A federal judge this afternoon authorized the release of secretly recorded conversations of Gov. Blagojevich, the first such release to the governor’s lawyers since Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Holderman gave defense lawyers until 5 p.m. Wednesday to say whether they approve of redactions in the conversations recommended by prosecutors. He set a Thursday hearing to discuss whether they can be released in the interest of time for the house impeachment panel.
The disclosure comes after prosecutors requested the release of four conversations to the House panel. Prosecutors said they believed the release of the selected conversations will not impede their investigation. They said they will hand them over by noon Tuesday.
The excerpts deal with Blagojevich’s alleged efforts to secure campaign payments from a contributor — harness racing businessman Johnny Johnston — in exchange for signing a bill that directed casino revenue to horse racing.
Johnston’s lawyer, Daniel Reinberg, said his client was captured on tape but he was told he is not a subject or target of the investigation. Johnston’s family runs both Balmoral and Maywood Park race tracks. Johnston hired former Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk in 2007 to do lobbying on behalf of the racetracks, Reinberg said. Monk’s cell phone was tapped by authorities
The question now will be whether the House wants to wait around for those tapes or press ahead without them.
…Adding… Maybe this ruling will finally put to rest Ed Genson’s repeated claims that the tapes were made illegally. I’m not holding my breath, but he just lost a major talking point today from what I can tell.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attorney says he’ll ask a federal judge to give a legislative impeachment committee all FBI tapes of the governor’s conversations and not just the four prosecutors are offering. […]
The committee had hoped for a decision Monday. But the skirmishing means the panel could decide to make its recommendation before getting any tapes. Another court hearing on the matter is set for Thursday.
* 4:27 pm - Impeachment committee attorney David Ellis wants the tapes fast, but says they’re not “make or break”…
“Time is of the essence,” the committee’s lawyer, David Ellis, told the court today. […]
“These tapes are relevant evidence. We’d like to have them,” Ellis told reporters. Still, he added, the committee has other evidence and can move forward without the recordings. “These tapes are not make or break,” he said.
Also, the judge appeared to scold Genson for his tirades about illegal recordings…
“I have done everything in my power to make sure that the government has complied with the law,” Holderman, who authorized the original wiretaps, told attorneys for the governor and others tied to the probe.
And we’re apparently not talking about a whole lot of tape here…
The transcripts “are not very long,” Holderman replied, describing at least one as “just a matter of minutes.”
* 5:00 pm - The House has slightly altered its session and impeachment committee schedule because of today’s tapes ruling. From a Steve Brown e-mail…
In light of the federal court action today, here is an adjustment to the schedule for the week…
“If there’s a smoking gun on the tapes it would be valuable to us, but we will not wait very long for that because we want some kind of finality to this,” Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), a member of the 21-person impeachment committee, said.
Firing the first shot in Washington in the fight over the appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, Gov. Blagojevich’s acting chief of staff hand-delivered Burris’ nomination certificate to the Capitol this morning — only to see it rejected by the secretary of the Senate. […]
The secretary of the senate and two assistants acknowledged receipt of the document “but did not formally accept it” because it did not bear Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature, Guerrero said.
Federal prosecutors have been granted an extra three months to seek an indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
U.S. Chief District Court Judge James Holderman entered an order allowing the indictment deadline to be extended from Jan. 7 to April 7, according to the court docket in the Blagojevich case. Prosecutors had sought the extension last week, citing the complexity of their investigation of pay-to-play politics in the Blagojevich administration.
The other Fitzgerald motion to release some surveillance tapes will be dealt with this afternoon.
* 11:51 am - Guv sets election dates for the 5th. A March 3rd primary - which is the “real” election - is less than 2 months away. From a press release…
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today issued a Writ of Election designating Tuesday April 7, 2009, as the date for the Special Congressional Election for the Fifth District Seat which was formerly held by Rahm Emanuel, now President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff. The Governor also set Tuesday, March 3, 2009, as the date for the Special Primary Election.
The two dates follow the recommendations outlined in a letter from Cook County Clerk David Orr and Lance Gough, Executive Director of the Chicago Election Board. […]
By state law, the Governor is required to set the date of a special election for a Congressional seat within five days after the vacancy is created.
