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Preliminary talks are under way that could lead to John Harris, the former chief of staff to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, cooperating in the federal corruption case against the governor that snared both last month, sources said Wednesday.
Harris has not yet reached a deal to help authorities, sources with knowledge of the situation said, but cooperation by the former insider would be a boon to federal investigators. Blagojevich and Harris were arrested Dec. 9 on charges they leveraged the governor’s powers in pay-to-play schemes and tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
* The Sun-Times, however, claims Harris is already cooperating, which is what I heard this week…
John Harris — the highest-ranking employee under Gov. Blagojevich to be hit with federal corruption charges — has been providing information to federal prosecutors, the Sun-Times has learned.
Harris’ defense…
Ekl would not discuss details, but sources say that among the things Harris has discussed is how Blagojevich liked to talk big to his staff, but they didn’t always do what he asked them to.
* More news…
…federal authorities are scrutinizing communications between the governor and Lucio Guerrero, his chief media spokesman. Sources said investigators seized paperwork while conducting a search warrant at the governor’s Thompson Center offices.
Not unexpected. George Ryan’s former spokesman testified at Ryan’s trial. The first thing I told Guerrero after he took the job was “Get a good lawyer.” And I’m not the only one who gave him that advice.
* And another development…
The government tapped cell phones belonging to Gov. Blagojevich’s brother and the governor’s chief of staff as part of its corruption probe, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
* Meanwhile…
About 58 percent of Illinoisans believe Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s alleged corrupt behavior is common among the state’s public officials, according to findings of a new statewide poll released Thursday by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. […]
According to the survey, 78 percent of residents say a ban on campaign contributions by corporations will make a difference, and 76 percent say a similar ban on labor union contributions would make a difference. Similar sentiment (74 percent) was expressed for setting limits on the amount of contributions that could be given by individuals.
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 10:50 am
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FYI, your very first link says “From the Tribune…” but the link takes you to a S-T aritlce.
Comment by Scooby Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:01 am
Oops. Thanks. Fixed.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:03 am
“About 58 percent of Illinoisans believe Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s alleged corrupt behavior is common among the state’s public officials”
There does seem to be a lot of dots to connect in this tangled web of relationships among donators and donatees. With so much of the focus being applied to Blagojevich it seems like most of the connections will never be uncovered and will continue to operate even with a few of the “dots” being removed. Actions like the legislature just took to exempt the road builders from the new ethics law do give one pause to wonder. What is up with that? It got pretty short shrift in the news and in the blogs.
Comment by vole Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:05 am
I wonder if the feds are asking Harris about any other former employers.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:16 am
TERM LIMITS would greatly fix some of the problems as well.
Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:17 am
What do other states not plagued by political corruption do differently than Illinois does? I know we think we are special, but so does every other state.
Comment by Downstate weed chewing hick Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:24 am
Any bets on how many legislators are in the
crosshairs as well
Comment by Esteban Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:27 am
Yikes…if their talking to Mr. Lucky do we think Hooli is getting a little edgy?????
Don’t ya think IL appears corrupt because GOPs produce so many sad sack candidates?
Comment by 2ConfusedCrew Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:29 am
Esteban - I’d imagine that the feds have dirt on more than a few, but there’s a limit to how many folks they can go after. Personally, I think they should also go after people in the IGA that would scare a lot of people because they doled out goodies to A LOT of people.
Comment by Cynic Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:32 am
Word, I bet Daley didn’t trust Harris too much and had a few of his famous buffers for anything touchy. Harris isn’t one of the Bridgeport boys after all. Daley has lots of faults but surrounding himself with loyal soldiers isn’t one of them.
Blago’s crew, on the other hand, are singing like canaries.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:36 am
The Feds have questioned and cut deals with so many former people of Blagos admisistration that it would make you dizzy. This was formerly called “being thrown under the bus”. Surely, one can understand why so many people have left him. Could it be that they saw the writing on the wall?
Comment by WAR DOG Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:39 am
John Harris is a military guy. He may have done as he was told without asking questions and been loyal to a fault, but I suspect he will man up to his mistakes and do the right thing. Unlike someone else we all know.
Comment by GA Watcher Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:41 am
What’s the IGA, cynic?
Comment by Narcoleptic Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:45 am
What ever became of the Spin Sisters and are they talking?
Comment by Wacker Drive Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 11:46 am
Narcoleptic - IGA - Intergovernmental affairs. Essentially, the patronage arm of the Gov’s Office.
An OIG report recently surfaced about their doings in IDES. It’s pretty shocking (well, maybe not so shocking once you know the players involved). The feds fingered IGA and the head of personnel at DCFS Robin Staggers in another investigation. I imagine other agencies were involved too.
Comment by Cynic Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 12:05 pm
Wacker-
I think Rebecca was in town for Cullerton’s event yesterday, but my eyes could have deceived me. AbbyO, I have no idea.
Comment by Narcoleptic Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 12:21 pm
Tapping cell phones. Didn’t the Patriot Act make that somehow easier? I vaguely recall…
Comment by Greg Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 12:21 pm
A politician with few friends cannot rely upon his confederates to remain loyal to him when faced with the risk of loss of freedom. An unsurprising development to this observer.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 12:36 pm
===Blago’s crew, on the other hand, are singing like canaries. ===
I think they want their deals before he turns on them. He’s already proven that he has no loyalty to anyone. In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned on his wife.
Comment by Cranky Old Man Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 1:11 pm
Rich, I only urge you and all to remember that the same people responding to this poll about how to fix corruption are the ones who elected and re-elected the current Governor, who raised more money from those same sources than anyone in state history.
They can’t have both sides of that argument, it takes away all the fun. I believe a better poll question might be, “Shall we stop you before you kill again?”
Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 1:55 pm
“…common among the state’s public officials.”
Yes, and for a very long time. This is of course hearsay but someone mentioned to me today that in about 1976 a number of state agencies moved into the old Standard Oil building at about 801 S. Michigan. As this account goes, the state could have bought the building for $1.8M but Roland Burris arranged for it to be leased from a consortium of insiders for $18M instead. The state then put several additional millions into renovations of property it didn’t own. I don’t know about any of this, just passing on destructive gossip.
Comment by Excessively rabid Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 1:57 pm
Steve, I agree with you. Many Illinois voters vote for Democrats who increase tax rates. Whenever that happens, those voters complain and say that they hate those politicians. When those politicians run for re-election, those voters continue voting for the people about whom they complained.
Comment by Phil Collins Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 3:06 pm
What ever became of the Spin Sisters and are they talking?
Abby Ottenhoff is now a spokesperson for the National Governor’s Association, I think. Where once she spun for one, she can now spin for all 50.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 3:36 pm
RE: Ban on campaign contributions.
Hasn’t this been tried in on a federal level and it all it did was cause those 527 organizations to crop up all over the place. You want to get corruption out of Illinois? Keep prosecuting the politicians that break the law and SEND THEM TO JAIL! They will eventually get the message. Patric Fitzgerald has been doing yeoman’s work in this state.
Comment by I'mTellingYou Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 3:46 pm
A majority of politicians,in Illinois,aren’t that different than Blagojevich.They just have a different personality.The combination of big activist government,nepotism,and powerful unions is the recipe for corruption.Blago will not be the last politician in Illinois to get indicted.When the government hands out contracts and licenses corruption is inevitable in a sleazy state like Illinois.Term limits on all elected politicians would be a big improvement.I doubt a majority of the powerful special interest groups in the state of Illinois would want that.
Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 4:48 pm