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The “gift” that keeps on “giving”

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Illinois

Wow, that was some decision by the federal court in the Rod Blagojevich corruption case, wasn’t it?

No, not the one where U.S. Judge James Zagel resentenced a weeping Blagojevich to 14 years in prison for his criminal convictions. The other one, where the federal appeals court said evidence in a civil racketeering lawsuit demonstrated that “Blagojevich’s regular way of conducting business involved bribery.”

Blago was resentenced Tuesday. The appeals court ruled a week earlier in a spin-off case. It was a reprise of the Blagojevich corruption scandal, but in a different forum (civil court) with different actors (pay-for-play personnel looking to leverage official government action into coin of the realm).

This story is one many corruption watchers are not familiar with unless they burrowed deep into the fetid and festering sewer of official Illinois corruption.

Here’s the scenario:

Go read the whole thing.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 11:58 am

Comments

Blagoicth - a political STD named for a convicted felonious governor of Illinois.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:17 pm
Blagoitch. Ugh. Spelling, no wonder I was socially promoted in grade school.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:18 pm
Great read. I totally forgot about Lon Monk.

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:21 pm
Were the newspapers who endorsed Blago for his second term aware of the corruption going on? If they didn’t, they weren’t much of a reporting organization.

I haven’t read anything about Blago selling influence while he was in the House. I have a hard time believing that he just picked this up when he was in Springfield. It would be interesting to know what kind of scams he was running there…

Comment by Illinois Bob Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:23 pm
Bob, I can’t think of a major paper that endorsed him the second time around. Folks, please correct me if I’m wrong.

I don’t think Blago could have gotten you yesterday’s paper when he was in Congress, let alone pull off a quid pro quo.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:43 pm
People who worked for the State during the Blagojevich years tell stories that depict widespread corruption. The ones I know strove to keep away from the plague.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:50 pm
Illinois is still trying to recover from the blagovich cesspool

Comment by Foster brooks Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 12:57 pm
Then there is the backlog of clemency petitions he allowed to pile up. It appears progress was being made but now Rauner is declining over 90% of them so many of those will likely reapply and the backlog will grow again.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:09 pm
From the article ” But even though he’s tucked far away at a federal prison in Colorado, litigation from his corruption capers still consumes the courts’ time.”

I believe Judge Zagle had this in mind at the resentencing.

Comment by Leave a Light on George Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:26 pm
“People who worked for the State during the Blagojevich years tell stories that depict widespread corruption.”

I was dumb founded by what I witnessed in my little corner of the world. Mainly by the sheer braizzness of it. After a few months I thought I knew the new ring leader well enough to walk into his office, close the door and suggest that perhaps at least some of the activity should stop or at least take place away from work.

Man what a mistake. I was told that it was “their turn now.” I paid dearly for that conversation. My last few years were miserable.

Karma eventually caught up though. Not a ggod thing when the FBI asks for your personnel file.

Comment by Leave a Light on George Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 1:38 pm
The article is as good an explanation of the scandal and the subsequent continued decline in the horse racing industry as anything that I have seen in print.

As for Blagojevich not engaging in “pay to play” shenanigans while in Congress, I do not think that he had that much gravitas while in D.C. The one shady deal that he pulled off shortly before he entered Congress was when he sold his legal practice to another attorney. I am sure it consisted of city workman’s comp files that his father-in-law dealt to him and which he never read.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 2:04 pm
@ArthurAndersen: The esteemed Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Rod Blagojevich for a second term.

Comment by Indochine Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 3:24 pm
Anyone who went along with Blago deserved what they got. Unfortunately many who benefitted got away untouched by the Feds. IMO Pay to play was what brought us the expansion of home healthcare workers trounced in the Harris decision but no one was prosecuted

Comment by Sue Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 4:03 pm
Indochina, thanks for the reminder. Old age, you know. I thought about the S-T before posting, but should have hit the Google.
I should stick to crunching numbers.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Aug 11, 16 @ 5:24 pm