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* I couldn’t agree more with this Sun-Times editorial…
Here’s a bit of free public relations advice to Gov. Blagojevich, boiled down to three words.
Release the checks.
We’re talking about the recent furor that erupted over a Chicago Sun-Times report that federal agents are investigating whether the governor’s former key fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, paid for all or part of a $90,000 rehab on the governor’s Northwest Side home.
Rezko is now a felon after being convicted of political corruption. The work on the governor’s home happened in 2003, right after Rezko successfully placed his cronies on state boards that control big-money deals.
You can see why this might raise questions.
Blagojevich insists he paid for all the work done on the house, but he won’t release copies of the checks proving it. Nor has he has been clear why he won’t.
Maybe he feels it’s an invasion of privacy. Or that it’s nobody’s business. Or, in the worst case scenario, he can’t produce the checks because Rezko, in fact, did pay for some or all of the work.
We don’t know the answer to that question, but one thing is clear: This issue isn’t going away.
Seriously, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Just release the checks. What harm could it possibly do?
* Somewhat related…
* State comptroller Hynes to speak in Carterville
* Parks stay open, but at cost of politicians pilfering funds
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:30 am
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Maybe it takes time to fabricate canceled checks.
Comment by Captain Flume Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:37 am
My impression when reading the CST editorial is that they somehow know there are no checks to release.
Comment by Bluefish Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:42 am
If he has the checks, how about showing the deposits on the account as well.
Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:48 am
If checks were readily available to refute the implication/inference that something was hinky about Pinocchio’s home remeodeling project, I doubt that the feds would be pursuing this line of inquiry.
Obviously Governor Pinocchio has soemthing to hide or he would not be stonewalling about the apparently missing documents supporting his contention that he paid.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:49 am
Maybe he overpaid and didn’t want the people to think he got ripped off?
Maybe he needs a new ink cartridge in his copy machine?
What kind of receipt will he have if he paid for it with a brown paper bag full of cash?
Comment by North of I-80 Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:50 am
I the the governor is well within his rights not to release any checks, if they exist, for public scrutiny for any number of reasons.
The largest, of course, is that he has the full weight of the federal government on his trail, a very scary situation, and there’s no reason to give them an edge. Make them figure out what they want and subpoena it.
The battle for public opinion is over — Rod lost. He’s got a much more serious fight up ahead and as a citizen has the right to defend himself.
Having said that, it’s no big deal if there are checks — I would be shocked if there weren’t. Writing a check and taking the money back in some manner is not the most ingenious method of fraud and conspiracy. The feds’ forensic accountants wouldn’t be dazzled by such a scheme.
If you do take the money back, the trick is how to launder it. I think it’s been clear for some time the feds are looking at Patti’s real estate business.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:56 am
One free bean to the first person who can highlight the double standard here between how we are treating Blago and Rezko, and how we are treating Obama and Rezko.
Comment by Quadly Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:58 am
Quadly, if you can’t see the difference btwn Obama and Blagojevich on the Rezko issue, you’re completely blind.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 9:59 am
YAWN… when will the impeachment proceedings occur?
Hopefully, during the November veto session…
The prospect of a long drawn out trial after years of this gubenatorial disaster is just too much to contemplate…let’s move on puhleeze
Comment by Loop Lady Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:02 am
I suspect the checks exist and that this is actually legit work. What I suspect is happening is that the governor refuses to release them on principal. He won’t be pushed around — and this is his way of showing that he’s a tough cookie.
I suspect he enjoys this, too — especially because he knows this is a red herring.
Comment by Macbeth Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:07 am
Checks? We don’t need no stinking checks!
Comment by Joe Schmoe Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:22 am
I agree with Macbeth to a point. He may be trying to show John Q. Public he won’t be pushed around, but Blago knows who’s doing the real pushing. He has bigger things to worry about other than deflecting or not answering “stupid questions” from reporters. If Rezko is talking about trading checks for kickbacks, then the Feds will be the first in line to see those checks. It will be curious how the Feds tie this two way stream of money/checks together. The general public is probably thinking that’s the way the construction job was done. It’s up to the Feds to prove it - and that, no doubt, they will do.
Did this guy pass his State ethics exam? Does anyone know IF he ever took it?
Comment by Little Egypt Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:22 am
Please, indict or impeach or both. Soon please.