By the way, Secretary of Jesse White’s signature is on the proclamation. A White spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. I’ll let you know what he says when he says it.
* 12:04 pm - The governor’s office says that Secretary White signed the 5th CD election proclamation today. That’s an interesting development. White, you already know, refused to certify the Roland Burris appointment. Burris has taken White to court over that refusal.
Yep. Fun times.
* 12:04 pm - WGN News just Twittered that Roland Burris will hold a 12:30 pm press conference today.
* 12:26 pm - You can watch Burris’ 12:30 presser by clicking here
* 12:31 pm - It’s starting now. Burris is shaking hands of a smattering of supporters at the airport.
Burris said his “people tried to reach out” to the Obama team, but wasn’t successful.
“Race has never been a concern of mine… I have looked at the state of Illinois as the only state in the nation has elected four blacks statewide.”
Burris said he would travel to Springfield on Thursday “if we can” to testify before the House impeachment committee.
“All the drama, I guess it keeps you all in a job,” Burris said to the gathered reporters.
Burris said he has not talked to the governor lately and doesn’t intend to.
“Why should I separate myself from Rod Blagojevich?… He carried out his duties and he filled the vacancy as according to law.”
“I am the junior Senator according to every law book in the nation.”
Burris said he did not expect “this kind of theater” after his appointment was announced. He blamed Illinois’ designation as the “laughing stock of the nation” on the media.
Burris just said he’s sending an affidavit to Springfield regarding his appointment.
End.
* 12:42 pm - Secretary of State Jesse White just called. White explained what he considered to be the big difference between refusing to sign off on the Roland Burris appointment and signing off on the 5th CD special election.
The special election, White said, was essentially a perfunctory “paperwork” act. But signing off on an appointment after the governor was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell that very Senate seat is a completely different, and far more serious, matter.
[A] new state law… went into effect Thursday requiring first-time DUI offenders to install breath-monitoring devices in any vehicle they want to drive…
The equipment, called a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device, or BAIID, requires a driver to blow into a tube so his or her breath can be tested. The car won’t start if the breath sample registers a .025 blood alcohol level or higher.
The device also requires samples at random intervals throughout the trip to prevent having someone else blow into the device to get the car started.
First-time DUI offenders who want to drive during the time of their statutory summary suspensions will have join the BAIID program.
Suspension times also have increased — from six months to 12 months for a driver who refuses testing when pulled over and from three months to six months for drivers who take the test and have a BAC of 0.08 or higher.
* The Question: Is this a good law? Explain fully.
Drawing criticism from Gov. Blagojevich’s lawyer, the House impeachment panel Sunday quietly fine-tuned a draft report that could be used to oust Blagojevich from office. […]
Without public notice, panel members gathered informally in Springfield on Sunday to review a 54-page draft report outlining evidence the committee likely will use as the basis for a possible impeachment vote later this week.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), the panel’s chairwoman, refused to describe Sunday’s gathering as a meeting or a breach of the state Open Meetings Act. Only committee members were notified of the event.
Ed Genson was not amused…
“The fact is they’re meeting without informing me of their meeting. Working on a report without informing me of a report is perfectly consistent with what they’ve been doing since this process started,” said Genson.
One panel member, state Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), noted the swearing-in of a new General Assembly next week makes it doubtful that a Senate trial of Blagojevich would quickly follow any House vote this week. Fritchey said that if the House moves to impeach Blagojevich this week, it may be forced to redo the vote next week after its new members are sworn-in.
“Procedurally, you may have Gov. Blagojevich not only be the first governor impeached in Illinois, but be the first governor to be impeached twice within a period of a week,” Fritchey said in an interview on WGN-AM 720.
Blagojevich will be gone by early to mid-February, unless the federal courts defy expectations and get involved.
* We’ll have more on these two motions as soon as we know something…
Federal prosecutors are expected in court today, to ask a judge for more time to get an indictment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. And there’s more. They also want the okay to share some of their evidence with state lawmakers who are considering impeaching the governor.
