administration, Blagojevich said it was “a free country.”
Wyma wasn’t the only person banned from that bond work. It was so high profile that the governor was rightly scared to death that something like involvement by his pals would truly hurt his administration. Everyone was made happy with subsequent deals, however. Very, very happy.
- DOWNSTATE - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 6:19 am:
So he is finally admitting that he does make decision when it comes to picking his friends.So if he cared about his image he would of picked someone else and said that he could not allow his image or that of the governor’s office to be even remotely tarnished.
- Anonymous - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 6:35 am:
POAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOAPOA
The above comment represents one POA for each of the investigations aimed at this corrupt and incompetent gang.
(I used Blah-Blah’s counting method)
- Anonymous - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 7:16 am:
It’s a free country, but a very expensive state if you want a contract to provide services to Illinois taxpayers.
- Anonymous - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 8:07 am:
It is amazing (sociopathic?) that he can say some of these things with a straight face. The guy is getting scarier by the week. I don’t know when it will be, but when the implosion comes, it will be big. And fun to watch.
- bond geek - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 10:02 am:
yes, lehman got tollway authority’s big $770 million deal and has worked on several state deals… so hypocritical of him to make out like it was the ethical choice…and turns out lehman is luck they were not on deal as it’s all now under federal investigation.
- LACKOFTESTICULARVERILITY - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 10:36 am:
The article proves that Rod lacks the testicular verility that he says he’s full of. If he makes a decision to not give contracts to his friends, it should apply accoss the board.
The notion that “it’s a free country” is a cop-out to say, I couldn’t force my decision and I couldn’t tell my friends/advisors, NO!
The also proves that he is not a hands on manager, as he makes a decision, but his advisors don’t follow them. The advisors decide what best for the Office and the Governor. They inform him (as we have learned they inform him sometimes)and he says o.k.
That’s the sign of a weak person lacking TESTICULAR VERILITY!
- steve schnorf - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 12:53 pm:
No one competent and qualified should be banned from state contracts because they are “too close” to the Governor, just as they shouldn’t be banned because they don’t know the Governor. Neither should they be selected because of either of the above circumstances.
- anon - Monday, Feb 27, 06 @ 9:20 pm:
So he does know who Wyma’s clients are….
- roy slade - Tuesday, Feb 28, 06 @ 8:24 am:
I don’t believe a thing that comes out of him mouth.