Here are quotes from former Inspector General “Z” Scott that were published in today’s Tribune article about the leaked report.

The investigation concluded “the governor’s office improperly exercised a great deal, if not all, control over the hiring” at the Illinois Department of Employment Security since shortly after the Democratic governor took office in January 2003.

“This effort reflects not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law” […]

“Evidence shows non-compliance with state hiring laws… In fact, it reveals a concerted effort to subvert the laws including veterans’ preference and the hiring process” […]

“This administration has made many public statements critical of the way in which those seeking political gains have compromised systems. We urge a similar response to the issues raised in this report” […]

“The evidence supports the conclusion that the real machine driving hiring decisions in the IDES HR department was the Governor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs rather than any professional management team in place in the agency.” […]

The inspector general recommended that six employees at Employment Security be disciplined, “up to and including discharge for unethical and fraudulent activity.” Three of those employees are still working for the department, including one who has been promoted since the report to become deputy director of administration. […]

“this sampling may not represent the entirety of the illegalities in hiring at IDES.”

The Trib ought to post the whole report online.

The accompanying editorial isn’t kind.

On Friday, the governor’s office asserted that there were “some bad apples who violated the rules” among the officials who were hired to run state government after Blagojevich took office in 2003. “The systems we put in place in our first year helped ferret out this wrongdoing.” That’s hard to square with the disclosure in Sunday’s Tribune that in 2004, Blagojevich’s own inspector general said the involvement of the governor’s patronage office in state hiring reflected “not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law.”