First up, the governor claims his office doesn’t involve itself in civil service hiring, but the AP found a memo that shows otherwise.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office took a personal interest in the hiring of a congressman’s son-in-law to fly state planes, even though the pilot wasn’t properly licensed and the job was supposed to be free of political influence, internal e-mails show.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show an aide to Blagojevich’s personnel director contacted the Department of Central Management Services in July 2003 to check on the status of Brian Keen, U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello’s son-in-law.

Blagojevich has repeatedly said that his office does not get involved in filling positions that are supposed to be free of politics. A Blagojevich spokeswoman said Keen was hired based on qualifications, not politics.

In the e-mails, CMS, the state’s hiring agency, said that Keen had two opportunities to submit applications to be a state pilot but couldn’t show he was qualified for the job. The e-mails said the rejected paperwork was returned to the governor’s office with a note about necessary qualifications.

And the governor has apparently made peace with a group of workers who he once accused of fraud.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich apparently has made peace with a group of state employees he tried to fire in 2003 after he accused them of engaging in hiring fraud.

The first-term Democratic governor last year won the right to terminate the nine individuals - holdovers from the administration of Republican Gov. George Ryan - after pursuing a lengthy legal battle that cost taxpayers an estimated $650,000.

But for the past several months, Blagojevich’s office has allowed the employees to continue working at senior posts where they earn monthly salaries ranging from $5,100 to $9,470, state comptroller records show.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said agency supervisors have evaluated the employees and believe they are worth keeping on, regardless of the earlier dispute. […]

“These are people who worked the system, essentially committed a fraud on the public,” Blagojevich said in fall 2003 as a court battle unfolded. “These people knew what they were doing. They were part and parcel of a conspiracy.”