* Meanwhile, that bill which was supposedly designed to call a special election to fill the vacant US Senate seat and was posted for a committee hearing this week was nothing of the kind…
[Rep. John Fritchey] said his bill, SB 761, right now is intended to clean up the ethics reforms that just took effect January 1. Some language needed to be clarified so that the state wouldn’t miss out on federal highway funds. That means the legislation, as of today, is not about setting a special election to replace Obama.
The [House impeachment committee] has also issued a subpoena that was served Saturday on Roland Burris, the governor’s controversial choice to fill Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat. The order compels Burris to testify Wednesday.
Burris will be in DC on Wednesday, so that may not happen. Stay tuned.
* I thought Roland Burris said he wasn’t going to make a scene?
In a raucous sendoff at a church on this city’s South Side, Roland W. Burris, the contested appointee for the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, vowing on Sunday night to cordially but aggressively fight efforts to block him from joining the chamber when he arrives in Washington this week.
“Friends, we’re going to have to have some powerful prayer. . . . They can’t deny what the Lord has ordained,'’ said Burris at New Covenant Baptist Church, 740 E. 77th, surrounded by ministers, politicians and activists.
On Sunday night, [Congressman Bobby Rush] called the Senate “one of the last bastions of plantation and racial politics in America” and said Senate Democrats who won’t seat Burris are “going to have to come and ask for forgiveness” from black Americans.
And Burris tips his strategic hand…
“I am now the junior senator from the state of Illinois. Some people, they want to doubt that. That is their right,” Burris said [last night] at a Chicago prayer service… But Burris noted the several hundred supporters in the predominantly African-American audience and said, “You are the real determining factor.” [emphasis added]
That doesn’t sound like a quiet push to me. It’s a blatant play to race.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has no plans to go to Washington, D.C., to present Roland Burris as his appointee to the U.S. Senate, a spokesman for the governor said this morning.
However, his acting chief of staff, Clayton Harris III, will leave for the nation’s capital this morning to hand deliver the certificate of appointment to the Senate, even though it doesn’t bear Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature.
Is this where the revolution has come? Has the black community become the last refuge for scalawags like Blagojevich, whose approval ratings had fallen to a miserable 13 percent in a Chicago Tribune poll even before his arrest?
As an African-American, I resent that notion, and I don’t appear to be alone. Secretary of State Jesse White, who is black, a Democrat and a friend of Rush and Burris, nevertheless has refused to certify Burris’ appointment in what White called “a moral decision,” even if it fails to hold up in court.
While Laura Washington points to popular opinion among African-Americans…
America’s most exclusive club wants to maintain its pedigree. No members appointed by crooks, please. Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to certify the Burris appointment. It’s mere paperwork, but White’s stand gives Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid priceless cover. Does White want to be seen as a water-carrier? Just turn on black talk radio WVON and listen to the callers howl.
From the soundings I took Sunday, I have a well-informed hunch that if Burris wants to get a deal done quickly, he needs to say he won’t run for the seat in 2010.
But…
When we talked Friday, Burris said he would likely run to keep the seat, and I asked him why he thought 2010 would be different.
The federal corruption probe that has shone a national spotlight on Gov. Blagojevich now has his brother — who chairs his campaign fund — increasingly under the microscope.
Law enforcement authorities, who are sifting through thousands of tape recordings in the case, have shown interest in talking with Robert Blagojevich, not only about the governor, but other aspects of the investigation, the Sun-Times has learned.
Rob’s lawyer says he’s not interested in talking to the feds…
“Would he cooperate and talk to the government?” Ettinger said. “Not a prayer.”
[Congressman Danny Davis], speaking on the phone from Chicago, said he met with Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Jr. last Wednesday morning. The two met in Davis’ Chicago office. Davis said he was told “the governor would like to appoint me to the vacant spot.” After Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9, Davis, who sought the appointment from him when he thought Blagojevich was playing it straight, said he would not take the job if offered.