Comment by Dan S. a Voter and Cubs Fan Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:24 am
Impeachment by the House does not equal conviction by the Senate, and I doubt seriously the Senate would convict. There is not enough testosterone or estrogen for that. But aside from the hormonal measurements, specific impeachable offenses are not addressed in the current Illinois constitution. So the issues of unrevealed checks, unindicted allegations, and other suggested misbehavior is really pretty spongy ground on which to base calls for impeachment. The feds are going to have to come up with an indictment before we see an impeachment proceeding. Not that the House could not intitiate its own investigation, which it could, but its resources and will are limited.
Comment by Captain Flume Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:25 am
The audit trail for these payments should be pretty clear, even if there are multiple layers to sift through.
Federal money laundering statutes are fairly broad and very stringent. If the invoices were paid with cash, it’s possible that the bank reported these transactions to the feds, and if so, the law enforcement agencies will have access to bank records.
Comment by The Doc Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:38 am
He might have the sense to know he is between a rock and a hard space. If he produces the check then the feds will do a little math to determine if the 90k came from ‘legitimate’ income or not. Really this seems to be nothing more than him not giving the feds anything. I am sure if they were so inclined his banks and of the contractors have been served papers.
PS You all need to give up on the state ethics exam angle. My 3 kids could look over the website material and pass it in 10 minutes. But I don’t know if the Governor himself is required to take the test. Even so, I could probably pass an origami test, it doesn’t mean either of us will use what we have learned on a daily basis….
Comment by 618er Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:41 am
Really a non-story.
First off, the first thing a grand jury does at the beginning of term is vote to give subpoena power to the US Attorney’s Office. So, they’ll go right to the banks to get copies of the checks or other financing instruments.
If there’s an issue here, the fed’s have either already got the information, or the subpoenas have already been drawn up and served.
Checks can be written, but not cashed. Or they can be cashed, but then the funds paid for an original purpose (such as remodeling) then reallocated for alternative purposes which are also “beneficial” in different ways to the originating party. Which would mean that revenue to pay for said remodeling came from a different source.
But it’s really hard to trace this type of money movement without an insider providing directions. But once you’ve got that inside source, you’re off to the races.
Can you say “wire fraud” and “mail fraud”?
Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 10:47 am
====My 3 kids could look over the website material and pass it in 10 minutes.====
618er, except your kids would be forced to retake the exam, because there is no way they could read, examine, and take the exam sufficiently in that amount of time. {sarcasm added}
No kidding. A buddy of mine in grad school received a notification letter stating he took the exam too quickly and had to retake it using more time. The next year, we were all strongly cautioned to take at least 2 minutes per page, and at least 45 minutes overall, less we take too little time and get red flagged.
Your government at work, people.
Comment by South Side Mike Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 11:07 am
People at my location also did things to strech the time - go get coffee, go the the restroom, etc… - they were logged into the ethics web sight. Since they only tracked how long you were on the sight, no one noticed. Of course, we still had to pass the training or face possible consequences.
Comment by tanstaafl Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 11:17 am
Tanstaafl, Exactly. And this year there wasn’t even really a quiz.
Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 1:04 pm
AT the risk of sounding dumb, how do they know the remodling costs $90,000 if Blago hasn’t released the checks?
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 2:46 pm
===how do they know the remodling costs $90,000===
because that’s what rrb and mrs. rrb said it was.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 2:48 pm
In the Ryan investigation, the feds had all of the copies of any and all checks, whether they had anything to do with anything or not.
I believe that the feds already know what they have found and we know very little.
Comment by Shelbyville Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 3:06 pm
It can be reasonably concluded that the governor won’t release the checks because doing so will only serve to hasten his demise. His policies, legislation, and general MO are all chimerical, and he simply wants to prolong his tenure while hoping for some type of miracle that will never happen.
Comment by The Doc Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 3:35 pm
I watched the WTTW special on Nixon last night. Blago’s refusal to release the checks reminds me of Nixon’s refusal to release the tapes. Only on an pathetic scale.
Comment by Payin' attention Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 5:17 pm
Didn’t Rod tell reporter the checks were at the bank & that is where they could get them? Some reporter should take a copy of that filmed statement to Rod’s bank & get the checks. He gave them permission.
Comment by jimbo Tuesday, Oct 14, 08 @ 8:56 pm