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Friday, Sep 14, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* AFSCME’s Henry Bayer told me in an early morning e-mail that he’d been doing some research on a 2003 lawsuit filed against the state’s Department of Corrections and came across this golden nugget…

Much of the litigation focused on plaintiffs’ attempts to depose the Governor. On February 27, 2007, the state defendants sought a protective order to block plaintiffs from deposing Governor Blagojevich on grounds that it would just “disrupt a busy public official who should not be taken away from his work.”

Sheesh. What a guy he was.

* From Zorn’s review of a new book about the former governor…

What passed for intelligence from the otherwise unaccomplished student was merely “an uncanny knack for memorization,” which he put on display in political debates as early as college, “declaiming verbatim (Teddy) Roosevelt’s famous ‘Man in the Arena’ speech,” for instance. […]

He famously hid out in his home to avoid coming to the office, though he peppered his aides with such frequent, annoying, needy requests that former deputy governor Bradley Tusk recalls in the book barking at him ““I have to run the government. Stop calling me.”

* From Natasha Korecki’s new book about the former governor…

FBI Director Robert Mueller wanted to hear some of the tech cuts himself. Walking past piles of papers heaped on the desk of Robert Grant, Chicago FBI special agent in charge, in his near West Side office, Mueller settled in. He asked his bodyguards to leave the room. With only Mueller, Grant and top FBI supervisor Pete Cullen left, the tapes rolled. Mueller, who has overseen numerous terrorism and corruption cases at the bureau, listened to the conversations for the first time.

He stopped and looked up. Who was dropping all those f-bombs? he asked.

That’s the governor, he was told.

Mueller shook his head.

“Only in Chicago.”

* And Sam Adam, Jr. is still whining about the tapes…

“The judge would not let him play his tapes… there had tapes in both trials that would have established his innocence. The judge wouldn’t let us play them,” he said.

* Other stuff…

* “Only in Chicago” - Book has new details on Blagojevich trial

* Blago’s Advice To Fellow Inmate’s Son: “Don’t Get Into Politics”: “Your dad is a good guy. He is manning up to the mistakes he’s made. He is well liked here and has many friends. Happy birthday, good luck in school and whatever you do — stay out of politics,” signed Rod Blagojevich.

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A new low in marketing

Thursday, Aug 9, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* People try to sell their books. That’s no surprise at all. Reporters who write books often try to sell their books by disclosing never before heard “news.” That’s not new, either. But relying on Rod Blagojevich’s veracity about a rumor he’d heard about someone he despised is a new one on me…

An upcoming book about Rod Blagojevich says undercover recordings caught the former governor saying he had heard that convicted influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko secretly channeled $25,000 in cash to Barack Obama, but federal authorities did not deem the claim credible.

The book, “Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself Out of the Governor’s Office and Into Prison,” suggests Blagojevich was talking about an undisclosed payment to help Obama with his 2004 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

The book says that federal investigators pursued the claim but ultimately gave it little credence. “Never was Blagojevich seen as a credible threat to the incoming president,” says the book, an outside project by two Chicago Tribune reporters. […]

The disclosure of Blagojevich’s comments comes as the president is locked in a tight re-election campaign with Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has sought to link Obama’s Chicago connections to the city’s culture of political corruption. […]

According to the book, Blagojevich was repeating “a story that (he) had heard that he believed” when he spoke of the $25,000 in cash from Rezko. Talking to his then-chief of staff John Harris shortly after Obama’s election, Blagojevich said he had heard that Rezko had given the cash to Bruce Washington, who has held jobs with the state, Cook County and the city school district.

Drudge linked to the Tribune’s story today and I’m sure it will gain traction on the blogs.

But, really, you use a recording of Rod Blagojevich repeating a rumor in order to sell books? Seriously? Rod Blagojevich? The most delusional man in America? You gotta be kidding me.

…Adding… Zorn…

The meat of this story — that Blagojevich claimed to have heard a unflattering story about Obama that he believed — is an unsubstantiated, uncorroborated third-hand rumor. Anyone want to argue for the relevance?

Agreed.

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*** UPDATED x1 - Levine gets 67 months *** Stones, glass houses, etc.

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE *** Levine gets 67 months…

Stuart Levine — who admitted his role in the corruption scandal that sent former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison and provided key testimony against Blagojevich and others — was sentenced Thursday to 67 months in prison. […]

In sentencing Levine, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve called him one of the “most corrupt politicians” in northern Illinois.

“The havoc that you wrecked is certainly substantial,” she told him.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* John Kass makes the case that the national GOP ought to think twice about using Chicago corruption against President Obama this week because this week also just happens to be loaded with Republican court hearings…

Former Gov. George Ryan is still in federal prison. His lawyers are scheduled to appear in court for him Friday, to argue that his jury was given improper instructions.

On Thursday in federal court comes Stuart Levine, the financier who used his political influence on state boards and commissions to squeeze profits and is now up for sentencing. […]

The third Republican, and most powerful of all, is William Cellini, the de facto Republican boss who stayed hidden in the shadows for decades and who used his contacts to deal with Ryan’s now-imprisoned successor, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and — wait for it — Obama’s very own personal real estate fairy, the imprisoned influence peddler Tony Rezko.

It was Cellini and Levine and Rezko and their wives who went to the White House for a Christmas party. And it wasn’t the Obama White House. It was the Bush White House.

Cellini’s hearing was yesterday. His sentencing was delayed until October.

* Steve Chapman also makes some good points about the hard-right myth that Obama wasn’t properly “vetted” last time around…

If I were conspiracy-minded, I’d suspect Barack Obama has deployed several moles to sabotage his opponent. Take John Sununu, who yesterday attacked the president for having used drugs, spent time abroad and lived in Chicago. Or Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who now claims to have proof Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud. Mitt Romney’s aides are vowing to expose Obama’s past, insisting he wasn’t “vetted” the last time around. If I were David Axelrod, I’d be smiling.

Why? Because we’ve heard it all before. It didn’t keep Americans from electing Obama in 2008 and it won’t stop them this time. These claims do resonate with some voters — but only those who wouldn’t vote for Obama if he were running against Vladimir Putin.

Most Americans just won’t buy it. The president’s personal approval ratings have consistently held up even amid our economic mess. A recent poll found that by a more than 2-to-1 margin, they find him more likable than Romney. Americans know Obama well by now, and they aren’t going to change their minds about him as a person in the absence of powerful new information, which Republicans don’t seem to have.

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