But that report may have been in error. Here’s the NY Times’ version…
Representative Davis met with Sam Adam Sr., a well-known criminal defense lawyer here whose son has represented Mr. Blagojevich during the impeachment hearings in Springfield, in Mr. Davis’s Chicago office. [emphasis added]
Launching a spring ethics push, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn has asked the same lawyer who prosecuted former Gov. George Ryan to recommend ways to “fumigate” state government.
Quinn Monday will name former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins to chair a panel to draw up legislation and other reforms to respond to the litany of alleged wrongdoing tied to Gov. Blagojevich.
As sleazy allegation after sleazy allegation came to light during Blagojevich’s first term, Pat Quinn kept his mouth shut.
Quinn has tried to burnish an image as an “elder statesman” by attending the funerals of Illinois soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He saluted as “Taps” was played and the cameras clicked funeral after funeral. But we didn’t hear boo from him as vets were shunted aside when seeking state jobs.
The administration gamed the state’s hiring system to give preference to political cronies over veterans. Middle-aged folks were hired into lucrative so-called “intern” positions to avoid the legal requirement of giving preference to veterans.
* And the goo-goos are upset about an upcoming fundraiser by the Senate Democrats, even though there’s no evidence that anything is amiss…
David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, which helped push through the new anti-pay-to-play legislation, said he was surprised when told of the amounts of money being asked for in the Cullerton letter.
“Thirty-five grand is a lot of money for one event,” Morrison said. “At that point,” he added, admitting it was somewhat of an exaggeration, “you’re almost bumping up against average household income.”
But Cullerton told me there’s a big difference between regular fundraising and illegal activity in which Blagojevich is alleged to have participated.
Exactly. Not all contributions are tainted. Most aren’t, in fact.
More people are moving out of Illinois than into the state, according to figures from two large shipping companies.
Of the 18,084 interstate moves involving Illinois handled in the first 11 months of 2008 by United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines, 56 percent were outbound and 44 percent were moving in.
Illinois was among a group of Midwestern states that saw more moving trucks leaving than entering.
The city’s finance chief delivered bad news for the new year: The city’s 2008 budget crisis was even worse than predicted.
City revenues last year were $31 million lower than projected in the fall, Paul Volpe, the city’s chief financial officer, said Friday.
“I don’t expect things to get better in [2009], frankly,” Volpe told reporters at City Hall. “Everybody seems to think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Volpe said the city will rely on “creative management,” rather than layoffs or tax increases, to make do in these trying economic times.
A big drop in real estate transfer taxes in 2008 accounts for much of the shortfall, as well as decreases in income and sales taxes, Volpe said.
The bad news is Chicago received much less than expected income from taxes and fines in 2008. But Chief Financial Officer Paul Volpe says there is some good news. Volpe says the city could save nearly $22 million in 2009 by lower fuel prices the city’s locked-in. He says residents won’t see taxes go up or services cut.
All my life I’ve been a workin’ man
On Chicago’s Northwest Side
Livin’ check to check, never gettin’ ahead
No matter how hard I tried
I had an old friend from the neighborhood
He grew up to do just fine
He couldn’t read or write to save his life
But I guess his boss didn’t mind
Now, I never quite knew what my old friend did
To get that money rollin’ in
But life, I guess, can be pretty good
For a state committeeman
So, one night over beer at the local bar
I said, “How’d you make your dough?”
My friend just grinned a wicked grin
And said “Here’s all you need to know”
CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
Just find the man that’s behind the man
And put some money in his hand
That’s how we try to keep our city green
VERSE
Well, the liquor flowed and the stories flew
And my old friend bared his soul
About rigging bids and getting neighbor kids
Good jobs on a ghost payroll
He said he’d be happy to help me out
If there was anything he could do
Like try to arrange a zoning change
Or put me on a movie crew
Well, we talked and talked until last call
And then I told him I was beat
Then he climbed aboard his hired truck
To see a man about a Senate seat
And late that night as I lay in bed
You know I finally figured it out
My friend didn’t need to read or write
Cause he had himself some clout
CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
Just find the man that’s behind the man
And put some money in his hand
That’s how we try to keep our city green
CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
If you wanna standout
You gotta know who gets the handout
That’s how we try to keep our city green
It’s a daily job to keep our city green
